Faulty Soundstream Rubicon 204

azvrt · 14th October 2011, 02:43 PM

I sold a Rubicon 204 to a person a while ago.
Apparently, he's having problems with it.
When playing music, the amplifier shuts off when the gains are raised up to a certain level. The amp is not a very powerful one, but the decibel level at which the problem arises is way too low, even for a smaller amp like this one.

Also, this only happens on channels 3+4. When hooking up the speakers to 1+2, the problem is not there.

I sold him a 604 at a very good price so he's happy now, but I am curious what could be the problem with that 204. He lives in an other country so I cannot perform any measurements on the board, but if anyone happens to have a clue what could cause this I'd be interested to know. I might have him ship the amp to me in the future so I can have a look at it and hopefully fix it and ship it back to him.

1moreamp · 14th October 2011, 05:02 PM

Resolder the FEB boards they go intermittent due to bad solder joints where the vertical riser driver boards are soldered to the main board...

Also check the circuit breakers for both of those channels they are thermal type breakers and once they are stressed too far they trip out at much lower power levels. Jaime at JandRelectronics on flea-bay has replacements you can buy for reasonable....Also check the slide switches on the amp board they get loose and dirty with age. replacement solves the issue.

hope this helps some these are very common issues....C

Perry Babin · 14th October 2011, 05:34 PM

Try loading one channel at a time instead of two at a time to see if one of the two channels (3/4) is causing the problem.

azvrt · 14th October 2011, 08:29 PM

1moreamp, we always refresh the solderings on the driver PCB's on each and every Soundstream, the little vertical boards. Are you referring to those when you say FEB boards ? Yes, I have dozens of replacement switches for these amps. I know Jaime very well.
I have no experience with those thermal breakers, will have a closer look.

Perry, that's some simple but very smart advice. I'll ask the guy to perform this test !

14th October 2011, 02:43 PM	#1
azvrt diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Netherlands	Faulty Soundstream Rubicon 204 I sold a Rubicon 204 to a person a while ago. Apparently, he's having problems with it. When playing music, the amplifier shuts off when the gains are raised up to a certain level. The amp is not a very powerful one, but the decibel level at which the problem arises is way too low, even for a smaller amp like this one. Also, this only happens on channels 3+4. When hooking up the speakers to 1+2, the problem is not there. I sold him a 604 at a very good price so he's happy now, but I am curious what could be the problem with that 204. He lives in an other country so I cannot perform any measurements on the board, but if anyone happens to have a clue what could cause this I'd be interested to know. I might have him ship the amp to me in the future so I can have a look at it and hopefully fix it and ship it back to him.

14th October 2011, 05:34 PM	#3
Perry Babin diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Louisiana	Try loading one channel at a time instead of two at a time to see if one of the two channels (3/4) is causing the problem. __________________ Links >> Basic Car Audio Amp Repair * Basic Car Audio Electronics * New Site * Basic Switching Power Supply Design * Basic Computer Skills << Links

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14th October 2011, 05:02 PM	#2
1moreamp diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Northern California	Resolder the FEB boards they go intermittent due to bad solder joints where the vertical riser driver boards are soldered to the main board... Also check the circuit breakers for both of those channels they are thermal type breakers and once they are stressed too far they trip out at much lower power levels. Jaime at JandRelectronics on flea-bay has replacements you can buy for reasonable....Also check the slide switches on the amp board they get loose and dirty with age. replacement solves the issue. hope this helps some these are very common issues....C

14th October 2011, 08:29 PM	#4
azvrt diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Netherlands	1moreamp, we always refresh the solderings on the driver PCB's on each and every Soundstream, the little vertical boards. Are you referring to those when you say FEB boards ? Yes, I have dozens of replacement switches for these amps. I know Jaime very well. I have no experience with those thermal breakers, will have a closer look. Perry, that's some simple but very smart advice. I'll ask the guy to perform this test !