Eclipse XA4000. damaged 2nd project

[wrxer]

Hi all. I am considering this broken amp as a second project while i wait for my parts for the 1st project to arrive:
Eclipse Amplifier XA4000, for car sound system, needs fixing. | Stuff For Sale | Gumtree Camillo

I have never owned a D class amp, and this one reviews pretty well, from my research here I understand they can be a little finicky to repair, and would like to minimise my risk by inspecting amp before purchasing it.
Upon talking to the owner, he had very little to say that helps diagnosis. He said that he turned stereo on one morning and that amp had stopped working, so he removed it and replaced it with another amp he had spare. He doesnt remember if it was in protect mode, or anything else. He did say that the woofers he had coupled to the amp were fine and not blown. He was going to send the amp in for repair, but never got around to it.

From what i have picked up from this site, I was thinking to connect it to power with a inline 10 amp fuse to see if it power up.
I was also going to check for shorts on the power fets and the speaker output transistors. Maybe he gate resistors as well

Is there ank other stuff i need to be aware.
Tegards Jac

[Perry Babin]

I would advise against it unless someone here has some experience with the amp AND you can get an internal photo of the actual amp to see if it's in good condition. I have no experience with these so I won't be able to help. Sometimes it's difficult to get service literature for Eclipse products. If you can't get the service lit, no one here can help and the amp is an unusual design, you may be on your own trying to repair it.

[amc32]

Seeing that you have read the standard protocols when tested and/or repairing amplifiers. Check for shorts install 10amp fuse and let it rip! Besides you wouldn't be here if it wasn't DIY. So forgive Perry's conser

[amc32]

Conservative approach........ I'm sure he and many of us here have taken a stab at a repair without a service manual. Whats the worst that can happen? It's already broke and I hope you understood the risk when you decided to buy it broken. An unusual design may play in your favor when negotiating a price on a broken unit. Post pics and lets see what we working with!

[Perry Babin]

I was under the impression that he had not yet purchased it. If a possible loss of $75AU is absolutely insignificant to the buyer, he should buy it if he's interested in it. Since he was asking (from what I could tell) if he should buy it, I assumed (maybe incorrectly) that a loss of $75 may not be absolutely insignificant.

[seankane]

I have delt with a few eclipse amps and they are very hard to find parts for. They have specific parts manufacturers for driver boards and are impossible to find. I cant remember the name of the manufacturer. You may get lucky and find its something simple.

[wrxer]

Correct Perry, i have not purchased this amplifier, so i do not have pictures of its internals.
A $75 investment is not a huge outlay, but that is the asking price and there has been little interest. i think if i didnt buy it, it would end up in the bin.

I will go have a look at it on monday, do a few tests, take a few pictures, maybe we will get lucky.

I think $75 in not insignificant, but $25 would be fine. As Perry alludes to in other threads, we live in a throwaway society and people should still be able to fix things, but it is a skill we are losing too quickly.

I have emailed fujitsu-ten tech support, and asked for the service literature and schematics. We will see what they say.
Pics coming on Monday.

Thanks for the replies.

[wrxer]

No luck with schematics, eclipse just exchange them if under warranty, and then throw them out. They threw a pile of Eclipse amps out about 2 weeks ago..

Anyway, I have looked at it, checked for short at B+ to Earth, and is OK. Then pulled cover to look at clamped FETs, checked them all with multimeter for shorts and they seem ok at first inspection.
So i have pulled the 90A of fuses and put in a 10A and ran power into it. It lights up, relays click inside.
I havent put any sound to it yet, so will do that tomorrow.
The owner says that it makes a strange noise like a blown speaker rattle, she took it to the local tech and he didnt know what was wrong with it, so she removed it from service. I bought it for $40.
Here is a pic of the inside:
SAM_0120compressed.JPG
I will check all channels individually to try to isolate source to one channel and compare from there.

[wrxer]

The amplifier is fine on 3 channels, with 1 channel sounding like it has a blown speaker. if i run that side bridged, is clicks through the speaker like a electric fence.
If i run it on the shagged channel only, its just like the speaker is blown.
The other side is awesome and drives hard wether bridged or on individual channel

This amp cranks, it is seperating the sub box at the corner and blowing air out the seam, making the box rattle. The box is only cheap 12mm fibre board with a single 12" Clarion maybe 300w?. I have driven another heap of screws into the box to tighten it up for now.

[Perry Babin]

What's the part number on the driver ICs near the outputs?