Rockford Fosgate Power 1000a2

seankane · 2012-12-01 8:17 pm

This amp was MESS!!!

I replaced all the outputs and rebuilt both power supplies.

The amp plays fine sometimes then sometimes it shuts off but if you pry on one of the transformers it comes back on but is still cutting out upon increased volume.

Any ideas....broken trace?

Perry Babin · 2012-12-01 9:37 pm

Is the supply shutting down when it cuts out?

seankane · 2012-12-01 9:59 pm

Part of it is, I am losing rail voltage on one of the power supply rectifiers. As soon as I pry real hard on the transoformer the amp comes back on and stays on but if you increase the volume it cuts on and off.

Perry Babin · 2012-12-01 10:24 pm

Measuring DC voltage from the center leg of the positive rectifier to the center leg of the negative rectifier, do you still lose voltage?

seankane · 2012-12-02 2:28 am

I removed the transformer because I had to be sure there was not a broken leg or a trace some where under it.

I didnt find anything obvious, are there any tests I can do to it while its out of the circuit to ensure that it is good?

kds9591 · 2012-12-02 4:05 am

seankane said:
I removed the transformer because I had to be sure there was not a broken leg or a trace some where under it.

I didnt find anything obvious, are there any tests I can do to it while its out of the circuit to ensure that it is good?

If you are going to do car amp repairs or electronic repairs involving a SMPS don't play games second guessing whether a coil or transformer is good or bad. Buy a ring tester. It will be the best $60.00 you ever spent for your test bench. Link is below. This ring tester tests in or out of circuit too. It will detect as little as one shorted turn on a coil or transformer. If a transformer tests good you can move forward with your troubleshooting, no chin scratching wondering if a transformer might be bad.

I own this one made by Ana Tek in the link below. I don't have to use it often but when I do I'm glad I have it, saved me a lot of bench time.

Ana Tek Corporation

http://www.electronicrepairguide.com/blue-ring-tester.html

Perry Babin · 2012-12-02 7:34 am

The transformer is likely OK. It will need to be in the circuit for further testing.

seankane · 2012-12-02 9:05 pm

kds9591 said:
If you are going to do car amp repairs or electronic repairs involving a SMPS don't play games second guessing whether a coil or transformer is good or bad. Buy a ring tester. It will be the best $60.00 you ever spent for your test bench. Link is below. This ring tester tests in or out of circuit too. It will detect as little as one shorted turn on a coil or transformer. If a transformer tests good you can move forward with your troubleshooting, no chin scratching wondering if a transformer might be bad.

I own this one made by Ana Tek in the link below. I don't have to use it often but when I do I'm glad I have it, saved me a lot of bench time.

Ana Tek Corporation

blue ring tester

Thanks for the link, I will definantely look into one!!!

seankane · 2012-12-02 9:07 pm

I will re-install the transformer.

seankane · 2012-12-03 5:19 am

I re-installed the transformer and what an extreme pain in the a$$ that was. It has large wire and was very hard to get back in the holes, not to mention the huge rail caps block alot of the access to the windings.

DO NOT REMOVE THEM IF YOU DONT HAVE TOO!!!!

In my case it was worth while because after re-soldering it in, the amp no longer cuts out. I think there was a broken trace or a cold solder joint.

The amp powered up I heard a loud click and checked sure enough full rail on the channel. The only 5 outputs I didnt change go figure. I took it back out and changed the last 5.

The amp powers up and is stable and plays loud and clear. I heard a slight ringing through the speaker when I first powered it up but after I set the bias it went away and has not came back???

This amp has +/-65 vdc per rectifier, 130 vdc rail on each side of the amp for a total of 260 vdc of rail combined. No wonder the output is so tremendous and it definantely draws the juice while playing!!!

So far after 20 min of play no issues, but the last issues didnt start until I totally tightened it into the heat sink, I will keep it posted if I have any further issues.

Thanks for the help Perry and the link kds9591!!!

Perry Babin · 2012-12-03 6:18 am

If you think there may have been a problem with the transformer, twist/push/pull on it to make sure it doesn't come back. The problem with removing this type of transformer is that you have to move the windings to do so and when you move the windings, you can temporarily remove any intermittent problem that it may have had.

seankane · 2012-12-03 6:34 am

I will do that, its been playing for about 2 hrs now at pretty high volume with no issues. I dont know if the issue was with the transformer or its connection to the board but so far so good.

I know this transformer was "NOT" fun to get back in the board. I have had the amp playing for 2 hrs half volume gains set to half as my head unit has 8v pre-outs and its been pulling about 30 amps from my power supply and has no issues so far. I will keep you posted on the push/pull/twist/test.

Thanks.

seankane · 2012-12-03 11:04 am

Well I pushed, pulled, and twisted the transformer while it was running and the amp is still performing great??

I will put in in the car on a pair of HX2 12's and run it real hard, that will tell me if its going to be reliable or not!

Rockford Fosgate Power 1000a2

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