Blown Fosgate T10001BD

[cmanningtsu]

OK, I bought this amp from a guy at work about 3 weeks ago, was working great. I was only running 8 guage wire that was split between this amp and a 4 channel sony. The other day i was going to work and I blew the main fuse, (wasn't bassing). Since the fuse was only 40A and the wire was only 8 guage, I went ahead and purchased 20 ft of 4 guage wire, an inline fuse holder, a new distribution box (w/ fuse slots), and 4 80A inline fuses. All in all it cost be less that $80, good deal I think considering it was mostly "Monster" brand stuff. I rewired everything, recharged the cap, un hooked it from the battery, wired up the amps. When I reconnected it to the battery, my "good" amp gave me some good old smoke. I disconnected the T10001 and tested out the old sony, and it worked like normal. So, I opened up the case to the T10001, and on of those "black things" that is connected to the heatsink was blown. I did not blow one d@m fuse.

I'm not sure what to do next. I've skimmed thru some post here and you guys talk about replacing those things, how hard is that? I've looked up amp repairs and they're around $120 give or take. I can't get a "warrenty" repair, and I'm contemplating sending to fosgate to have them do it. I spent $350 on this amp.

This is my Amp.
http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/produ...r%20Amplifiers

I will post some detailed pictures in a day or two.

[cmanningtsu]

Ok I have some more info, I retested the ground and the power. I was ground with 4 guage wire. Here is a picture of the damage.

The one right next to the one that is blown is F N352AD

And there is one with some compound on the other side of the corner is F N418AF

[cmanningtsu]

Another Picture

[swordfish689]

Man, that's a nice amp. The problem with fosgate is there hard amps to work on. I've repaired many of the old bd amps, and there a pain . In your case, you have no exprience on amps, i would get it repaired or sell it on ebay, you will get a nice price for it. And if you send it rockrord they usually charge more than the amps worth.

[cmanningtsu]

So is this thing fixable?

[zagisrule!]

It would be my guess that those might be some MOSFET's for the SMPS could also be rectifiers (small chance) based on their location but I can't be sure without a better picture. Try to get a nice photo of the board from the top in that area.

I'm actually a bit shocked how skimpy that amp is considering what it costs.

The Fosgate new stuff is a PITA to fix but yes it is not that bad and can be done. The trick is removing and soldering the parts on the aluminum PCB's for the MOSFET's and rectifiers.

You need a candle and good soldering iron to get it done well, remove all screws everwhere to get the board off the cast heatsink. Then desolder all the holes attaching the aluminum PCB containing the problem devices. With the aluminum PCB removed and you need to get the parts off, setup a candle with a third hand (aligator clip on stiff wire or something, so the board can be suspended over the flame with the semiconductors facing the sky and the flame just under the device to be removed. The aluminum will eventually heat up and once you start to see the flux and plastic start to heat up touch your iron to the copper where the device is soldered and eventually it will slide off. Repeat until everything you need to take off is gone. Resoldering is the opposite of these steps, allow the bare aluminum PCB to heat up then float a heated and tinned replacement device over the copper and pinch it down with pliers until it cools and locks into place.

Just be very careful not to grab the hot pieces and burn yourself, and only use the minimum of heat needed to get the job done.




-Matt

[cmanningtsu]

Yesterday I set it of to Just Repairs and it will be back in 3 to 4 weeks. It sill cost me $120. When I described the damage and location they told me it was in the power supply mosfets i think. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.