I have some Carver PM 1.5 and 1.5A amps, 3 of which go into protect as soon as they are powered on, I was told it was because the fans are not working, is this correct? I was also told that the fan motors are easy to replace and can be purchased at a Radio Shack, is there anything special I need to follow or to watch for on these?
Hi srfrench67,
Since the fans are not the issue right now, leave them alone!
You need to find a good technician who did do Carver warranty. Shops that repair TV's are especially destructive, don't even consider a TV shop. You do need a pro here.
Cal, thanks for pointing me here.
-Chris
No, I'm afraid that isn't true. Carver amps are very reliable, but the way they work confuses most technicians. Your Carver goes into protection because there is either an amplifier fault, or a power supply fault. Do not plug them in any more until they are repaired.
I'm not sure about that. They did have some fans that looked similar. I don't know if they were, or if they are still available.
Since the fans are not the issue right now, leave them alone!
You need to find a good technician who did do Carver warranty. Shops that repair TV's are especially destructive, don't even consider a TV shop. You do need a pro here.
Cal, thanks for pointing me here.
-Chris
Hi srfrench67,
My go....sh. $290 US seems excessive to me. When we were doing Canadian warranty, we never did that to people! I can say that those vampires were Carver warranty in the 'States and that I never did get along with them.
So, can they do the work? Yes they can, but that is a terrible price they are charging. Consider that you are close to paying $900 USD for all three.
It is possible to run up to that price on a repair, but not often. Try to find an honest tech around there somewhere. They must think they are service gods with divine instrumentation or something. Mind you, the main reason I didn't get along with them was that they thought they were something special and everything was a secret. That's why I dealt straight with the engineers. The service dept. was a complete waste of time for me. Betcha they all drive BMW's at those prices.
-Chris
My go....sh. $290 US seems excessive to me. When we were doing Canadian warranty, we never did that to people! I can say that those vampires were Carver warranty in the 'States and that I never did get along with them.
So, can they do the work? Yes they can, but that is a terrible price they are charging. Consider that you are close to paying $900 USD for all three.
It is possible to run up to that price on a repair, but not often. Try to find an honest tech around there somewhere. They must think they are service gods with divine instrumentation or something. Mind you, the main reason I didn't get along with them was that they thought they were something special and everything was a secret. That's why I dealt straight with the engineers. The service dept. was a complete waste of time for me. Betcha they all drive BMW's at those prices.
-Chris
... check it out.
Hi FastEddy,
I've never seen a Carver amp that needed a board unless a technician trashed it. I doubt strongly that srfrench67 requires anything even close to that type of service. Even PM 2.0t's can be a pain and burn traces, but not so bad you need a board.
Too bad I wasn't in the 'States. I enjoy repairing most Carver amps.
-Chris
I've never seen a Carver amp that needed a board unless a technician trashed it. I doubt strongly that srfrench67 requires anything even close to that type of service. Even PM 2.0t's can be a pain and burn traces, but not so bad you need a board.
Too bad I wasn't in the 'States. I enjoy repairing most Carver amps.
-Chris
Take anatech's advice here please. Chris was in the business for many years and is especially good with Carver equipment. When the man says the price is too high I suggest you believe him.
If you happen to have an excess amount of money to throw around please do contact me and I will help you get rid of some.
If you happen to have an excess amount of money to throw around please do contact me and I will help you get rid of some.
Hi srfrench67
There used to be two great Carver service technicians (Rita & Mylinda) who for very long continued to repair/service Carver equipment even after the company closed down. Unfortunately, I understand that they too have recently closed shop.
Try giving Rolland a call at (503) 618-7605. He is from Hi-Tech Audio Ltd, 2125 SW 19th St., Gresham, Oregon 97080.
Also, check out the forums (including the one dedicated to repair) in Carveraudio.com - there are quite a few posts on 1.5T repair issues.
Good luck
Mayank
There used to be two great Carver service technicians (Rita & Mylinda) who for very long continued to repair/service Carver equipment even after the company closed down. Unfortunately, I understand that they too have recently closed shop.
Try giving Rolland a call at (503) 618-7605. He is from Hi-Tech Audio Ltd, 2125 SW 19th St., Gresham, Oregon 97080.
Also, check out the forums (including the one dedicated to repair) in Carveraudio.com - there are quite a few posts on 1.5T repair issues.
Good luck
Mayank
Thanks everyone for the help, I am going to take Chris's advice and search for a tech around here, I am only two hours out of Nasville Tennessee, and I know there are several places there that do pro audio repair, I just dont know of any that specialize in Carver, and I dont have excess money to through around, when they shot me the quote of $290 US I freaked, I can almost buy complete working amps on ebay for that price if I had the funds (working as a sound engineer in my area dosent pay much and most of the time the bar / club owners conveinently dissappear at closing time). All said I am taking Chris's advice, after reading all the info Anatech has posted regarding Carver, he is da man. Thanks again everyone, I truly live these amps.
Hi srfrench67,
Thanks for that. All this means is that I can't keep my mouth shut!
One word about Eeeekbay. Understand that anything bought there will need the same service (or more) as your unit. Buy from Ebay with funds set aside for service. Some of the more interesting (failed) service attempts I've seen come from Ebay units. If the unit doesn't need much you are lucky, but do expect the worst.
Hey Joe, thanks. Just means I'm old and cranky.
-Chris
Thanks for that. All this means is that I can't keep my mouth shut!
One word about Eeeekbay. Understand that anything bought there will need the same service (or more) as your unit. Buy from Ebay with funds set aside for service. Some of the more interesting (failed) service attempts I've seen come from Ebay units. If the unit doesn't need much you are lucky, but do expect the worst.
Hey Joe, thanks. Just means I'm old and cranky.
-Chris
Thanks again Chris, From 1999 to 2003 I worked for a sound company and used these very amplifiers 3 nights a week every week without a failure, I know they are very reliable, I just have to get the issues with the three fixed, I dont know what I would be getting from ebay. I wished I lived closer to Canada, there is no question who I would get to repair them, you said earlier that most technicians dont understand how they work? What is different in the way a Carver works compared to other amps? Thanks.
PM 1.5
I am with anatech with this one, find a tech that has serviced carver amps, in the class G and H world even Carvers are a stand alone! I have repaired many a botched service job. I even had a cube that had been gutted and found a 12V radio shack transformer and 2 TDA chips, the person that purchased it from E-Bay for 200 bucks wasnt happy.
The Carver 1.5 is a class G amp with a triac fired field coil " transformer" it has three voltage rails a high mid and low and switches between these via power demand. This reduces dissipation and heat at low levels but leaves a high power envolope when needed.
I know the 1.5t's had a couple simple service issues like under rated resitors in the voltage tracking circuit, a simple fix, or it could be a complex diode transistor failure.
Stick with a pro on this one it would suck to send your amps out and shell out 300 bucks apiece to replace two 1/4 watt resistors.
I am with anatech with this one, find a tech that has serviced carver amps, in the class G and H world even Carvers are a stand alone! I have repaired many a botched service job. I even had a cube that had been gutted and found a 12V radio shack transformer and 2 TDA chips, the person that purchased it from E-Bay for 200 bucks wasnt happy.
The Carver 1.5 is a class G amp with a triac fired field coil " transformer" it has three voltage rails a high mid and low and switches between these via power demand. This reduces dissipation and heat at low levels but leaves a high power envolope when needed.
I know the 1.5t's had a couple simple service issues like under rated resitors in the voltage tracking circuit, a simple fix, or it could be a complex diode transistor failure.
Stick with a pro on this one it would suck to send your amps out and shell out 300 bucks apiece to replace two 1/4 watt resistors.
Hi srfrench67,
I would have offered to service them for you if it weren't the border thing. I hate dealing with the border and avoid doing this if I can help it. The only reason I'm tempted is that I've seen what techs do to these amps and also what customers must have paid for service.
The major thing that messes technicians up is the triac phase regulator / mag coil circuit. I can't tell you how many times they short the triac (to turn it on) and blow the tar out of everything. Possibly that's why the $290 flat service charge. Techs also isolate the mag coil and feed it 120 VAC. It draws way too much current then (an understatement) and so they order a power "transformer". I explained to many that this is not the problem, so we would sell them a mag coil - no returns. The expected call comes that it too is defective. Sometimes you could get it across to these guys that they misdiagnosed it and didn't listen to us. TV repair shops were the absolute worst to deal with.
Then there was the entire concept of the switching supply rails. At that point we just cut off the conversation and had them send it in. Most of those guys were rough on the PCB when working on it.
Hi tiltedhalo,
Sounds like you've cleaned up after a few disasters too. It never ends ........
-Chris
I would have offered to service them for you if it weren't the border thing. I hate dealing with the border and avoid doing this if I can help it. The only reason I'm tempted is that I've seen what techs do to these amps and also what customers must have paid for service.
The major thing that messes technicians up is the triac phase regulator / mag coil circuit. I can't tell you how many times they short the triac (to turn it on) and blow the tar out of everything. Possibly that's why the $290 flat service charge. Techs also isolate the mag coil and feed it 120 VAC. It draws way too much current then (an understatement) and so they order a power "transformer". I explained to many that this is not the problem, so we would sell them a mag coil - no returns. The expected call comes that it too is defective. Sometimes you could get it across to these guys that they misdiagnosed it and didn't listen to us. TV repair shops were the absolute worst to deal with.
Then there was the entire concept of the switching supply rails. At that point we just cut off the conversation and had them send it in. Most of those guys were rough on the PCB when working on it.
Hi tiltedhalo,
Sounds like you've cleaned up after a few disasters too. It never ends ........
-Chris
Hey Chris,
Thanks for all the advice, I found a guy local that works on audio amplifiers (Crown, QSC, Makie, etc.) he assures me he can repair these as long as he can find schematics and parts. Is there anywhere I can download schematic diagrams for these amps or maybe a service manual? Thanks again
Thanks for all the advice, I found a guy local that works on audio amplifiers (Crown, QSC, Makie, etc.) he assures me he can repair these as long as he can find schematics and parts. Is there anywhere I can download schematic diagrams for these amps or maybe a service manual? Thanks again
Well, I wish I could say the same. In 1993 the company I work for did a civic center arena and used PM900's I believe. The load was 4 ohms on each channel. We ended up loosing them one by one until they were replaced with a newer model. The only good thing I could say about Carver was that they did stand behind their product during the warranty period. We never used them in any commercial application after that and dropped them from our home equipment list.
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