Help Troubleshoot Outlaw Model 7100 Amp

[mdchambe]

Hello everyone,

I am new to the site, lots of info! I have little knowledge about troubleshooting electonics, so thought I would seek out some expert opinions.

I have an Outlaw model 7100 amplifier which seems to have a defective channel. The speaker hooked up to it actually started to smoking when I initially tested the unit. I immediately powered the unit off and disconnected it from the power source.

I have sinced hooked it up to alternate (see old!) equipment to test the unit. All the 6 other channels seems to work just fine. When i went to test the final faulty channel, with the unit powered off but plugged in, the speaker made crackling/popping noises when the negative speaker wire made contact with the amplifier's negative speaker jack on that channel. Once the unit was powered on, the speaker produced only a static hum.

Any help on insight anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Leolabs]

Get yourself a multimeter and check the output DC voltage level,it should go up quite a number,which mean the circuitry is already KO!

[mdchambe]

thank you for your input. Do you have any ideas as to specifically what might be causing this problem?

Anyone?

Thanks!

[Dick West]

Can you or somebody post a copy of the schematic?

[mdchambe]

I'm sorry, I dont have a schematic for the amplifier. I tried searching for one quickly online, but came up empty handed, maybe someone else will be able to help out.

Thank you for your reply and hopfully for your assistance!

[Dick West]

Well, I just thought I would ask. The schematic for this device is probably a securely held proprietary secret.

However, apparently the Outlaw folks are very good at providing service. I believe that is where you should go to get help and service.

The fact that just one channel has a huge amount of DC offset but the others are OK indicates a problem with that one channel that is probably beyond your control to fix.

The only other question is, what happens if you switch inputs around. Does the problem follow the input you had to the bad channel? Does the bad channel get corrected by using a different input? We assume that each channel has an input capacitor that blocks and DC that might be riding on the signal. If not, and the signal for that channel has a big DC component, this DC could be amplified and show up at its output.

Good luck......

[mdchambe]

Well, you lost me there, but thanks for the help. I will try to see about getting it fixed, as obviously I have no idea what I am doing.

I only need 5 channels of the amplifier, do you think it would be safe to use the amplifier as is, without using the problem channel?

Thanks

[Dick West]

Sure, if you don't need all the channels, just don't put an input into the problem channel. Are the channels "dedicated?" That is, must each be used for a specific purpose, or do you just have 7 channels into which you can select which to put an input?

What provides the signal source for your amp's various channels? Are you using a pre/pro or a receiver with outputs?

[mdchambe]

I am using an Outlaw Audio 950 pre/pro. I believe that the 7 channels on the amplifier are not dedicated. While they are labeled front left, front right..., I dont think there is any reason why I couldnt input the center channel output from the PRE into the amplifier channel labeled front left, or whatever.

Thanks for your help