please help me figure this out....
i have an amp with 2 sets of inputs - one set goes through a chip which controls volume, bass, treble etc. the other set of inputs has a normal preamp (for microphones). these 2 inputs join at a stereo opamp which then goes to the power amp.
about a year back i replaced the stereo opamp with 2 mono opamps (one inverting, the other non-inverting) so i could bridge both channels of the amp. this has worked fine for ages.
yesterday i took the amp circuit out 'cos i want to use it as a subwoofer amplifier. i connected the inputs to the inputs of the opamps (bypassing bass, treble, volume controls) and the thermal runaway started.
so i hooked the chip back up to the opamps - it was better but thermal runaway was still there.
then i hooked the amp back up exactly how it was - still thermal runaway.
then i took the sub and hooked it up to one channel (not bridged) and it is stable now.
what could i have done wrong??? it was stable (bridged) and now its not. i have got a schematic so i will post it later.
i have an amp with 2 sets of inputs - one set goes through a chip which controls volume, bass, treble etc. the other set of inputs has a normal preamp (for microphones). these 2 inputs join at a stereo opamp which then goes to the power amp.
about a year back i replaced the stereo opamp with 2 mono opamps (one inverting, the other non-inverting) so i could bridge both channels of the amp. this has worked fine for ages.
yesterday i took the amp circuit out 'cos i want to use it as a subwoofer amplifier. i connected the inputs to the inputs of the opamps (bypassing bass, treble, volume controls) and the thermal runaway started.
so i hooked the chip back up to the opamps - it was better but thermal runaway was still there.
then i hooked the amp back up exactly how it was - still thermal runaway.
then i took the sub and hooked it up to one channel (not bridged) and it is stable now.
what could i have done wrong??? it was stable (bridged) and now its not. i have got a schematic so i will post it later.
are you sure the root cause is thermal?.. maybe more like self oscillating?? I'm not sure I understand what you mean but if it is oscillating maybe a resistor in series with the input will make it a bit stable?).. and of couse you could try a coil on the output too and also resistor in series with a capacitor to earth.. and so on.. but with bass, I guess you need very high bias,if it 's now only going to be used with bass
The first thing I thought of was oscillation too. This is probably a question you can't answer without an oscilloscope.
okay well luckily i fixed it - it was a resistor i unsoldered and forgot to put back - but i would still like to figure out how this amp biases itself (there is nothing on the heatsink except for the output transistors)
i am still trying to figure out how to put the schematic up - if i compress it so i can attach it then you cant see anything.
i did cut the pic up and posted it like this on another thread:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65821&highlight=
i am still trying to figure out how to put the schematic up - if i compress it so i can attach it then you cant see anything.
i did cut the pic up and posted it like this on another thread:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65821&highlight=
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