TPA3116 2.1 channel without subwoofer

[notakosan]

I just bought a TPA3116 2.1 channel amplifier. The feature set suits me, and I was just going to use it without a subwoofer. Then I remembered that TPA3116 should not be operated without all channels connected.

Am I sort of screwed? There must be many people who bought these 2.1 amps without connecting subs to them right?

gotta try the violin

 

[jeremymtc]

A 2.1 board should have two TPA3116 chips on it, with one chip having low-pass input filters for the sub channel. If you're never going to hook up a sub, it probably won't matter if the undriven chip overheats/goes into protection.



But, others here should know better than me.

 

[stratus46]

I just bought a TPA3116 2.1 channel amplifier. The feature set suits me, and I was just going to use it without a subwoofer. Then I remembered that TPA3116 should not be operated without all channels connected.

Am I sort of screwed? There must be many people who bought these 2.1 amps without connecting subs to them right?

gotta try the violin

I'm using a 5.1 channel 3116 board but with a powered sub so I'm driving the 3116 sub channel with no load.
The other channel is just fine. What is expected to happen with no load? I don't see anything about no load in
the datasheet.

G²

 

[notakosan]

I am not technical enough to understand the details, but supposedly the output voltage will rise up and potentially destroy the output filter capacity.

Leaving one output channel disconnected on TPA3116

But good to know at least one success story

 

[notakosan]

A 2.1 board should have two TPA3116 chips on it, with one chip having low-pass input filters for the sub channel. If you're never going to hook up a sub, it probably won't matter if the undriven chip overheats/goes into protection.



But, others here should know better than me.

Oh yeah, I forgot about those low-pass/high-pass filters. Hopefully it doesn't have a high-pass filter otherwise I'll have no bass without a sub at all You never know with these cheap amps.

But yes, I am considering to run it without a sub anyway and just let it die...

 

[IvanAltay]

All my unloaded channels are still alive. A microchip, pretty smart. Even with my malicious experiments (short-circuiting the output with a screwdriver with a spark, etc.), many chips burned out, many are still alive. If you are concerned about the unloaded outputs, load them with a 1000 ohm resistor.

 

[notakosan]

All my unloaded channels are still alive. A microchip, pretty smart. Even with my malicious experiments (short-circuiting the output with a screwdriver with a spark, etc.), many chips burned out, many are still alive. If you are concerned about the unloaded outputs, load them with a 1000 ohm resistor.

Thanks for your comment. That's a confidence booster. I obtained my board and it has a background noise, possibly a low quality board, but I might try the 1000 ohm resistor to see if that helps.