Oh Krap What an Idiot

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K

Kirby Ball

Guest
May have fried my EV CP3000S amp tonight along with my Furman power conditioner.

Right in the middle of a song about 4 hours into the reception, I'm dead. I mean everything shut down. Thought maybe we blew a breaker at first, but after some frantic troubleshooting we discovered that there was power but the power conditioner and the amp appear to be dead.

I pulled plugs and quickly ran extension cords from each piece of equipment to different outlets and switched over to my EV CP2000 to finish the last hour and 15 minutes of the reception.

We weren't even pushing the sound that hard, so I have no freakin' idea what happened.

I'm gonna pull everything out of the trailer tomorrow and double check everything, but I'm afraid I'll be spending some money that really didn't want to part with......:sqembarrassed:
 
Scary feeling Amp shutting down is not cool. I'm not familiar with the EV amps but hope for your sake it just went into protection.

I lost my QSC 2450 due to over heating last night. Fortunately I set crossover to full for the mains turned it off for a minute and turned it back on and all was good. I reset the crossover and pulled some signal from the sub amp send.
 
Geeze thats bad luck Kirby sorry to hear.

If it is the amp it might be worth getting it fixed. It's odd to kill of an EV amp like that might have been a fault in it
 
Kirby, the conditioner might have bit the big one, but I wouldn't count the amp out yet.

I don't think the amp is fried, but some protection may be. Check for internal fuse first ( about a buck ), then a power diode ( like a 1N5404, for instance) Look at the power input board and check by sight AND scent ( burnt smell). Maybe a zener diode or SCR.

Believe it or not most power based problems are cheap and easy to repair. ( a few bucks tops) simply because they generally don't make it past the power input board- and I mean almost NEVER.

I get a lot of "Free" equipment from people who don't know better.....
 
Thanks Joe, that gives me somewhere to start. :) Groom does car stereo installs and he said he could smell it across the room before we shut down.

I didn't smell a thing as the side door of the building was open and all I could smell was cigarettes and cigars....:sqconfused:
 
Kirby Ball said:
Thanks Joe, that gives me somewhere to start. :) Groom does car stereo installs and he said he could smell it across the room before we shut down.

I didn't smell a thing as the side door of the building was open and all I could smell was cigarettes and cigars....:sqconfused:
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If it was a super bad rotten egg stench - ask the groom- then it was probably a selenium bridge rectifier ( usually square if full wave, and found just after the transformer on the power board.) If it wasn't that horrible, a regular diode or power resistor, or the larger "reservoir caps"- all cheap to replace.

If it could be smelled, there's a good chance you'll be able to see a burn mark on the board under the particular component.
 
I concur with Joe but regardless EV ought to have a shot at taking care of it with temp replacement considering they are most often considered bullet proof. Dont try any surgery at home if under warranty.
 
Yikes..... Kirby

You just confirmed my worst fears and why I want two amps in place for my TX system despite the manufacuters claim of single amp ops..... no way I want to be in your situation and not have anything to fall back on.... thank God you did have something in place.

Good luck my friend!
 
It's cool that you had a back up amp ready.

The DJ at my cousin's wedding, his amp fried & had no back up.....dead air for 40 min. till his buddy brought out another one.
 
When you smell that smell, it is a bad sign, so it's Doctor Doctor, time is on my side!

Is this amp one of the new ones made in Germany? I thought you weren't supposed to be able hurt them in any manner!

Kirby, Joe is correct the fix on amps (at least the older ones without all the bells and whistles) is fairly easy! When you get into digital amps with DSP processing it may be a completely different story! I am great with repairing the older AB amps but with the digital amps I closed it back up and sent it back to the manufacturer!
 
Thunder said:
When you smell that smell, it is a bad sign, so it's Doctor Doctor, time is on my side!

Is this amp one of the new ones made in Germany? I thought you weren't supposed to be able hurt them in any manner!

Kirby, Joe is correct the fix on amps (at least the older ones without all the bells and whistles) is fairly easy! When you get into digital amps with DSP processing it may be a completely different story! I am great with repairing the older AB amps but with the digital amps I closed it back up and sent it back to the manufacturer!
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To Thunder.

Yep. I am scared silly about the new amps with all the bells and whistles. I have never had an amp blow out on me, ever. Still using the BGW I bought back in 1978 along with the Dynaco Amp kit I built in the very early 70s (Still work but not used actively in gigs).
These new amps may claim lightweight and heavy power but I am still skeptical.

To Kirby.
I use and trust EV Products and I hope that it is something simple that won't cost you a bundle. I hate to hear whenever a DJ's system malfunctions in the middle of a gig. I can imagine the stress factor kicking in. Good luck with it.
 
Kirby,
As mentioned before, before you have a coronary or stroke check the fuse, start with the simple stuff. I also think your amp is relatively new so maybe it's still under warranty. I'm not familiar with the Furman your using and if it was plugged into the same circuit as the amp. If it was and if the3 Furman is so equipped, what was the voltage reading at the time of the mishap?
 
One other thing when caps blow or anything electric the smell doesnt go away over night. I say this in brief experience with an amp years ago or electronics melt down. The ones in the know can deny or confirm my comment.
 
You're not supposed to let out the magic smoke!!!!
Fuses are simple and will leave no smell. Caps will usually "pop" when they don't feel well. Since you didn't say "I lost a channel"...I'd guess the output transistors are fine.
Looks like power supply to me.
Check the fuses and go from there. Most likely the bridge rectifier....but you never know. Look for the component burned beyond recognition.
 
Kirby, congratulations on having a backup on site. Too many DJs often rely on just the one.
As for the trouble-shooting suggestions even though I only use Active speakers, the information provided is invaluable. Others who lurke here will learn something from this thread. You guys are to be commended for coming to the aid of a fellow ODJT member. I'm new to the Board but can appreciate the willingness to help.
 
If I was a betting man I would say the Furman took the bullet for the EV bet it isn't more than a fuse.....

The hard part might be to figure out what caused the problem in the first place
 
Maybe the stink came from the Furman and not the amp.
 
Does the Furman have those pull out lights? If so, were the lights on and not pulled out? That can cause a heat build up and thus failure inside the unit.
 
Kirby -

Call me tomorrow. That amp should be covered under warranty. If it is the amp, that will be the first EV amp failure under warranty that I can recall. In any event, I'm here to help. We'll make this painless.

Ben
 
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