Is my amp failing?

[SilkySmoove 0]

Last night as I was just listening to the radio as I was driving along and I began to notice an odd smell in my car. My volume was low, and I have not played my music loud in a while. Initially I thought maybe something was just coming through the vents outside. However, when I got home and popped my trunk I was greeted with a haze of white smoke!!!!!

I am running two amps; an SAE-1200D and a SAX-50.4. Upon further investigation this morning I checked the impedance of all my speakers and they are what they should be and my voltages are correct at the amp. After letting the trunk air out a little bit I noticed that the smell seemed to be associated with the 1200D and not the 50.4 as a result of actually putting my nose to the amps and smelling them.

I'm in a rush to get to class so I will provide more details on my setup later. I was just looking for some quick insight.

Thanks,

Thomas

[sundownz 197]

Does it still work or not ?

[SilkySmoove 0]

Does it still work or not ?

Last night it was. I disconnected it today when I was doing some preliminary troubleshooting so I don't know the current status. This morning I measured the impedance of my speakers and they seemed to be fine:

-AA Havoc 2ohm DVC wired to 1ohm => 0.9ohm readout from multimeter

-Image Dynamics Comp Set 4ohm => 3.6ohm readout from multimeter

This morning I disconnected the remote turn on and signal cables from the SAE-1200D, assuming it was the culprit, but I left the power and ground plugged in. After driving to class this morning with only the 50.4 running my comp set the smell returned. My next course of action is to completely remove power from the SAE-1200D to isolate whether or not the smell is coming from the 50.4. I also have a Kinetik HC600 in the trunk of which the voltage was fine and there were no obvious signs of irregularities.

Between classes it is hard to spend much time troubleshooting so I am just doing what I can throughout the day. All help is welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks!!!!

P.S.

I have not adjusted my setup in a few months and things have been fine until recently.

[Duran 387]

Take the 1200 out and open it, take a picture of the inside and look thoroughly for any burn marks.

[SilkySmoove 0]

Take the 1200 out and open it, take a picture of the inside and look thoroughly for any burn marks.

I will do that as soon as I get a chance. For the meantime I went ahead and completely disconnected the power from it.

Man I tell you a bad amp is the last thing I needed between interviewing, deciding on a job offer, or continuing on to grad school this last semester in college lol

[SilkySmoove 0]

I got a chance to open up my 1200D and, as I had suspected from the smell of things, a component was blown. As can be seen in the pics below it appears that a cap blew and the resistors in the vicinity of the blown cap were fried. I am assuming this falls under the warranty.

[BanginGMC 23]

OUCH! That shit looks intense.

[SilkySmoove 0]

OUCH! That shit looks intense.

Tell me about it man. My trunk still smells like burnt electrical components.........

[Duran 387]

It literally exploded. Shrapnel is everywhere. Crazy

[bigrank916 72]

Was this V1 or V2? I hope the first. Sucks man.

[NB50 206]

It literally exploded. Shrapnel is everywhere. Crazy

You should be around one when one explodes, gets your adrenaline flowin pretty good. In one of my electronics class the group behind us was having a problem getting their lab circuit to work. The teacher went back there started to look at the circuit and noticed they had one of the electrolytic capacitors in backwards, as soon as he said that a loud bang and he went rushing out of the room. He came back maybe 10 minutes later with a huge welt on his top lip where the cap hit him.

[bigrank916 72]

It literally exploded. Shrapnel is everywhere. Crazy

You should be around one when one explodes, gets your adrenaline flowin pretty good. In one of my electronics class the group behind us was having a problem getting their lab circuit to work. The teacher went back there started to look at the circuit and noticed they had one of the electrolytic capacitors in backwards, as soon as he said that a loud bang and he went rushing out of the room. He came back maybe 10 minutes later with a huge welt on his top lip where the cap hit him.

LOL! Ouch Dude.

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

OUCH!

No, your amp has failed. Sorry bro. I am sure you can work something out with Sundown.

Edited February 28, 2010 by Sir-Lancelot

[Julian 641]

It literally exploded. Shrapnel is everywhere. Crazy

You should be around one when one explodes, gets your adrenaline flowin pretty good. In one of my electronics class the group behind us was having a problem getting their lab circuit to work. The teacher went back there started to look at the circuit and noticed they had one of the electrolytic capacitors in backwards, as soon as he said that a loud bang and he went rushing out of the room. He came back maybe 10 minutes later with a huge welt on his top lip where the cap hit him.

LOL! Ouch Dude.

That happened to me once but i was wearing safety glasses and it burned almost straight through the plastic

[Kanaworm$ 292]

That sux man!

[dre3k78 0]

Ive read about several issues with the 1200D v1...im guessing the v2 is less problematic.

[SilkySmoove 0]

It is a V1 model of the 1200D. I bought it new from Jacob back in February of last year, installed it this past summer, then out of nowhere last week I was left with a trunk full of smoke and a car filled with the smell of burnt out components.

When I first noticed the smell as I was driving along I assumed that someone was burning something outside and the smell was just coming in through my vents..........boy was I wrong. As soon as I stepped out of my car I smelled nothing but fresh air. Thinking that was kind of odd I decide to pop the trunk to which I was greeted with a haze of white smoke!!!!

[SilkySmoove 0]

Ive read about several issues with the 1200D v1...im guessing the v2 is less problematic.

What are some of the issues you read about in regards to the V1 model?

[dre3k78 0]

Ive read about several issues with the 1200D v1...im guessing the v2 is less problematic.

What are some of the issues you read about in regards to the V1 model?

Ive just seen threads regarding issues with the amp here and other forums. Im guessing there was an issue with the v1 models which is why Jacob made revisions with the v2. Im sure he will replace yours with a v2 as Jacob has great CS. Didnt i sell you that 50.4 on CA.com? I go by Gville on those forums. Hows that holding up? I dont think i ever powered that thing...just opened the box.

[sundownz 197]

Shoot me an email.

[SilkySmoove 0]

Ive read about several issues with the 1200D v1...im guessing the v2 is less problematic.

What are some of the issues you read about in regards to the V1 model?

Ive just seen threads regarding issues with the amp here and other forums. Im guessing there was an issue with the v1 models which is why Jacob made revisions with the v2. Im sure he will replace yours with a v2 as Jacob has great CS. Didnt i sell you that 50.4 on CA.com? I go by Gville on those forums. Hows that holding up? I dont think i ever powered that thing...just opened the box.

Matter of fact you did sale me my 50.4 lol.......its holding up well, no complaints at all!

[thebiggmann12 14]

if that sub is a dual 2 it should be reading about 2 ohms per side...or did u test it with them wired together?