Amp issue

kevhed72

I had my amp powered off an the kiddies were playing the Wii. When I realized the amp was off due no sound coming from the front channels, I instinctively turned it on (AVR was powered up prior and sending signal to amp).
When I flipped the power on, instead of the normal click sound, I heard a loud pop and saw a spark on the inside of amp. Weird thing is, everything works fine now. Does this amp need to be serviced? Build date was 1993 I believe...

texas ed

Can you see or smell where the pop came from?Is your amp vented for you to get a flashlight and take a look.I would not feel comfortable personally unless it had the cover pulled and could be looked at by a tech...

texas ed

Didn't the power conditioner do anything like shut the amp down,etc???

mmadden28

How may channels does it have? How many are you using?
Are ALL of your speakers still working?

I would disconnect it from power and pop the hood and look around with a flashlight before I did anything else, and that includes using it any more.

Also check your speaker connections to make sure you have no stray copper strands shorting.

kevhed72

All 3 speakers - 3 channel amp - still work fine. No smell of smoke or anything right after the pop. At the time, I had the amp plugged directly into the wall, and everything else into the PC. Both outlets being used at the time are on the same circuit of the house. This is the first time I turned this particular amp on with a signal from the AVR being sent to it prior to turning on the amp.

I turned it off, unplugged it from the wall outlet, plugged into PC, and turned back on with no issues. Bad power switch or power supply maybe...I have no clue....

kevhed72

Well, here are some pics. The 2nd and 3rd pics are the general area the spark came from, and the 4th pic is showing the brown goo coming from the small blue caps, which I am assuming is am age issue and probably be addressed sooner than later. I paid 700.00 but have no idea if these old caps should be considered "acceptable" from a buyers standpoint,,,,

kevhed72

Now I am wondering if this amp should go back to the seller altogether, ask for a partial refund, and/or see what it will cost to have serviced by Parasound.

mmadden28

You just got the amp?--Did it ever work for you? Or was this the 1st time you had it hooked up?

inspiredsports

kevhed72 wrote: »

Now I am wondering if this amp should go back to the seller altogether, ask for a partial refund, and/or see what it will cost to have serviced by Parasound.

You could direct a Parasound or other reputable technician to this page to view the images and perhaps get an estimate. It may be a known issue. Also as asked aove, is this the first time you powered up? If not, how long have you had it?

Is it a situation where you think the seller will help with a partial refund or complete return?

Caps in the 17 to 20 year range can be ready for replacement, but multiple failures like that might indicate something upstream is bad and allowing too much current there.

A visual spark would cause me to pull the plug and not fire it back up until someone knowledgeable has had a look.

kevhed72

I first used the amp last Tues. I emailed the seller regarding the issue and still waiting to hear back. I am either going to return or request a partial refund to have the unit sent in to an authorized repair center; tomorrow I will get some estimates on service, but I am guessing around 200 - 300ish to have the whole thing looked over and the caps replaced....but this is a guess.

If I do return, I may just save up my pennies for a Halo model off Audiogon.

megasat16

I think the loud pop you heard inside the amp may comes from the relays. There could be DC protection relays and AC relay. Especially with parasound amps, the problem usually is poorly made cheap relays used in those amps.

It's also possible the amp this age has DC imbalance in the circuit or discharged filter capacitors from one rails voltage triggers the DC protection (ON) when you first turned it on. But when the filter caps are charged (takes very fast and about a second or two), the relays may be forced to be turned off. During that time, the relays with old and dirty contacts may create momentary electric spark and creates a loud pop.

If you hear popping from the speakers during turning the amp on or off, it's most likely the DC problem exists in the amp and relays may requires cleaning / replacing.

It may also probably be current leakage from the large filter capacitors or relay problems or something else such as a leaking transistors or a very small shorting of components somewhere on the circuit.

It's a Technician job for sure if it keeps happening. But I don't think the gooey mass on top of the small capacitors are a sign of leaking from them. It's not very likely the capacitors of small size will not create that kind of mass on all of them. And usually, the electrolytes solution are not thick solution like that and you'll smell something (like rotten egg or rotten fish) if the capacitors are leaking.

I think the yellowish gooey mass is actually glue from Hot Glue gun and Parasound used them for some reasons. It could be to stabilize the small electrolytic capacitors from heat stress and hold them together to lessen heat related damage to the solder joints.

Try leaving the amp "ON" for a couple of days without playing anything if you haven't used the amp on regular basics (meaning if you don't use it like once every one or two days). It will probably stabilize small DC offset problem in the amp if it's only minor. But if the problem persists, the relays may be dirty and requiring replacement or leaky component such as capacitors or transistors are causing it. So, it's a Technician job or return it to seller if he accepts it (I highly doubt he will).

Good Luck!