PSW-50 problem?

David Finateri

Does anyone have an idea why the subwoofer (PSW-50) works fine for a few minutes then switches to standby mode. When a commercial comes on (usually a hotter signal) or a stronger bass signal,if on radio or CD, it will come back on. It may work fine again for a 1/2 hour or maybe just a couple of minutes.
I am using an Acoustic Research subwoofer cable from an Onkyo TX-DS 575 and a like brand "y" into the back of the sub.

Thanks in advance
Dave

juice21

i am not too familiar with a psw50, but the other polk models have an auto on/off mode. where, if the sub does not recieve a low frequency after 5-15 minutes (whatever the respective time is set to) it will power down, until it reaches it's next low frequency signal. check the back of your sub, if it set to auto on/off, just switch it to the non-auto setting. so when you turn everything else on, you'll reach around and turn your sub on too. just remember to shut it off with everything else too. the auto on/off is to avoid this constant powering on and off manually, and the save electricity, but if it annoying to you, and you have the option to turn the auto off, try it, and you shouldn't have your problem anymore!

ntculenuff

i was having the same prob with my definitive sub, it would power off while i was watching a movie with little lfe signal it drove me up a wall. i e-mailed definitive and they sent me a kit to increase the auto on/off from 10 minutes to 35 minutes and increase the low frequency sensitivity it picks up almost immediately. much happier now.
maybe polk has something like this for there subs

RuSsMaN

Splain man.

What was in the kit, what did you do?

Cheers,
Russ

ntculenuff

Chet is the tech there at definitive super nice guy, he sent me 1 new resistor and 2 new capacitor and a few simple diagrams and instructions. so when it arrived i grab the trusty solder iron and went to work took about 15 min.
basicly this is what i did:

replaced:
1) a 10uF 50v electrolytic capacitor with a 22uF 35v electrolytic capcitor
2) a 1k¿ resistor w/ a 475¿ resistor
3) a .1uF 50v ceramic capacitor w/ a .33uF 50v ceramic capacitor
it was actually quite simple.

i had e mailed him about it turning off and such and he e mailed me with a few diff options and this was one. Tried the others but liked this idea much better
the only other option i can remember was turning the gain down on the sub and increasing the sub volume on the rcvr.

ntculenuff

2) a 1k¿ resistor w/ a 475¿ resistor

the upside down ? mark is an ohm symbol in word.
guess the forum font doesn't recognize the symbol :rolleyes:

David Finateri

Originally posted by ntculenuff
Chet is the tech there at definitive super nice guy, he sent me 1 new resistor and 2 new capacitor and a few simple diagrams and instructions. so when it arrived i grab the trusty solder iron and went to work took about 15 min.
basicly this is what i did:

replaced:
1) a 10uF 50v electrolytic capacitor with a 22uF 35v electrolytic capcitor
2) a 1k¿ resistor w/ a 475¿ resistor
3) a .1uF 50v ceramic capacitor w/ a .33uF 50v ceramic capacitor
it was actually quite simple.

i had e mailed him about it turning off and such and he e mailed me with a few diff options and this was one. Tried the others but liked this idea much better
the only other option i can remember was turning the gain down on the sub and increasing the sub volume on the rcvr.

That sounds like the fix for me. I suppose I should try to hunt down some schematics. I have the reciever volume maxed and turned the gain down on the sub, this works better, that's why I think increasing the timer is the way to go.
Thank for the help!

jcaut

This sounds like a good question for Polk customer service.

Keep in mind that some receivers will clip the subwoofer output at high volume, if the sub volume on the receiver is cranked up too much.

Jason

ntculenuff

David Finateri

That sounds like the fix for me. I suppose I should try to hunt down some schematics.

i would just call the polk cust service, dont see why they wouldnt have the same sort of thing
good luck