Cold weather = fuses blowing on amp?
01-22-2005, 08:35 AM
#1
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 194
The other day it was -27°C and I was just leaving my driveway with the heating fans on when I turned on my radio. About 3 seconds after it was on, the fans slowed down then stopped and the CD player went off probably due to low voltage. What happened next was a big *** !POW! 
and then everything went back on. So I stopped the car and checked what was wrong, to find one of my amps smelled burnt circuity and had its fuses popped.
When I had a chance to take it out of the car and investigate, I found no seemingly damaged circuitry, capacitors, resistors or transistors [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]
My question is, does low temps make the lives of amps hell, and why would fuses blow like that?
and then everything went back on. So I stopped the car and checked what was wrong, to find one of my amps smelled burnt circuity and had its fuses popped.When I had a chance to take it out of the car and investigate, I found no seemingly damaged circuitry, capacitors, resistors or transistors [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]
My question is, does low temps make the lives of amps hell, and why would fuses blow like that?
01-22-2005, 10:31 AM
#2
Yikes...
I dont think cold weather itself would cause anything to fail.... the way you describe everything going down for a second before the fuse poped, sounds like something shorted out..... and it was probably something inside the amp !
Check your speakers/subs/wires from the amp for shorts... replace fuses and hook the amp back up.. see if it comes on, see if it has output... (probably better to bench the amp on a 12V supply instead of hooking it up to a battery that has a potentially dangerous/destructive amount of current)
When you looked inside the amp to check out the circuitry was thier any moisture inside ?????
Its very possible that you had an output that was ready to go anyway... when presented with the low impedance of a chilled voice coil she decided to let go (perhaps sooner rather then later)....... Transistors wont always blow wide open when they fail.... sometimes its really hard to tell if they are even cracked....
I dont think cold weather itself would cause anything to fail.... the way you describe everything going down for a second before the fuse poped, sounds like something shorted out..... and it was probably something inside the amp !
Check your speakers/subs/wires from the amp for shorts... replace fuses and hook the amp back up.. see if it comes on, see if it has output... (probably better to bench the amp on a 12V supply instead of hooking it up to a battery that has a potentially dangerous/destructive amount of current)
When you looked inside the amp to check out the circuitry was thier any moisture inside ?????
Its very possible that you had an output that was ready to go anyway... when presented with the low impedance of a chilled voice coil she decided to let go (perhaps sooner rather then later)....... Transistors wont always blow wide open when they fail.... sometimes its really hard to tell if they are even cracked....
01-22-2005, 11:35 AM
#3
If you had your amp running warm/hot and then shut the car off as the inside temperature of the car drops it is possible for the amp to condisate inside and create moisture inside the amp due to the temperature differences. The next time you apply power it could cause damage. I have only seen this a couple of times and I remember reading an artical about not running your equipment hard it the cold season for these reasons.
01-22-2005, 11:56 AM
#4
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 194
Thanks guys, basically I haven't driven the system hard anytime for a while; summer or winter.
One thing I did notice when I brought it inside is that when I hooked up the amp, even without the turn on lead, if there are fuses in it, it will draw excessive current. So basically, its as if there is a short somewhere I guess, but how would you know what's the cause?
Damn this sucks though...
One thing I did notice when I brought it inside is that when I hooked up the amp, even without the turn on lead, if there are fuses in it, it will draw excessive current. So basically, its as if there is a short somewhere I guess, but how would you know what's the cause?
Damn this sucks though...
