Power amp Problems!!!

[chappy]

currently I use a warrior definitive audio IS 1000 power amp powering two peavey eurosys 500w speakers, tho every time I use the p.a . about half way through the night the left channel keeps going into protect, while the other channel continues to do its job, even tho both channels are set to the same volume.

I'm still trying to work this one out so any help would be appreciated.

 

cheers :)

[Chris Hinds]

Cable shorting? Speaker with defective crossover/driver? There are really too many variables at present. Does it make a difference which speaker is connected or which cable you use? Are you using the banana plugs or is there a speakon output? Has the amp ever been cleaned out or could one side be full of muck?

 

They aren't volume controls, they are input attenuators, they just control how hard you have to push into the amp to get the level out.

 

Hope that helps

 

Regards

 

Chris

[chappy]

No difference to what speaker is used or cable for that matter. also answering your questions, speakon connectors and yes it has been cleaned out tho the amp is regularly enclosed in a flight case when only the front is needed for access.

[Chris Hinds]

Next thing to look for the would probably be a cold solder joint in the output area of the amp - it's possible that there is a short to ground through the case and that is causing it to trip. Also look for any signs of burned or overheated components on the board.

 

Regards

 

Chris

[chappy]

Next thing to look for the would probably be a cold solder joint in the output area of the amp - it's possible that there is a short to ground through the case and that is causing it to trip. Also look for any signs of burned or overheated components on the board.

cheers will do

 

also if any body else or chris can think of anything else it would be very useful

 

cheers

[Light Console]

Had a similar fault in some DAS amps a few years ago. Turned out that the fan for channel B slowed right down at random times, sending channel B into protect. I don't know your amp at all, but if it has two fans, check that both blow about the same amount of air, at random times through a night.

[Chris Beesley]

tho the amp is regularly enclosed in a flight case when only the front is needed for access.

Above you mentioned it is enclosed in a flightcase... both ends of the case will need to be fully open for airflow - if not the amp will overheat and this could be causing your problem!

It might also be worth calling Prolight and speaking with their technical guys.

Its worth checking your connections inside the speakons, not only for quality of connections but also the correct wiring etc.

[saturnx21]

You beat me to it Light Console I was about to suggest it could be a fan not working as a customer came to me with exactly the same fault with exactly the same amp (the warrior) about 6 months ago and that was the fan coursing the problem

 

:)

[chappy]

Saturnx21 you say that you had the same problem with the same amp. when you started up the amp did the fans at the back starty= straight away or did they only start later on in the night when you were pumping it out louder?

 

cheers

 

sam

 

Above you mentioned it is enclosed in a flightcase... both ends of the case will need to be fully open for airflow - if not the amp will overheat and this could be causing your problem!

 

I understand what your saying but the other p.a. set up that I use is a 2000w set up of peavey subs and mackie tops.

these are running off an older peavey power amp that is again enclosed in a flight case when only the front is ever opened. also there is alot of other outbord equipment generating heat alongside the amp.

but after all this the peavey amp still performs to the max.

[Chris Beesley]

To be fair peavey amps are usually built a little more robust than the warrior amps... either way its still not good practice to run any amps where ther airflow is not free around the amp (most, if not all manufacturers warnn against blocking airflow in the instructions)

 

Hope this helps.

[saturnx21]

chappy Posted Today, 5:06 PM

Saturnx21 you say that you had the same problem with the same amp. when you started up the amp did the fans at the back starty= straight away or did they only start later on in the night when you were pumping it out louder?

 

The fans on the warrior amps are thermostatically controlled so the only come on when the amp gets warm :P

 

:)

[chappy]

cheers for your help guys :)

[Trunker]

currently I use a warrior definitive audio IS 1000 power amp powering two peavey eurosys 500w speakers, tho every time I use the p.a . about half way through the night the left channel keeps going into protect, while the other channel continues to do its job, even tho both channels are set to the same volume.

I'm still trying to work this one out so any help would be appreciated.

 

cheers :(

 

The protect is there for a reason and most probabley there because DC current have occured. how your EQ is set can effect this an EQ is there for boosting frequencies (Front of House wise). Cut anything below 40Hz on the EQ. Postion the 63Hz just below centre line and the 100Hz just above centre line. The rest shouls then be flat. Your amp is like a brain and driving low bass is like thinking too hard it starts to hurt and the amp dectects DC power (amplifier equivilant to a headache) this then tells its system to protect itself and that is why (mostly) it goes to protect. Try this and tell me if the situation is better.

[jim b]

The protect is there for a reason and most probabley there because DC current have occured. how your EQ is set can effect this an EQ is there for boosting frequencies (Front of House wise). Cut anything below 40Hz on the EQ. Postion the 63Hz just below centre line and the 100Hz just above centre line. The rest shouls then be flat. Your amp is like a brain and driving low bass is like thinking too hard it starts to hurt and the amp dectects DC power (amplifier equivilant to a headache) this then tells its system to protect itself and that is why (mostly) it goes to protect. Try this and tell me if the situation is better.

 

Erm, please tell me this is a wind up.

 

The protect system is there to (hopefully) stop the amp destroying itself when presented with abnormal loads, short circuits and (depending on the model) thermal problems. That it reliably puts only one side of the amp into protect regardless of which speaker and cable is connected to the output would indicate for me that the amp needs proper invesigation. As has already been suggested, look for: objects physically shorting the outputs, obstructions to airflow, and blown, burnt out or otherwise damaged components...another test which may give you a clue is to run the amp with no load or input for a while to see if it still goes into protect, what if it's out of its case? In your case you're lucky that you have a working circuit to compare against i.e. if something looks/meters strangely then does it do the same on the working side of the amp. How hard are you driving the amp? Some amps shutdown if the output level is asked to exceed a certain level for a certain amount of time (i.e. it will happily reproduce peaks above this level but if it is sustained then it goes into protect)

 

With regards to the EQ 'advice' above, it has no merit. If your system was supplying a DC current to the amp's input then any pro amp will have a filter which removes ultra low frequency content (pulling a random figure from a QSC RMX at about 5Hz). When setting up your system processing you need to take account of your speaker parameters, however this does not appear to be your problem (the symptom of that would most likely be damaged sub drivers due to them being driven below their recommended frequency range). The EQ is there to change the tonality of the system/compensate for problems with the room and system.

 

An amp which fails sometimes "goes dc" and outputs a steady current, which is obviously not audible but would become evident in the form of cooked drivers (without the movement of the cone backwards and forwards the cooling of the voice coil is inhibited, leading to a temperature build up until failure). This "going dc" is a problem with the amplifier itself, not its signal chain. An overheated amp (from being overdriven/run in poor airflow) is more likely to have component failures which then lead to DC output but other than that I think we're talking different problems.

 

I'd check the factors listed above ahead of the stuff in the previous post, the brain analogy is a poor one and the conclusions and advice given seem equally ill advised.

[p.k.roberts]

Erm, please tell me this is a wind up.

 

Sadly, I fear not.

 

Anyway, I would also think you've could well have a heat problem here. I've just had a look at a picture of the beasty and it's clearly 'front to back' ventilation, so get the back of the flightcase off. Are you running the system hard? Can you try running the system at a lower level for an extended period and see if the problem still occurs? With the back of the flight case off, you should also be able to feel if both the fans are running (I'm assuming there are two, but this is only based on the picture of the product I've just looked at). As to why the fault always occurs on the same channel, this could just be down to the internal design; that side may simply not be getting the same airflow as the other.