Is my power amplifier breaking?
I bought a HH s130 slave amplifier, very second hand and it was unsure if it was working. So I plugged my guitar in connected up the speakers and it works, well there is sound and it has a really nice tone too. I don't think its a full 100 watts coming out though, it's not as loud as my other 100w amp. I took the covers off and there are two large capacitors in there, 4700uF 50v electrolytics 53mm high and 35mm diameter, both of which have some serious bulges on the tops as if they are just on the point of melting.
Questions:
What are these caps for? I'm assuming that they are in the output stage as they are so big?
If they do blow can I expect 50-100v through my speaker coils and expensive damage to the speakers?
Might them being partially blown be contributing to the nice sound I am getting?
Is a guitar a high enough level input for this amp or is it expecting a line level as it is a slave amp? (There is an 'input' on the front and an 'aux input' at the back)
I will replace the caps but I want to know if its safe (for the speakers) to use it in the meantime.
Questions:
What are these caps for? I'm assuming that they are in the output stage as they are so big?
If they do blow can I expect 50-100v through my speaker coils and expensive damage to the speakers?
Might them being partially blown be contributing to the nice sound I am getting?
Is a guitar a high enough level input for this amp or is it expecting a line level as it is a slave amp? (There is an 'input' on the front and an 'aux input' at the back)
I will replace the caps but I want to know if its safe (for the speakers) to use it in the meantime.
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SOLUTION
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ASKER
ok thanks for the advice.
I'll strip it properly when I'm changing the capacitors and give it a good clean all through.
I'll strip it properly when I'm changing the capacitors and give it a good clean all through.
Thank you and good luck with your project. ... Thinkpads_User
ASKER
Just an update and a thankyou. I found these people http://www.majelectronic.co.uk/ who have all the spare parts for H||H ampifiers. I spoke to them and they were very helpful and friendly on the phone. Ordered the parts (new caps, new rubber feet, volume pot, and even the correct coloured replacement plastic nut for one of the jack sockets and was given good advice on how to change the parts. The parts arrived less than 24 hours from my phone call and all fitted perfectly (good price too).
My amp sounds great still, I just wanted to say thanks for the help I got here and to recommend MAJ in case anyone else is looking for parts for one of these amps.
My amp sounds great still, I just wanted to say thanks for the help I got here and to recommend MAJ in case anyone else is looking for parts for one of these amps.
ASKER
That has me convinced. As well as this article that suggests that age and non-use can kill the capacitors. I've no idea when the amp was last used, but it is quite dusty as if it has been stored a long time. There is a fair amount of rust on parts of the chassis and some white powdery deposits on most of the insides. I thought this was from damp storage but maybe its from leaky caps and the amp wasn't used after a smoky incident. I'm definitely changing them now.
http://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/~reese/electrolytics/