Looking for help with zx475ti repair/upgrade

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ssmokeyy
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 3:13 pm

Looking for help with zx475ti repair/upgrade

Post by ssmokeyy »

So I have picked up some ti gear and want to get them checked out and repaired. Does any one know of a person or company to contact that still works on these? I got a zx475ti,zx400ti,powercore xl brand new. Not sure how long the powercore is good for. An old pg store closed after the owner died and they found all this old school gear. Also wonder if anyone knows how underrated these guys might be around. Just wondering because I'm doing a system with the new focal flax f3 3way and I was told they can handle 120 rms and I would like to give close to that to them.
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Jacampb2
Mad Scientist
Posts: 1562
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:57 pm
Location: Beaverton 48612

Re: Looking for help with zx475ti repair/upgrade

Post by Jacampb2 »

I repair nearly any car audio electronics, although I'd say my specialty is Phoenix gold. I can give you details and my email contact info if you'd like to drop me a pm.

The zxti amps may need to have their power supply caps replaced. Most of the zxti amps still had the faulty Panasonic caps. Do not power them until you confirm for certain that they are not Panasonic. The Panasonic caps leak out the bottom rubber seal and it eats away the board as well as quite often literally catches fire. Most times there are no external sounds that they are leaking.

Most powercores will also have faulty caps. The 15f one with the Alumapro module normally have a split module, it seems it's not related to use it age. I have designed a replacement 66.6F supercap module to repair these. If it's the 10F or 20F one, they are fire hazards. The caps can be replaced, but it's expensive. Once I get a hold of some samples of those, I'll design replacement noodles for them as well.

Thanks,
Jason
M: M100, M44 for a custom amp project
Zx: Zx500, Zx450, Black Zx350
ZxTi: 4 Zx600Ti's, 1 Zx400Ti
Ti: 5 800.1's & 900.7 for a custom amp project. 1 1200.1, 1 1000.2
Tantrum: 2 1200.1's, 1 600.4, 1 500.2
XS: XS6600
ssmokeyy
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 3:13 pm

Re: Looking for help with zx475ti repair/upgrade

Post by ssmokeyy »

So paying $125 for that 20 fared new was a bad deal it sound leak.
ssmokeyy
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 3:13 pm

Re: Looking for help with zx475ti repair/upgrade

Post by ssmokeyy »

Sent pm to
Jacampb2. Looking forward to getting these things worked on.
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Jacampb2
Mad Scientist
Posts: 1562
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:57 pm
Location: Beaverton 48612

Re: Looking for help with zx475ti repair/upgrade

Post by Jacampb2 »

ssmokeyy wrote:So paying $125 for that 20 fared new was a bad deal it sound leak.
The 10 and 20 farad models used an array of very small supercaps to reach their rated capacity. Sadly, a lot of the caps leaked and it soaks into the board and many times shorts out the power and ground planes and starts a fire. The small caps are still available and can be replaced, but I priced it out for a client a while ago and it was well over 600 in parts to do the job. I found with more modern higher capacity supercaps I could get it to close to the same 20f mark with fewer caps and get the price down, but it was still around 300 in parts of memory serves. In contrast, the parts I use in my 66.6F module cost a bit over 150 and is more than 3 times the capacity.

Eventually I'll get samples of the other powercores and do a replacement board for them too, but I don't have any timeline on it yet.
Last edited by Jacampb2 on Mon Sep 16, 2019 3:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
M: M100, M44 for a custom amp project
Zx: Zx500, Zx450, Black Zx350
ZxTi: 4 Zx600Ti's, 1 Zx400Ti
Ti: 5 800.1's & 900.7 for a custom amp project. 1 1200.1, 1 1000.2
Tantrum: 2 1200.1's, 1 600.4, 1 500.2
XS: XS6600
ttocs
the Floor Sweeping Hack with Golden Ears
Posts: 14783
Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2008 9:53 pm

Re: Looking for help with zx475ti repair/upgrade

Post by ttocs »

he is not joking about the fire hazard. When a cap explodes it can really explode...

Should sound great on the focals though
what else can I say I am a grumpy asshole most of the time.
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