All PG Mercedes Benz 190e

Tiger · Post by **Tiger** » Tue May 04, 2010 1:43 am

I wouldn't have touched the install. It was spot on the way it was. Some crazy-as old-school gear and a retro stealth install to fit. It WAS awesome as it was.

Them Lanzars... Beyoncé once sung a song about them... Irreplaceable!!

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Tue May 04, 2010 5:25 am

Totally understand, thought you maybe sold it off the forum.

anyways did not mean to piss you off, was just kidding , after all it's your car and you should do with it what u want

I don't quite get this statement
"f I can't hook a battery charger up to my car without burning an amp up then I don't want that amp"

I serioulsy dooubt hooking up a charger would smoke an amp , I have my car hookedup to the chrager most days , and have never had an issue.

What was suggested is to get the caps changed in the amp as after 20 years (like mist electrical items) they begin to fail, and the fluid comes out of them, this then tends to short the current below the caps and can cause the board to burn.

eulogious · Post by **eulogious** » Tue May 04, 2010 6:08 am

scottx wrote:If I can't hook a battery charger up to my car without burning an amp up then I don't want that amp. In the 18 years I've been installing I've never seen some bullshit like that. I like pg stuff a lot. My car is mostly pg. That jl amp was a gift to me from a shop owner where I worked. I've always loved it and always will.

This cracks me up! If you new anything about electronics, or even how amps operated on a very simple level, you would understand that 20 year old components have a tendency to fail, especially caps! Even that beloved JL amp you have WILL fail if you left the power off for 15 years, and then applied a lot of power to it later on. If you have been installing for 18 years, I would think you would have a better idea of simple electronic theory and not blame it on the amp itself , but rather time

But I digress, it's not my car or amp. I just don't like idiotic comments thrown out there by ill informed people who claim to know something based off experience, when there is science to prove them wrong.

Either way you got a sweet deal on the car, and I do look forward to seeing what you do with it. It would be sweet if it stayed PG, but you got a good base to start off of if you do decided to go a different route. Please keep us informed on what you do!

Post by **ttocs** » Tue May 04, 2010 6:32 am

smoke an amp form jumpstarting it? Never heard about this. Did it happen to you or just something you have heard about?

Swappin a frank for a JL?

I vote to ban!

Post by **stipud** » Tue May 04, 2010 6:34 am

Frank... sold... for A series JL...

Lanzars... removed... for solobarics...

Round fiberglass... in... square merc...

I need to block myself from this thread before I start cutting myself

marko · Post by **marko** » Tue May 04, 2010 8:01 am

if the charger was a garage job then there is a possibility it smoked the amp, the caps are only rated to 16v input. commercial chargers often chager over this to get a car started as quick as possible..

eulogious · Post by **eulogious** » Tue May 04, 2010 8:03 am

marko wrote:if the charger was a garage job then there is a possibility it smoked the amp, the caps are only rated to 16v input. commercial chargers often chager over this to get a car started as quick as possible..

This could be true, but it would have fried any amp in there, not just the frank...

Post by **ttocs** » Tue May 04, 2010 8:19 am

I had forgot they had the high current start, I could see that being a problem but I have never been in a hurry to start a car, I would have rather waited.

Post by **Eric D** » Tue May 04, 2010 8:23 am

scottx wrote:If I can't hook a battery charger up to my car without burning an amp up then I don't want that amp. In the 18 years I've been installing I've never seen some bullshit like that. I like pg stuff a lot. My car is mostly pg. That jl amp was a gift to me from a shop owner where I worked. I've always loved it and always will.

This post is just wrong. Your amps caps leaked fluid which shorted the B+ and B- together, thus resulting in a fire. There is nothing wrong with the design of the amp, or the quality of the amp itself, this is a capacitor problem from the manufacturer of the caps, and PG happened to be the company who bought a bunch of them.

You said you are into computers as well. Remember the cap fiasco a few years back? All kinds of motherboards were failing, and some other devices with these inferior caps. So if your computer fails due to bad caps, it clearly is a bad computer?

Since the amp failed on you, you no longer like it. This is basic human nature. It takes a lot of effort to rise above hating a product for something like this. When my first PG amp burned up from bad caps I was not happy either.

The bottom line is if you like it or not, that Frank amp, when working as it should is WAY better than the cheap joke of a JL amp you replaced it with. I mentioned I am familiar with the 4-channel version of your JL amp. My neighbor has one, and he brought it to me to repair when it failed. The power supply blew up in it, and that is not from bad caps, that is because it is a cheap bottom of the line amp. I gave him a old Rockford 400a4 to use in the mean time and it spanked the JL, and I don't even think the 400a4 is a good amp.

I mean come on, you took out one of the most top of the line amps PG has ever produced and replaced it with the bottom of the line from JL. It just does not add up. You could have at least used the JL Slash amps which are far above that A series you bought.

Post by **Eric D** » Tue May 04, 2010 8:31 am

You guys need to not put the blame on the charger, it really had little to do with it, other than provide the source for the voltage needed to start the fire.

Several weeks back I was working on a M44. I powered it up through a light bulb (which will limit the current) for the first time to see what was up with it, and the board under the caps started smoking and began to burn. This was with far less than an amp of current. The way the fluid behaves when it is outside the cap is like a heating element.

I turned off the power, removed the caps, cleaned the fluid off the board, installed 4 new ones and tired again. Zero issues.

Post by **Eric D** » Tue May 04, 2010 8:54 am

Arggggggg!!!, this is just insane!

Step 1, remove Frank Amp N Stein which is $2,500 new and does 200Wx2 + 70Wx4 or so...

Step 2, replace with JL A6450 which is $290 new and does 70Wx6 if you are lucky.

What is step 3? Insert foot or arm in running wood chipper?

Post by **kg1961** » Tue May 04, 2010 9:01 am

Eric D wrote:Arggggggg!!!, this is just insane!

Step 1, remove Frank Amp N Stein which is $2,500 new and does 200Wx2 + 70Wx4 or so...

Step 2, replace with JL A6450 which is $290 new and does 70Wx6 if you are lucky.

What is step 3? Insert foot or arm in running wood chipper?

no shit !!!
I would trade my 3 focal amp for a working frank or ms1000ta
I have no idea why I love them,so much.......

Post by **Bfowler** » Tue May 04, 2010 9:38 am

oh man...i know you are already getting beat up about it...but what have you done...

thats like trading a ferrari 250 gto for a hyundai azera. they both make about 250 hp right?

a jl a series? not even a hd or slash? i'm at a loss man.

the guy who put all that in the car to begin with...is either weeping with a empty box of wine in an dark ally somewhere, or looking for you with a small chainsaw in one hand, and a box of garbage bags in the other

focker21 · Post by **focker21** » Tue May 04, 2010 9:47 am

oh boy.. this car have caused quite a stir..

oldskoolmseriesfan · Post by **oldskoolmseriesfan** » Tue May 04, 2010 9:58 am

I think im going to be sick

JL aseries????Kicker L7's

W.T.F

gridracer · Post by **gridracer** » Tue May 04, 2010 10:38 am

let me know when you want to sell the rest of you PG stuff and downgrade I'll buy it from you. Seriously I want the 2 VB200 circut breakers the RCA cables and that EQ215. if you're selling them

scottx · Post by **scottx** » Tue May 04, 2010 11:29 am

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Tue May 04, 2010 11:40 am

Post by **stipud** » Tue May 04, 2010 12:05 pm

If ignorance is bliss, then fuck bliss... it ain't worth it.

As I said in my second reply, the capacitors needed to be changed in it. Easy job if you're experienced with a soldering iron and costs about $50 or so.

Your JL will have the same issue when it grows up too! These guys are dead right... you just got rid of a $2500 amp for a $290 one.

Post by **Bfowler** » Tue May 04, 2010 12:13 pm

scottx wrote:You guys are funny.

I've had that A series for 3 year's and i've had no problems out of it. I had that Frank for a week and it fucking burned up.

I think I will set the stuff on fire when I take it out rather than sell it to you guys. KTHNX

do it. its not our gear. that frank burned up is worth more then your JL though.

hey, if you think it sounds good, who are we to say otherwise.

Post by **Bfowler** » Tue May 04, 2010 12:20 pm

scottx wrote:You guys are funny.

I've had that A series for 3 year's and i've had no problems out of it. I had that Frank for a week and it fucking burned up.

I think I will set the stuff on fire when I take it out rather than sell it to you guys. KTHNX

back to my Hyundai analogy...i have re-quoted what you said so you might understand the significances of your words and effectivly what you are saying

You guys are funny.

I've had that Hyundi for 3 year's and i've had no problems out of it. I had that 20 year old mercedes for a week and the radiator has a leak i sold the piece of shit.

again...if you think your benz is a pieces of shit becasue you didnt do routine maintenance on it and you are happy in your Hyundai that isnt even old enough to need the oil changed then thats non of our business

another way to to think about what you have done:

you bought a 20 year old Mercedes (which is a sweet car) A machine that was one of the best of the time.

it came with a 20 year old amp that complemented the benz. also one of the best money could buy at the time

you didnt do routine maintenance and it broke down. so you swapped it out with a newer, reliable but completely generic boring amp

so by your own logic. you should sell your benz instead of working on anything that comes up on it (water pump...breaks...o2 sensor...etc)

you should sell it and get a Hyundai. after all the Hyundai is newer and more reliable

Post by **ttocs** » Tue May 04, 2010 12:22 pm

scottx wrote:You guys are funny.

I've had that A series for 3 year's and i've had no problems out of it. I had that Frank for a week and it fucking burned up.

I think I will set the stuff on fire when I take it out rather than sell it to you guys. KTHNX

I think frank might be a little older then yer a series, just a hunch.....

gridracer · Post by **gridracer** » Tue May 04, 2010 12:55 pm

scottx wrote:You guys are funny.

I've had that A series for 3 year's and i've had no problems out of it. I had that Frank for a week and it fucking burned up.

I think I will set the stuff on fire when I take it out rather than sell it to you guys. KTHNX

How did you have the car for 3 years and the amp for a week when you said you bought the car with the gear all installed? My offer still stands I will buy the rest of the PG gear you have.

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Tue May 04, 2010 1:14 pm

mmm, I think I called dibs on cables....hehehe

Post by **mhyde71** » Tue May 04, 2010 1:26 pm

i want CB200 breaker

AND i'll burn it up for you when i get it in...