Phoenix Gold Phorum

Hello guys, I need some advice before I open up my xenon 200.4 amp.

Last week I noticed that when I turn on the system, just when the amp turns on I hear this loud woooom/wrrrrr noise. Being a former computer case modder, I realized this sounds familiar and on the hearing inspection I determined it to be a fan noise in my xenon amp. The noise goes away after 10-15 seconds. Sometimes it's worse, sometimes there isn't any.
Question is, I want to change the fan, just in case it stops one day. Should I? What size of the fan, thickness and connector? Is it like standard pc fan hookup or something specialized?

I want to know these details, because I need to unmount the amp and go without tunes, so I want to do it in one go without wasting time.

Thanks .

They are up side down and on plugs as you can see in the pic.

I would call Phil at PG and see what he can do for you. I have not yet had to replace these, so I got nothing for info on these... They are attached to the board with fasteners so the entire amp board may have to be removed from the sink to properly remove these.
If so then you will need to take the amp apart and reassemble it and this is a lengthy affair and must be done correctly or the amp will have issues later on possibly.

I'm 95% sure that it isn't your fan going out, it goes hard upon power up as part of the turn on sequence.

on days it is worse is the amp already warmer? the fan is a variable speed fan with a thermal sensor to determine its speed

I've been having this similar problem with mine. . .
noise goes away after it gets warm in the car. Usually goes away after about a minute for me. The colder it is, the longer it takes to go away.

No problems when it's warm outside. I was thinking bearings inside the fan need to be re-greased, but do these even have bearings?

Of course these have bearings,

sleeve bearing or ball bearing...Those are the two types of fans available for amps and computers.

As said before I have never had to replace one of these yet so your guess is as good as mine on which these are...Hence the need for the part number on the top of the fan

I sent a few xenon amplifiers back to PG for this type of problem over the years but unfortunately I don't recall ever gaining any more insight into the issue from the repair paperwork. One of the store demo amps even did it so I don't believe that the problem is entirely isolated to cold-weather start-ups.

Jed is probably right, as most of these fans are offshore built and price is a higher value then long life and QC. I have seen box's of rejected fans sitting in salvage houses here in the bay area.
And i have seen box's of used fans being recycled. It would seem they don't live as long as one would want. I even need a fan in my PC right now, so armed with this info, it becomes more apparent fans may be a issue as I have seen in other amps like MTX, and others....

I'm gonna open up my amp today; I'll check on the part number and see if I can get another one ordered. . .or maybe 2, as I don't know which one or if both are failing.

More later, thanks guys

It was warmer here and I did not notice this wrooom sound anymore. I'll keep checking it. If I have to send the amp to PG to fix that'd suck big time. shipping kills from US to Canada and back.
Thanks for the info.

i dont understand why you think there is a problem still?

i think the fan speeding up upon power up...(whew...lots of "ups")
is normal becasue its a variable speed fan. did you call PG to confirm if there is indeed a problem?

I've been known to own a Xenon or two , and I will confirm the fans can be loud-very loud sometimes at start up. They will quiet once it has dispersed some of the heat trapped inside. In other words, IT'S NORMAL.

foreign assembled sh@#%!!

PGsta14me wrote:foreign assembled sh@#%!!

sh----?

hmm

shabby?
shapes?
sharks?
sheath?
shirts?
shower?
shovel?

ah, it must be shovels. this thread was about amp cooling fans. lets try and stay on topic.

ok, there is no problem then. case closed.

PGsta14me wrote:foreign assembled sh@#%!!

My Ti and ZX amps have done this as well. I'd bet you their fans are made in CHINA as well!

Many computers do it too... When starting many (most?) variable-speed fans, you have to supply them with full power, in order to get them up to their maximum speed. Once they have spun up, you can reduce the voltage, and they can cruise at a lower speed.

Also considering how cold it can get in Canada, the grease in the fan bearings must be pretty stiff, so it would require a lot of juice to get them spinning.

But yeah, must be them fornurs an them their funny hairs cuts.

Df, I don't want this thread to end with the statement that this issue is NORMAL. It certainly is NOT and it can be remedied! Maybe this issue exists on many used amplifiers, but it shouldn't!! I've used a TI 800.1 and thought the fan noise was considerable. My Xenon fan noise = perfect silence. . .when it's not making "wooooring noises" on a cold start up.

As for me, I'm going to try to disassemble the fan(s) and grease the bearings up. Hence "try" because I'm not quite sure if I'll be successful or if its even going to fix the problem. But if it doesn't, then you (we) can always replace them.

I guess you'd have to decide if this nuisance is considerable enough for you to go through the hassle of fixing/replacing. . .for me it is!!

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PGsta14me wrote:My Xenon fan noise = perfect silence. . .when it's not making "wooooring noises" on a cold start up.

isnt that what was happening to df.dima that he thought was a problem?

Sometimes these amps do have some minor additional fan noise for whatever reason but they also can have issues that cause excessively loud noises (hell, I've even heard a xenon amp emit a high-pitched squeal that was unexplainable!). I've honestly seen both situations. In fact, in the situations where I ended up sending some amps back to PG I debated for a while before deciding that the noise level was unacceptable. I definitely don't think it's a common problem, but it can occur. I guess I should clarify that in my previous position as a PG dealer I've dealt with more of these amps than the typical xenon owner.