Tantrum 500.2 cutting out at lower volumes?

[lukeman269]

It started doing this about 2 weeks ago, so I thought it might have been the deck causing the problem. So I ended up buying a nicer one with more eq settings and all that, but that's besides the point. I usually like the volume at around 30 out of 50 and that's plenty loud for me and everything is perfect. When I go to turn the volume down past 24, the sub will cut in and out. I have watched to see if the amp is shutting off and on but it stays on so I'm not exactly sure what it could be. I believe my deck puts out 2.5 volts so that cant be the problem. Probably just something internal going bad huh? Can it be fixed?

[stipud]

Hmmm sounds like a loose RCA jack maybe?

[lukeman269]

Hmmm sounds like a loose RCA jack maybe?

The RCA inputs on the amp aren't loose at all, they feel pretty solid. I will make sure the rca jacks on the head unit are good too. But why would it only cut out at low volumes?

[stipud]

Hmmm sounds like a loose RCA jack maybe?

The RCA inputs on the amp aren't loose at all, they feel pretty solid. I will make sure the rca jacks on the head unit are good too. But why would it only cut out at low volumes?

Could be worn solder on the amp itself.

I would also recommend turning all the pots (dials like gain, bass boost, crossover, etc) up and down several times (and resetting them to where they were) to clear any oxidization built up in them.

[lukeman269]

Hmmm sounds like a loose RCA jack maybe?

The RCA inputs on the amp aren't loose at all, they feel pretty solid. I will make sure the rca jacks on the head unit are good too. But why would it only cut out at low volumes?

Could be worn solder on the amp itself.

I would also recommend turning all the pots (dials like gain, bass boost, crossover, etc) up and down several times (and resetting them to where they were) to clear any oxidization built up in them.

Yeah, I actually went to feel how solid the RCA jacks were on the amp and they felt a little loose. I will open it up and see how they look. I will try the dials too.

[lukeman269]

How do you open the bottom plate on this amp? I got all the screws out but I cant figure out how to approach taking it off. It's wrapped 90 degrees on both sides and it can't just lift off because the rca's and knobs and terminals are sticking out. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Shinju]

Have you tried running the amp with out the power grid?

[lukeman269]

Have you tried running the amp with out the power grid?

Yeah I actually sold the powergrid and am running it by itself.

[lukeman269]

So I figured out how to open it up. The solder looks perfect on the rca inputs. The whole amp itself looks perfect internally. Why would the amp only cut out at low volumes and not high?

[lukeman269]

Hmmm sounds like a loose RCA jack maybe?

The RCA inputs on the amp aren't loose at all, they feel pretty solid. I will make sure the rca jacks on the head unit are good too. But why would it only cut out at low volumes?

Could be worn solder on the amp itself.

I would also recommend turning all the pots (dials like gain, bass boost, crossover, etc) up and down several times (and resetting them to where they were) to clear any oxidization built up in them.

I got it open and I looked at the rca jacks and they were fine. I cleaned the dust out of it and cleaned up the terminals real good too. After that, I twisted the dials a bunch like you said to do and that seemed to solve the problem! Thanks for the help!

[stipud]

I got it open and I looked at the rca jacks and they were fine. I cleaned the dust out of it and cleaned up the terminals real good too. After that, I twisted the dials a bunch like you said to do and that seemed to solve the problem! Thanks for the help!

Good stuff. Easy!

[ttocs]

its amazing how many of the old amps can be fixed by just using them...