help

[kirkkc]

hey guys, i have a noob question that maybe someone out there may be able to answer. dont bother flaming; vortex forums desensitized me.

What do I have?

Car:2002 vw golf
HU: Alpine INA-W900
Sub: 1-12" jl w7
Amp: PG xenon 600.1

The story:

I live in canada. last night it was parked in -30 C weather (like usual). I pulled it into the heated garage around 4am. at 8, it was decently warmed up for when i drove to work. the music wasn't too loud, but volume was up... a bit more than i would usually have it opposed to it sitting outside overnight. after ten minutes of it working, it cut out. i turned the sub level down on my deck and it came back on for a bit. then nothing. at work i looked at it and the led was flashing. protection mode.

What I read:

i checked google for wtf a flashing led meant, and how to solve it; once my common sense ran out.

-I checked the ground. its clean.
-Im getting ~12v to the back. check.
-disconnected and let it sit for ~4 hours to both warm up and let the internal capacitors drain. check.
-gain is not all the way up on amp. never was. check.
-definately was not over heating, however ive experienced those symptoms in my old amp.

What I notice:

i opened it up at work to check it out. (looked for any burnage/cracks/post-explosions). the only thing i noticed was that it was dirty.. a collection of dust dust, gravel dust and smoke. i used our air-in-a-can stuff, nothing. i brought it home and used compressed air, nothing. the gunk was caked on. i ended up using a kleenex to tentatively get the majority of it off.

What im thinking:

the sudden change of temperature may have created condensation and morphed with the dusty gunk into a dirty cluster f-k.

please help

[Eric D]

I happen to own one of those amps and it failed on me as well. I don't really trust them, and think they are probably the least reliable PG amp ever made. But, my sample set of just one is probably not enough to back up my claim.

You might want to pull the amp out and replace it. The last time my X600.1 failed it blew out a ton of smoke, and I doubt you want that smell in your car. Don't give up on PG though. The X600.1 might be somewhat of a lemon but there are plenty of PG amps which will provide years of reliable service.

[ttocs]

any chance condensation formed on it from the change in temps?

[Eric D]

any chance condensation formed on it from the change in temps?

Since he mentioned condensation as a possibility in his post, I am assuming you directed that statement at me. The first time my X600.1 failed was in the middle of summer (not overly hot either), and the second time was on my test bench which is a pretty controlled environment.

I am thinking condensation was not an issue, but crap-ensation was clearly the problem...

[kirkkc]

any chance condensation formed on it from the change in temps?

the sudden change of temperature may have created condensation and morphed with the dusty gunk into a dirty cluster f-k

yeah thats what i am thinking. but praying that it is fixable... i don't have the cash for a new amplifier; and i would rather not go with kenwood or mtx etc.. just brand loyalties and i know the qualities

[ttocs]

I actually just missed that line completely, the bong was in the way

dell would make a fortune if they would combine the two..... Anyway back on topic.

That would have been my guess. Wouldn't take much to short it out somewhere that shouldn't be but I would suspect there would be some evidence of the short, but that could be on the back of the board as well.

[kirkkc]

but for condensation's sake,

ive done it many of times before and its been perfectly fine.

just narrowing down possibilties

[ttocs]

yes but it only takes that one time when you develope the right amount in the right spot. It could be 1 in a thousand chance but have you started your car a thousand times?

Did you take the board off completely to see both sides? Its more work and a pain but could tell you something and you would need to do it to repair it anyway.

[kirkkc]

fair enough. but why after 10 mins of driving? no bumps. steady speed. just cut out and back in then gone

Did you take the board off completely to see both sides? Its more work and a pain but could tell you something and you would need to do it to repair it anyway.

just the top. wasnt feeling adventurous enough to completely tear it apart just yet

[stipud]

Check for obvious things like stray wires touching between speaker +/-, etc. If nothing is wrong with the installation then odds are the amp needs to be fixed. I suggest you PM valeks1 as he runs a very good flat rate repair service.