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I just Fried fairly expensive AVR which is NOT mine

thin bLue

Senior Member
Reviewer
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What is critical safety indicator for Amplifier?

It was under 2% of THD+N ratio, stands a few sweeps and Suddenly just popped out and dead with little bit of smoke.
2 Ohm is quite harsh load, but for Over-3500USD-Priced products, I expected non-invasive safety engages.

Now I know THD+N is not significant Safety guideline.


But what should I use..... Kyuuuuuuu
 
Last edited:

levimax

Major Contributor
View attachment 254292


What is critical safety indicator for Amplifier?

It was under 2% of THD+N ratio, stands a few sweeps and Suddenly just popped out and dead with little bit of smoke.
2 Ohm is quiet harsh load, but for Over-3500USD-Priced products, I expected non-invasive safety engages.

Now I know THD+N is not significant Safety guideline.


But what should I use..... Kyuuuuuuu
Full power 2 ohm sweeps are asking for trouble. For 2 ohm loads there are "burst" tests which are much easier on equipment.
 

Vini darko

Major Contributor
Problem is you dont know what an dut can take till it stops taking it. You're quite right it should have a decent protection circuit at that price.
 
OP
thin bLue

thin bLue

Senior Member
Reviewer
Full power 2 ohm sweeps are asking for trouble. For 2 ohm loads there are "burst" tests which are much easier on equipment.
I assume it's not rated for 2 Ohms? And of course, high power test tones are more abusive than normal program material.
But If I Need to test the AMP unknown, what is the way for get power sweep curve as usual with out damage the amp?
 
OP
thin bLue

thin bLue

Senior Member
Reviewer
Problem is you dont know what an dut can take till it stops taking it. You're quite right it should have a decent protection circuit at that price.
Problem is I don't know <- 100% right. This is a serious problem. In the case of the Purifi, it would have stopped output immediately and resumed playback as soon as it returned to proper load, but this Class AB amp unfortunately did not work that way.
 

Doodski

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
@thin bLue the lowest you should run some amps at is 4 Ohms but 8 Ohms is a safe common test number for AV receivers. They are simply not built to withstand the current output of a 2 Ohms load never mind a 4 Ohms load. Most likely the output power transistors have been fried and it is possible that peripheral circuitry took some heat and fried too. Don't torture test into 2 Ohms again. :D
 

pma

Major Contributor
What is critical safety indicator for Amplifier?

It was under 2% of THD+N ratio, stands a few sweeps and Suddenly just popped out and dead with little bit of smoke.
2 Ohm is quite harsh load, but for Over-3500USD-Priced products, I expected non-invasive safety engages.

Now I know THD+N is not significant Safety guideline.


But what should I use..... Kyuuuuuuu
So it must have been another poorly designed amplifier. Unfortunately we can see many of such products. It should have survived your test. Most usual issues are undersized heatsink, undersized output stage, bad thermal control of idle current. SOA exceeded, second breakdown. Or oscillations. Poor overcurrent protection curve. You name it.
 
OP
thin bLue

thin bLue

Senior Member
Reviewer
@thin bLue the lowest you should run some amps at is 4 Ohms but 8 Ohms is a safe common test number for AV receivers. They are simply not built to withstand the current output of a 2 Ohms load never mind a 4 Ohms load. Most likely the output power transistors have been fried and it is possible that peripheral circuitry took some heat and fried too. Don't torture test into 2 Ohms again. :D
Jesus. AVR....
2 Ohm is Not for AVR that is Really Clear than EVER.
 
OP
thin bLue

thin bLue

Senior Member
Reviewer
So it must have been another poorly designed amplifier. Unfortunately we can see many of such products. It should have survived your test. Most usual issues are undersized heatsink, undersized output stage, bad thermal control of idle current. SOA exceeded, second breakdown. Or oscillations. Poor overcurrent protection curve. You name it.
I think I should care way more than I thought.
I became a little philosophical about expensive branded sound industry products.

Thanks for comments.
 

pma

Major Contributor
I think I should care way more than I thought.
I became a little philosophical about expensive branded sound industry products.

Thanks for comments.
Have you checked all fuses? It happened to me few times that fuses have blown during 2 ohm full power sweep.
 

Doodski

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
I mean, I understand what you mean and that brittleness is way beyond my very expectations for AVRs!

Sorry for confusion!
I see. :D Yes, AVRs are mostly built cheaply and not for sine wave sweeps. In the future if you are torture testing amps with sine waves use a ammeter to monitor the current draw and if you see it increasing when you are testing then that is the time to stop the test before the amplifier goes into thermal runaway.
 
OP
thin bLue

thin bLue

Senior Member
Reviewer
Have you checked all fuses? It happened to me few times that fuses have blown during 2 ohm full power sweep.
It seems no user serviceable fuses on back panel. I'll send it to owner today, and owner let them service center. So Unavoidable bleeding of my bank account is now here
 

Doodski

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
It seems no user serviceable fuses on back panel. I'll send it to owner today, and owner let them service center. So Unavoidable bleeding of my bank account is now here
A possibly expensive mistake. It happens. You will know better in the future. :D
 
OP
thin bLue

thin bLue

Senior Member
Reviewer
I see. :D Yes, AVRs are mostly built cheaply and not for sine wave sweeps. In the future if you are torture testing amps with sine waves use a ammeter to monitor the current draw and if you see it increasing when you are testing then that is the time to stop the test before the amplifier goes into thermal runaway.
THANKS! The Ammeter!
I'll check it out!
 

Doodski

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
THANKS! The Ammeter!
I'll check it out!
Over 15 years when I serviced electronics at component level I used the ammeter on maybe 60% of the amps I tested. I blew none up during testing and I got the amps very hot while under test. So the ammeter method is the safest way.
 
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