SAE-1000d Popped, smoked, no power/protect. [PICTURES INCLUDED]

[Jacobfllr]

This amp has been working great for a month. It went into protect mode after about 20 minutes of run time, I switched it from master to slave then back to master and it came out. I ended up turning the gains to about a quarter (never had them past half). Turned the volume up on the HU a little bit and it went back into protect mode so I just didn't touch it. Went to start my car again and I hear like 2 or 3 pops and there was some smoke coming from the vent of the amp.

Update: AGU fuse popped underneath the hood. Ground and power wire are reading at 12.4v. Pretty confused as to why this is happening unless it's a manufacturer defect?

Any help is appreciated as well as a recommendation on who to send my amp to if it is in fact damaged. If more pictures are needed let me know of what and I'll upload them.

Also, I noticed that the board says "SAE-1000d main v1" but my serial number sticker on the back says "SAE-1000dV2". Why is that?

Click to read more...

 

[Savackz]

Ampmedic

 

[Jacobfllr]

Are they pretty reasonable as far as pricing and turnaround time?

 

[Savackz]

As far as I know, yes.

 

---------- Post added at 05:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:40 PM ----------

 

It's probably not worth repairing though since they go for about 125 used. Might just have to buy a new amp.

 

[Jacobfllr]

I paid $220 for it used, I haven't seen them cheaper then that.. If you find one at that price please let me know!

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

NOBODY who repairs amps that's reliable is "fast" or "cheap". Guys who are good are BUSY and they have a stack of amps to work on at all times, guys who are good charge the rate of skilled labor.. Cheap or fast is a good sign you're dealing with a hack when it comes to amp repair.

Zed Audio in California, Ampmedics in Florida, db-R in Texas, or Sound West in Tacoma, Washington are all solid and will stand behind their work. None are terribly cheap or fast, but I assure you that's not what you want.

 

[Jacobfllr]

NOBODY who repairs amps that's reliable is "fast" or "cheap". Guys who are good are BUSY and they have a stack of amps to work on at all times, guys who are good charge the rate of skilled labor.. Cheap or fast is a good sign you're dealing with a hack when it comes to amp repair.
Zed Audio in California, Ampmedics in Florida, db-R in Texas, or Sound West in Tacoma, Washington are all solid and will stand behind their work. None are terribly cheap or fast, but I assure you that's not what you want.

Yeah that makes complete sense, thanks for the references.. I popped the 80 amp fuse between my battery as well. So I'm going to try to relocate the ground and see if that helps and if not send it to one of those guys you mentioned. I appreciate it.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Yeah that makes complete sense, thanks for the references.. I popped the 80 amp fuse between my battery as well. So I'm going to try to relocate the ground and see if that helps and if not send it to one of those guys you mentioned. I appreciate it.

At this point the only real savings of picking one over another would be who is closer to you (less postage).

80A fuse isn't going to protect a 1000W amp (as you have discovered). The amps I run are 1200W and I have to push them to open 60A fuses. If you never open a fuse while listening to music it's likely that they will not ever save your amp in the event of trouble if something goes wrong. I don't even open 80A fuses when I do SPL burps with them. It might could be you can buy fuses cheaper than replacing amps and you should consider some creative fusing ideas. If you deal with Zed Audio, Stephen will explain proper fusing to you.

 

[Jacobfllr]

At this point the only real savings of picking one over another would be who is closer to you (less postage).
80A fuse isn't going to protect a 1000W amp (as you have discovered). The amps I run are 1200W and I have to push them to open 60A fuses. If you never open a fuse while listening to music it's likely that they will not ever save your amp in the event of trouble if something goes wrong. I don't even open 80A fuses when I do SPL burps with them. It might could be you can buy fuses cheaper than replacing amps and you should consider some creative fusing ideas. If you deal with Zed Audio, Stephen will explain proper fusing to you.

Maybe I'll look into a new amp then.. Something that'll run better at a lower voltage. M1d otherwise I'm kind of considering a b2 quota/zero.3

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

your fuse is supposed to protect your wire, not your amp. Only time you use the wire fuse or distro block fuse for your amp is if it doesn't have an internal fuse (I guess you could match it with the internal fuse...)

the amperage draw isn't as easy as 60a for 1200w, x amperage for y wattage. the instantaneous amplifier voltage, efficiency, and a whole slew of other factors are going to change it for every situation. The powerbass 1k amp I'm running popped 100amp fuses like cake until I upped them to 150a. I set my wiring so that it's the lowest fuse I can use that will protect the wire and still provide sufficient power for my amps, competition fusing is obviously different. Ideally you should use a fuse that is just under the limit of a wires capacity, i.e. 300amp fuse for 0 gauge OFC rated at 350amps. Keep in mind fuses add resistance and with that voltage drop and substantial heat. There's a reason why cheap fuse holders will melt.

oh yeah, fuses don't blow at their rating either, they blow above it. Ever seen people burp thousands of watts on a 150a or smaller fuse?

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

try brandes.cm @CACO

or db electronics

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

your fuse is supposed to protect your wire, not your amp. Only time you use the wire fuse or distro block fuse for your amp is if it doesn't have an internal fuse (I guess you could match it with the internal fuse...)
the amperage draw isn't as easy as 60a for 1200w, x amperage for y wattage. the instantaneous amplifier voltage, efficiency, and a whole slew of other factors are going to change it for every situation. The powerbass 1k amp I'm running popped 100amp fuses like cake until I upped them to 150a. I set my wiring so that it's the lowest fuse I can use that will protect the wire and still provide sufficient power for my amps, competition fusing is obviously different. Ideally you should use a fuse that is just under the limit of a wires capacity, i.e. 300amp fuse for 0 gauge OFC rated at 350amps. Keep in mind fuses add resistance and with that voltage drop and substantial heat. There's a reason why cheap fuse holders will melt.

oh yeah, fuses don't blow at their rating either, they blow above it. Ever seen people burp thousands of watts on a 150a or smaller fuse?

I could burp my 2500 on 35 amps for MECA

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

yup something about custom made blocks that let you torque down the fuses extremely tight, i dont compete so i dont really care. more worried about how it sounds daily and safety.

dont quote me on this, but im pretty sure the reason that fuses work is thermal management. fuses blow due to thermal overload and if you're pulling 300 amps for a very short amount of time it won't get hot enough to blow.

 

[av83 10+ year member]

Amp medics down in FL had my old Autotek 4k fixed (and upgraded to higher quality components) for a reasonable price (under $200 iirc), and it was a fairly large amp. Had it back within 10 days or so. Communicated with me via text throughout the process too. Nice guy.

 

[Jacobfllr]

Emailed sundown about the issues, going to see what they can do otherwise I'll be sending it in for repair.. updated pics in first post..