Velodyne HGS 18 amp blown, pics show exploded cap?

clspruiell

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I'm not too much of a techie but by my HGS 18 quit on me some time ago. I'm just now getting around to sending the amp back to velodyne for a mere $280, again.

Anyway I noticed a cap (at least i think its a cap) hs a hole in it! It appears blown or exploded. I wonder if this is a cheap fix for a local high end fixer shop or if I should still send it back to velodyne.

Have you seen anything like this before? I hope my pics upload...


Thanks guys.
DropBox


DropBox


DropBox
 
Im not seeing my pics from Picasa in my original post so lets try it from Flickr...





set-72157630449749046



set-72157630449749046


set-72157630449749046
 
Um anyone know how to make these pics show up? I used picasa and flickr, doesnt look like im having any luck. I even turned off adblock in chrome to be nice to the admin :)
 
Resize and upload directly in to this site or paste the forum code here as a http link. To answer your question if it is out of warranty a competent electronic engineer should be able to diagnose the fault and fix it for you
 
I cant attach a file. The only option its giving me is copy/pasting a link into the pop up box after clicking the little yellow box above. I copy / pasted the url link in my browser when i was viewing the picture.

I didnt see any other special url type things.
 
IMAG0178.jpg


IMAG0179.jpg


IMAG0180.jpg
 
The trick is, you need to specify the actual URLs of the pictures and not the web page, which is what you did. I browsed directly to your web pages and right clicked (in my case using Chrome) and selected "Copy Image URL"

Edit: And yes, that's a blown cap alright. I bet it made a bang and stank. It would be easy to replace though!
 
Sweet! and no it didnt make a bang that i remember at all! thats whats weird. I mean of course how could I hear it while its playing considering when im playing music in the mancave, its very loud.

Thanks for doing that for me, I'll learn for next time! I think ill allow my local guy to take a look.. He's $50 just to look at it though and I cringe at paying that and risking him not being able to fix it.

Oh well what can ya do>?
 
That just looks like a power supply board. He ought to be able to fix that easily.
 
I'm sorry forgive my dumb questions.. But what are you talking about? I think its clear the capacitor is shot. I'm certainly not an amp expert but that's not related to the power supply is it?
 
with capacitors that size I would say most definitely power supply. I would also say relatively straightforward to replace if you are reasonably confident with a solder iron.
 
Looks like its part of the power supply the fact the fuse is right next to it shows that ! And all power supplys need capacitors for smoothing the voltage output from the rectifier ( converting ac to dc )
 
clspruiell said:
I'm sorry forgive my dumb questions.. But what are you talking about? I think its clear the capacitor is shot. I'm certainly not an amp expert but that's not related to the power supply is it?

No worries but think of your amp this way. It will have a big transformer that will provide the power required to physically move your sub driver (it will take some force). The power board has capacitors which act like resevoirs to power this so the amp has reserves to call upon rather than trying to suck it directly out of the mains and then run out of steam. They arent expensive to replace its the skill at knowing how to replace them in the current pcb board that you will pay for
 
Interesting and thank you!

Well Velodyne will fix/replace for $280. I wonder if my local guy would be much better than that.... He charges $50 just to tell me how much he's gonna be, that's my problem.
 
Without better photos, that looks like a switched-mode power supply: chokes, condensers, and underneath that piece of aluminum, several transistors or regulators, bridge rectifier, fuse. Take care in there because there are lethal voltages flying about (even when off).

One of the problems is: what took the cap out? If an amp driver went down that would do it.
 
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The caps are the main rail capacitors. The transformer for HGS and DD etc is very small and from experience I would suggest that the problem lies elsewhere. The caps have fried due to another failure further down the line and replacing them may not fix the issue. Long range diagnostics are very hit and miss!
 

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