new to this forum

P

pete symosky

Freshman
Aug 2, 2012
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altoona pa
ok new to this forum.
im a bass player / sound man in a weekend band
just playing small bars and some mid size venues

i have a crown power amp that shuts down
for no apparent reason at no particular time
ie hot cond. only at one venue etc. its a random
thing
its work sometimes flaulessy amd other trips the front breaker
and shuts off
on restart it works fine till its next hissy fit hehe
any ideas on what to look at ? ive had the amp checked on an osciliascope
and its fine
im told by some people crown has a protection curcuit
that will shut it down if a short is present
any help will be appriciated
 
Re: new to this forum

Could be a loose wire inside. Friend had an old Crest CA6 that would do that, just bang it really hard on something and it would start working again.

Occasionally I've seen loose screws roll around in the case and short out traces depending on where the screw lands.
 
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Re: new to this forum

ok all good diagnostic ideas
but i had the amp checked out at a crown dealer
who said it was fine .
i have used this amp at different venues
and put a power conditioner on the rack to insure
the power wasnt a problem.
im not running it that hard either , 2, 8phm mid hi peavey sp2 speakers
in sterio one speaker on each side
 
Re: new to this forum

First, welcome to SFN. Glad you found our little corner of the intertubes.

Second, a power conditioner is sort of like hair conditioner... it rinses off. ;)

No, seriously, there is NOTHING inside most power conditioners that actually "condition" the power. The most you can usually hope for (unless you spent north of $300 on it) is for self-sacrificing MOV surge protection. Use it for your mixer or things things that will hate surges; power amps can usually deal with voltage problems better than almost anything else in your system.

The reason the front panel breaker trips is because you're drawing more that it will allow. IF your repair shop is a Crown-authorized service center, I'd be inclined to believe them when they say the amp is functioning as intended.

That leaves the venue's electrical service, particularly since this failure occurs only in that one place. There is probably a big HVAC load on the building service causing voltage drop. Without throwing several hundred $$ at this, there is nothing you can do about that. Sorry, but there is no easy answer.
 
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