# Old school aluminum heat sink eclipse ea4100, powers halfway up, suspect short.



## Sascha.Elble (Jul 14, 2012)

For the life of me I can NOT find a service manual or any other info on the eclipse ea4100 amp, or somewhat similar model amp...


I'm using a 12v car battery charger at 2 amps to test this amp that made it into a pawn shop but somehow broke after they tested it. While running this amp, the battery charger will shut off every 20 minutes, but while using a much stronger amp (1600 watts) the charger will NEVER turn off. (This means broken amp has a Short?)

Using audio cables to a powered amplifier I can trace the input audio through some circuits that normally wont let me trace through unless the power is on, this tells me that most of the amp gets power, all the amplifier transistors show signs of current, even the small ones that power the input circuit. However there is a certain section of circuits that I am SURE should be emitting audio yet do not. 

The first set of power transistors gets very hot, the second set is warm. the last four transistors are for the actual amplifying I suspect, and only the last one of the four gets VERY hot.

A low hum emits from the speaker no matter what channel I put it on, this I suspect comes from the A/C batter charger.

Any ideas for testing? I have somewhat firgured out each area of the amp. I have a voltage/ohms tester and a amplified audio speaker for tracing the sound path.


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## ATOMICTECH62 (Jan 24, 2009)

A 2 amp battery charger is not enough current to run the amp.Most amps pull 2 amps or more at idle.Yes the hum you are hearing is coming from the battery charger which is normal for an unfiltered power supply.


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## Sascha.Elble (Jul 14, 2012)

Please note, I've run 1600 and 2200 watt amps on my battery charger which goes up to 2-6 amps. 

This is a 400 watt amp. The charger shuts off because the amp is drawing more than it really needs, aka a short. However I have run out of ideas... where to look?


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## Doc ProMos (Jul 1, 2012)

I agree that it could be a short but also agree that testing with that battery charger isn't helping things.... under load that thing is gonna draw 30-35 amps and each company has different requirements for remote turn on power etc... I would try a different power supply..., just my $0.02.... Keith


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## ATOMICTECH62 (Jan 24, 2009)

Are you running this amp without the transistors clamped to the case?


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## Sascha.Elble (Jul 14, 2012)

This amp was bought from a pawn shop, broken. The power supply is not the issue. This leads me to believe that the amp was sold to the pawn shop working (they only take working amps) and this amp was damaged by someone using improper installation methods. Either reversing the leads, or using incorrect speakers with too little ohms. Or somehow shorting the wires in any combination that you could think of. Then somehow returned to the pawn shop.
The power light, and the protection light do not turn on. The fuse is fine. And there is a good amount of current running through-out the amp.

This amp is not running under any load, as I can't get it to even turn on. (even though the power supply seems to be working fine....)

I am running this amp with the heat sinks attached.


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## daveds50 (Jun 10, 2011)

Sascha.Elble said:


> This amp is not running under any load, as I can't get it to even turn on. (even though the power supply seems to be working fine....)


 not sure why you are continuing to try to power it up. it is not going to fix itself by doing so. very likely you have damaged the internal power supply, especially since you said that your battery charger shut off after 20 minutes. you just made what could have been a cheap fix, into one that could cost a lot. 
if you want it fixed, PM me.


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## Sascha.Elble (Jul 14, 2012)

Wow you guys, one guy suggests that I hook it up to a stronger amperage battery, another says my 6 amp charger broke it, and also suggests that I broke it even more. This amp is still in the same functional state as I GOT IT. No power light, no protection light. 

The main power circuit is active and appears to be working just fine. 

The beginning of the audio input appears to be working fine, can trace audio a little further if power is turned on, but still eventually disappears. 

The first set of power transistors gets very hot (mains?), the second set is warm(secondary?). the last four transistors are for the actual amplifying I suspect, and only the last one of the four gets VERY hot.

And I have no idea where anyone got the idea that I "keep trying to power it up".


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## daveds50 (Jun 10, 2011)

by powering it up before fixing the problem, and letting the transistors get hot, then yes, you likely did cause more damage than it originally had. 

btw, that amp has more than 4 transistors for the audio output. 

but, it seems you dont need our help, so have at it. what do i know... i've only fixed literally 10,000+ amps, including at least 20 of those...


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## Sascha.Elble (Jul 14, 2012)

I'm a little confused as to how its the main power supply as it is supplying voltages to the rest of the board... Could be supplying improper voltages ect, but nothing is burnt, blown, scorched ect... the fuse doesnt blow. 

In theory if the main power supply was shorted or whatever, wouldn't it blow the fuse, and/or not allow power to get sent to the rest of the mainboard...

I intend to leave all messages public so others may learn from this as well... As this is not your typical ruined amp... unless you wanted me to pm you so you could quote me a price to fix it.. in that case, no thanks as I am purely doing this to learn. I fix electronics myself, and this is a learning experience for me.


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

Sascha.Elble said:


> I'm a little confused as to how its the main power supply as it is supplying voltages to the rest of the board... Could be supplying improper voltages ect, but nothing is burnt, blown, scorched ect... the fuse doesnt blow.
> 
> In theory if the main power supply was shorted or whatever, wouldn't it blow the fuse, and/or not allow power to get sent to the rest of the mainboard...
> 
> I intend to leave all messages public so others may learn from this as well... As this is not your typical ruined amp... unless you wanted me to pm you so you could quote me a price to fix it.. in that case, no thanks as I am purely doing this to learn. I fix electronics myself, and this is a learning experience for me.


Hey buddy, if you really want some help or a direction of what to look for. Go over to diyaudio.com, they have a forum just for amp repair. And Perry Babin will most likely help you out. Dude knows everything and he will share his knowledge.


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## Sascha.Elble (Jul 14, 2012)

Thank you BeatsDownLow, I'll go ahead and make a detailed post over there, maybe pm perry to look at it. I will post results here if I do find a fix.


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## JAX (Jun 2, 2006)

I know who Perry is and I have emailed before. He is closer to me than Davids50 but Davids50 knows his stuff and he is very fast and reasonable.

if he tells you something he is most likely dead on and he is not trying to bait you he is trying to help you. 

he doesnt need your money and he usually doesnt post here much. 

I for one would not question a thing he says.

but good luck.


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## Sascha.Elble (Jul 14, 2012)

I still don't understand why I would pm him about fixing it, whats wrong with discussing it openly for everyone's benefit?

It was nice of him to suggest I may have broken the powersupply, however it would have been more informative to tell me what could be broken that started the issue in the first place.


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## JAX (Jun 2, 2006)

Sascha.Elble said:


> I still don't understand why I would pm him about fixing it, whats wrong with discussing it openly for everyone's benefit?
> 
> It was nice of him to suggest I may have broken the powersupply, however it would have been more informative to tell me what could be broken that started the issue in the first place.



with all them parts in there its kind of hard to tell you what was wrong just from text. 

you cant call a mechanic and get a diagnosis over the phone. if they told you wrong it would ruin their rep.

I have dealt with Davids50. If I asked he would tell me to send it to him for the simple fact that he wouldnt want to tell me something that was incorrect. 

I dont blame him. he has a stellar rep and maybe he just wants to be sure. 

its not that he is trying to keep a secret or something. he knows what he is talking about .

if he says something I pretty take it like he is Jesus telling me its so. 

he said it could be worse and I am sure he knows why he said that. I dont need to know why. 

You are asking cause you want to fix it maybe yourself.. understandable. 

I seriously doubt he means anything negative. he really doesnt spend much time on here. 

if I were you and you wanted it fixed I would send it to him. He is fast and reasonable.

Like I said, I have talked to Perry and he is much closer but I dont know what he charges and I dont know his turn around time.


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## Sascha.Elble (Jul 14, 2012)

I am not trying to have someone else fix it. I learn fast, and only need to be pointed in the general direction of diagnosis. If there is something I don't understand, I'll go research it. I've listed many symptoms and what does what during different scenarios. If that's not enough for someone to point me in a honest direction then I'd like to know what the guys that fix these amps do, as most of these components can not be tested within a circuit, as I'm pretty sure they don't go about removing hundreds of components and test them individually...

If no one is interested in helping me please say so, then I'll go about my way. It will take me longer, but I will figure it out. Not my first time fixing broken electronics, but it is my first time working on amps.

If you guys like, I will take a picture of both sides of the board, then mark in voltages and other various bits of info found at certain points of the board, such as audio signal present, voltage, a/c or d/c, temperatures of the bigger transistors and anything with a heatsink... voltages found at each pin of the transistors too.


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## JAX (Jun 2, 2006)

Sascha.Elble said:


> I am not trying to have someone else fix it. I learn fast, and only need to be pointed in the general direction of diagnosis. If there is something I don't understand, I'll go research it. I've listed many symptoms and what does what during different scenarios. If that's not enough for someone to point me in a honest direction then I'd like to know what the guys that fix these amps do, as most of these components can not be tested within a circuit, as I'm pretty sure they don't go about removing hundreds of components and test them individually...
> 
> If no one is interested in helping me please say so, then I'll go about my way. It will take me longer, but I will figure it out. Not my first time fixing broken electronics, but it is my first time working on amps.
> 
> If you guys like, I will take a picture of both sides of the board, then mark in voltages and other various bits of info found at certain points of the board, such as audio signal present, voltage, a/c or d/c, temperatures of the bigger transistors and anything with a heatsink... voltages found at each pin of the transistors too.



ok well in that case got to the site recommended and they might be able to help you or contact Perry Babin on that site.

there are some people here that might be able to help but you might need to post in the other sub forum here:http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/amp-guts-modifications-custom-crossovers/


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## Sascha.Elble (Jul 14, 2012)

Will do, anyway to remove this thread in its entirety? I've re-posted in the correct sub section, and consolidated the information.


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## Sascha.Elble (Jul 14, 2012)

UPDATE:

after pulling a squarish thin D shaped transistor from the switching circuit, the main transistors no longer get hot, but still show the same 19v...

A capacitor from the main power rail, thats connected to the ground doesnt seem to charge, there is no steady rise in charge, more like a brick wall it hits almost instantly then VERY slowly increments. This is a surface mount capacitor, with unknown value...


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