Club 80-90 Forums

Hiya,

Having just got the electrics sorted in my van at last, I tried to change my amplifier in the back last night. However, as I was undoing the earth wire, it managed to just out of my grasp and ended up touching the still connected live wire, causing sparks to fly - presumably a short circuit, and now neither amp works at all! I'm an idiot I know, but a gutted one! The fuses on both seem to be ok, but I've no idea about electronics. Hopefully one of you guys can help though?! What's gone wrong, and how can I fix it?! Is the amp knackered? Do I need to change all the wires?

Thanks,

Paddy

What is the amplifier for?
Cheers
Wolfie

not much help.but if you dont know to disconnect your battery when messing with the electrics.should you be messing at all

I've no idea about electronics

If the earth touched live outside the amp the then amp should be fine. I would check you still have +12v at the live wire as I suspect you have probably blown a fuse nearer to the battery.

Thanks all, and yes - I'm an idiot... I didn't think to disconnect the battery first. It's an amp for some speakers in the rear of the van. I'll try all this, the fuse near the battery etc. What a muppet!

Thanks folks! Brilliant as always!

R0B wrote:not much help.but if you dont know to disconnect your battery when messing with the electrics.should you be messing at all

I've no idea about electronics

Obviously true but how brave of him to admit what he did to such a rampant crowd of pee takers and supercilious obvious comment makers as number among us...
Cheers
Wolfie

No worries though - I'm guilty as charged on this and more than fair game for a ribbing!

if you have shorted the supply wires that power the amp it should do nothing more than blow the in-line supply fuse. With power amps, the worst thing you can do is short circuit the speaker connections while the amp is powered on (better ones have short circuit protection but not all). You need to check exactly which wires were shorted and then update your post (12V input or speaker output wires?) .

Do a quick check with a multimeter and see if you are still getting 12V supply to the power amp. Most power amps have some form of led display to indicate that they are on - which model power amp have you got?

Thanks for this - it was a Pioneer amp, and I'll update on models etc shortly (no pun intended) - pretty sure it was the 12V / earth which shorted, the speakers were ok.

Cheers again,

Paddy

have you checked for voltage ?

There should be a fuse on the outside case of the pioneer amp, normally a blade type check this, if thats ok and you have power still at the 12v supply then you have probably blown the internal fuse inside the amp. These are normally quite robust.

ARe you getting any response fromt he amp, any lights etc?