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Thread: New Crown - thermal shut down - Boo!

  1. #1
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    New Crown - thermal shut down - Boo!

    OK, so I have been using a Crown XLS 800D in one HT for eight months or so and it has run cold as ice and without incident. The fans were really loud so I turned them off.

    Anyway, I liked the Crown amp so much I recently purchased another one of the same make and model for the basement. Since I did not have any thermal issues with the first unit, I turned the fans in the new unit off too.

    Apparently, this new amp wants more cold air as it shut off twice during its very first playing session at moderate levels.

    I was driving a single set of 8 Ohm 4312s at the time. One of the speakers is 60 feet away and I am using thin speaker cable, however. The amp was mildly warm to the touch which surprised me. My first Crown amp is NEVER warm to the touch irrespective of the power I apply.

    Anyway my questions:

    1. Is the thin speaker wire in the basement application a reason that the new amp might run hotter than the same make and model amp runs in the TV room?

    2. Is it possible that two Crown amps of the same make and model would run at different operating temperatures both driving a single set of 8 ohm load speakers in a home setting?

    3. I'm sure I can stop the thermal shut down of the new amp if I turn on the fans but they are noisy; can I use a less noisy pancake fan or is there another potential solution to thermal meltdown?

  2. #2
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by robertbartsch View Post
    I'm sure I can stop the thermal shut down of the new amp if I turn on the fans but they are noisy; can I use a less noisy pancake fan or is there another potential solution to thermal meltdown?
    Try better wires but maybe you should just hook up the fans and put the amps in another room. I used to keep my first D150 in the closet since it was sold without even a faceplate. Did you at least have it up in the air where it could get circumferential cooling?

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    Dis Member mikebake's Avatar
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    How exactly did you turn them off? Were they designed to be able to be turned off?

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    ...new amp is sitting in an open glass shelf rack that was built for HT components - 6 inches of open space above and open to the sides and back. Rack is not against the wall.

    Both amps are "B" stock inventory which is either (1) slight damage to the case or (2) a return amp that has been factory reconditioned.

    I guess the Crown amps have good protection circuits like DC shut down and thermal shut down which is a good idea, I suppose. Anyway, putting units in separate rooms is not an option for me, however.

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    Dis Member mikebake's Avatar
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    Back to my question................

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    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mikebake View Post
    Back to my question................
    I'll answer: The fans are on all the time unless you pull their power. The amp is a high-power DJ PA amp designed for a working rack where the noise won't be heard over the system. It's a nice design but very light with little heat-sink area or cooling fins. Made in China so maybe a better-quality whisper fan could help the problem.

    Here's a shot of the guts of another Crown XLS model posted on another site which might give you an idea why it needs the fan:

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    Dis Member mikebake's Avatar
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    Okay, so what we have is "New B stock Crowns -Thermal shutdown-boo! I didn't turn them off, I opened the case and unplugged the fans that are designed to cool it and not meant to be unplugged by the consumer and now it is shutting down- boo!"
    I got it.............

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    Administrator Robh3606's Avatar
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    Geez that will do it. Not a lot of heat sink area for just convection cooling. With the old Crowns the whole case including the faceplate was a heatsink. Are those tied into the bottom of the housing at all??

    Rob
    "I could be arguing in my spare time"

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    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Sounds like the wrong amps...

    For sub duty I use a JBL badged QSC. The JBL MPA 660... it is large and heavy. It is rated at ~600wpc and the fan never comes on. I guess it would driving a Vertec Array in a large venue.


    Widget

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    Senior Moment Member Oldmics's Avatar
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    Disconnecting the fan circuitry is a bad idea.

    It will eventually cause catastrophic failure of the amp.Not immeadently but it will happen.

    The energy destined to go to the fan once the demand to turn the fan on has to be dispersed in some fashion.

    That rampant,unterminated electrical energy will cause overheating of the terminated electrical componets through out the entire fan circuit.

    I would hook the fans back up or increase your homes fire insurance.

    Oldmics

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    Moderator hjames's Avatar
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    If it were me, I would hook the fans back up, sell the PA amp,
    and get something more in line with your needs for home audio use.

    Surely there must be something better suited for your use?
    2ch: WiiM Pro; Topping E30 II DAC; Oppo, Acurus RL-11, Acurus A200, JBL Dynamics Project - Offline: L212-TwinStack, VonSchweikert VR-4
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    Yeh, Ok I will re-connect the fans. Thx....

    I have several large consumer amps including Adcom, Denon, Onkyo, Sub plate amps, etc. None of them touch the Crown in terms of shear performance characteristics. These amps are very powerful and natural sounding big mothers! Trully hard to beat at $300 for a NEW 500 WPC stereo amp (includes current factory rebate of $100)

    I've had several issues with old electronics recently, so I would rather not buy more OLD stuff.

    Anyway, the picture above must be a smaller Crown 202D amp since it only has about half the output transisters that my unit has.

    Question:
    Is it possible that a factory defect would casue the new "B" stock unit to run really hot?

    I ran the old Crown 802D last night in the TV room at very high SPL and it was cold as ice.

    This morning I ran the new Crown 802D in the basement and it was warm to the touch at very low SPLs.

  13. #13
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by robertbartsch View Post
    Yeh, Ok I will re-connect the fans. Thx....
    Take a picture of the inside while you're there, OK?



    Quote Originally Posted by robertbartsch View Post
    Question:
    Is it possible that a factory defect would casue the new "B" stock unit to run really hot?
    Find out after you reconnect the fan.

  14. #14
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    Don't get me wrong, Crowns are good amps. But there is nothing speacial about the XLS series. I have had issues with that line in the past.

  15. #15
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by clubman View Post
    Don't get me wrong, Crowns are good amps. But there is nothing speacial about the XLS series. I have had issues with that line in the past.
    We discussed this when Robert first had the idea. This was pretty much an experiment on Robert's part which worked well with his first unit but apparently not so well with the second. We had discussed all the potential issues such as the Chinese-build-quality, the fan, and the sound-reinforcement versus home-use intent of the design. I appreciate Robert letting us know how it all worked out and perhaps he does just have a defective second unit.

    If he hasn't already, maybe Robert could swap the amps and see how each perform in the other's position?

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