Dayton SA100 Plate Amp Issue

[crashbuilder]

Got a SA-100 in Jan of last year and was really pleased with it. I don’t drive it hard so I was a bit surprised when it blew a fuse a couple of months ago. Replacement was painless but two weeks ago I noticed that there was virtually no output even at full gain. It no longer thumps on startup but you can feel the driver vibrating and the woofer isn’t blown but no bass.

Took it to a local shop and the technician seems to be mystified (don’t know how competent they are, never used them before) ... any pointers on where he should be looking.

[brianbe]

Model Number	SA100
List Price	$149.99
Color	Black
Unit of Measure	Each
UPC	844632015946
Warranty - Parts	5 Years
Warranty - Labor	5 Years

[JRT]

Took it to a local shop and the technician seems to be mystified (don’t know how competent they are, never used them before) ... any pointers on where he should be looking.

I suspect that may have been the wrong place to take it. If you are still in Barbados, and round trip shipping to PE might exceed the value of the item, maybe try contacting some members of the Amateur Radio Society of Barbados and find out where they might take radio electronics for expert repairs.

[crashbuilder]

Thanks ... got a line on guy with a good reputation, will be checking him out, now that the original shop has officially given up.

[lunchmoney]

Not surprising. I had a similar experience with one of the cheapo PE plate amps (I forget which model). It dropped in power dramatically before it stopped working entirely. Reviews suggest that this is quite common. As a result I now use a more traditional separate amp like the SA230. It costs a bit more but is just better in every way, including no more crouching over behind the sub every time I want to make an adjustment.

SA230:

https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-SA230-230W-Subwoofer-Amplifier-300-813

[lunchmoney]

I wonder if the vertical orientation has anything to do with it.

[buggers]

No, they are just cheap garbage...

[fpitas]

Seems likely. I wonder why you can't get decent ones.

[danmarx]

I would contact PE and do a warranty claim. Most Dayton Audio products are warrantied for 5 years. So take them up on it. And I can't imagine shipping costs are that unreasonable, but I haven't shipped anything recently. These little plate amps are lightweight though (compared to shipping back a sub for example) so it might be worth checking into.

[JRT]

I would contact PE and do a warranty claim. Most Dayton Audio products are warrantied for 5 years. So take them up on it. And I can't imagine shipping costs are that unreasonable, but I haven't shipped anything recently. These little plate amps are lightweight though (compared to shipping back a sub for example) so it might be worth checking into.

My understanding is that he is located in the eastern Caribbean island country of Barbados, and not within CONUS. I would expect roundtrip shipping to be exorbitant (and shipping through border customs both ways both countries may add more cost and bother), enough to make the "free" warranty repair cost prohibitive relative to the cost of paying for local repair. If local repair doesn't work out well, better to apply the cost of shipping toward the purchase of a better amplifier with higher quality in components and manufacture.

[danmarx]

Ah got it, that makes sense. Must have skimmed over that part where you mentioned where crashbuilder lived. I suppose getting it fixed yourself is your only option. I wish I could provide some generic troubleshooting tips but I'd only be guessing without additional information about the failure. I'd be inclinded to suggest either something in the amp stage or in the power supply stage but that's just a guess. Hopefully your local guy has experience with amps and can figure it out.

[crashbuilder]

Thanks for weighing in …. turns out the volume potentiometer was bad. Local tech got it working again but complained about the availability of suitable parts. Managed to find something that worked but claimed it wasn’t ideal. Well the same problem has re-emerged but he can’t remember value of the original pot. I’d like to get the “right” part before taking it in. Opened it up and the adjacent pot (freq) is a C50K whereas the volume, which he replaced, is now a B50k. Any idea what the original was …. C50K a good guess? This assumes it’s the same problem, the symptoms are the same.

[Colonel7]

I’d ask PE to find out the pot value.

[Colonel7]

I’d ask PE to find out the pot value.

[AdrianD]

The pot on that amp is going to actually be a 50k audio taper rather than a linear taper, the C50K pots are for the LPF.

[johnnyrichards]

I had two SA240 take a dump on me, the two I currently have are holding strong *crosses fingers they don't start a fire*.