WooferHound
Well-Known Member
I was doing a show in Louisiana and ended up talking to another Sound Man. The conversation went to Crown DC300a amps and he told me the story about one that he was using to run a PA system at a County Fair. He had speaker horns on telephone poles scattered over a wide area and the a Crown DC300a amp on the ground at the base of a pole, they were using it for general announcements.
One day a huge rain storm came through and everybody ran for cover as the wind was really strong. They were using the PA system for emergency announcements throughout the storm. About the time the rain started to dissipate the sound guy remembered his Crown amp sitting outside running the sound system. He ran to check on it as more announcements were being made. When he got there he found the amp half covered in a puddle of water and still broadcasting emergency messages. He said that he decided to leave it running since it was needed so badly at the time.
I had a Peavey 1.3k amp running in a nightclub for 3 years. I happened to be in the club one night when the manager turned on the DJ sound system. He was complaining that there was no sound coming from the bass speakers so I went to the DJ booth to check it out. When I got there I could smell something burning and I could see some sparks through the fan on the back of the amp. I turned the amp off and wired the bass speakers onto a spare amp.
I removed the amp and took it to my shop to see what's up? When I opened it up I found it completely clogged up with dust and cigarette smoke. I turned the amp on to check where the sparks were coming from. It made some continuous arcing and started the mass of dust on fire. I turned the amp off and blew out the small fire. The dust had gotten very thick and was conductive enough to get hot and start sparking and light a fire. Then I thoroughly cleaned it all out and on inspection I found all the circuit boards inside had been arcing through the dust at some time in the past. A large number of components were burnt black and traces on the circuit boards were pitted and burned through. It was in such bad condition that I decided that repair was not possible.
At that point I opened and cleaned all the other amps that were in the clubs DJ system and they all were getting equally bad. If anybody needs a transformer for a Peavey 1.3k amp I will send you one for the cost of the shipping.
One day a huge rain storm came through and everybody ran for cover as the wind was really strong. They were using the PA system for emergency announcements throughout the storm. About the time the rain started to dissipate the sound guy remembered his Crown amp sitting outside running the sound system. He ran to check on it as more announcements were being made. When he got there he found the amp half covered in a puddle of water and still broadcasting emergency messages. He said that he decided to leave it running since it was needed so badly at the time.
I had a Peavey 1.3k amp running in a nightclub for 3 years. I happened to be in the club one night when the manager turned on the DJ sound system. He was complaining that there was no sound coming from the bass speakers so I went to the DJ booth to check it out. When I got there I could smell something burning and I could see some sparks through the fan on the back of the amp. I turned the amp off and wired the bass speakers onto a spare amp.
I removed the amp and took it to my shop to see what's up? When I opened it up I found it completely clogged up with dust and cigarette smoke. I turned the amp on to check where the sparks were coming from. It made some continuous arcing and started the mass of dust on fire. I turned the amp off and blew out the small fire. The dust had gotten very thick and was conductive enough to get hot and start sparking and light a fire. Then I thoroughly cleaned it all out and on inspection I found all the circuit boards inside had been arcing through the dust at some time in the past. A large number of components were burnt black and traces on the circuit boards were pitted and burned through. It was in such bad condition that I decided that repair was not possible.
At that point I opened and cleaned all the other amps that were in the clubs DJ system and they all were getting equally bad. If anybody needs a transformer for a Peavey 1.3k amp I will send you one for the cost of the shipping.
