Jer's 400 PLWO Thread

[Northwinds]

POINT 5 amp(.5) ??

Fuses say BUSS 250V 0.5 amp (1/2 amp)

 

[Northwinds]

What meter are you using?

AW Sperry SP-5A, it's all I have

 

[Northwinds]

Yeah that is. So the one blowing fuses is the 10 ohm reading correct??

Yes, wish I had your phone number, easier then this. Mine is (860)742-0126

Ron

 

[laatsch55]

Getting ready to go to work. I'll call when I'm on the road.

 

[Northwinds]

Getting ready to go to work. I'll call when I'm on the road.

No rush Brother, anytime is good, even tonight. I have a houseful of kids right now LOL

 

[laatsch55]

I understand how that goes!!!!

 

[Northwinds]

EDIT: Solved hopefully, still work to be done

 

[jbeckva]

They handle 250 watts so I think 838 watts would be a waste right? I do have a rackmount pro amp out in the garage that I run for the mancve system, maybe I will try that, it's 300w per channel

Depends... the advantage to having a higher powered amp is if you should want to turn it up a few notches, then the thought is your ears would give out before the amp began to "clip". It actually is the lower powered amps that'll do in a speaker in actual use, because those have a tendency to be driven closer (and over) their limit to where clipping begins to be a major issue - it's the clipping at the top of the waveform that usually destroys drivers in speakers.

Got your VM. At work right now so I can give you a call later tonight or over the weekend. Still need to put the meters and LED board back together and button it up. Even after that Ron, as Lee would agree I like to hold onto a fresh amp for a few weeks to let it burn in awhile. I didn't quite believe it when I first heard about it, but these PL's really do sound better and better the longer they are in use.

 

[Northwinds]

Depends... the advantage to having a higher powered amp is if you should want to turn it up a few notches, then the thought is your ears would give out before the amp began to "clip". It actually is the lower powered amps that'll do in a speaker in actual use, because those have a tendency to be driven closer (and over) their limit to where clipping begins to be a major issue - it's the clipping at the top of the waveform that usually destroys drivers in speakers.

Got your VM. At work right now so I can give you a call later tonight or over the weekend. Still need to put the meters and LED board back together and button it up. Even after that Ron, as Lee would agree I like to hold onto a fresh amp for a few weeks to let it burn in awhile. I didn't quite believe it when I first heard about it, but these PL's really do sound better and better the longer they are in use.

By all means Jerry, keep for however long you think you need to. It just gives me more time to get cash together if I can afford it. You can call me anytime Brother

 

[Northwinds]

Just got a call from Bill Watkins Sr! Described the problem and he said I bet the coils are wired backasswards, a common mstake since most people think the black wire is the ground when it's in reality the hot. So, I thanked him quickly for the tip as I did not want to take too much of his time and said goodbye

Pulled the woofers and sure enough, the 4 ohms coils were hooked backwards in both speakers. Quick installed them with two screws each and now I hear the bass. I am chicken to put the juice to them as I am out of fuses but for a moment I took them up to 3/4s volume with the A1 and nothing fried

The potentiometers for the both crossovers are shot so I need to replace them, knew that when I bought these. Have to fiddle with them to get them to come on. I am wondering if I can cannibalize the ones in my SM120s for now, any thoughts? They should work right or is there a difference in ratings? I can't get the mid to come on in the left speaker so I will double check and pull it, run it direct at low volume to make sure it works

 

[NavLinear]

Just got a call from Bill Watkins Sr! Described the problem and he said I bet the coils are wired backasswards, a common mstake since most people think the black wire is the ground when it's in reality the hot. So, I thanked him quickly for the tip as I did not want to take too much of his time and said goodbye

Pulled the woofers and sure enough, the 4 ohms coils were hooked backwards in both speakers. Quick installed them with two screws each and now I hear the bass. I am chicken to put the juice to them as I am out of fuses but for a moment I took them up to 3/4s volume with the A1 and nothing fried

The potentiometers for the both crossovers are shot so I need to replace them, knew that when I bought these. Have to fiddle with them to get them to come on. I am wondering if I can cannibalize the ones in my SM120s for now, any thoughts? They should work right or is there a difference in ratings? I can't get the mid to come on in the left speaker so I will double check and pull it, run it direct at low volume to make sure it works

I just read this portion of the thread and I'm glad you got your speakers going. Cool - getting a call from the designer shows what service should be.

Are you sure the pots are shot? Maybe they're dirty or oxidized. If you have some DeOxit or other cleaner designed for this application you could spray some into the pot and rotate it a bunch of times to see if that helps. Some of the older pots can be disassembled, cleaned and reassembled but if it is actually broken than a replacement may be in order.

 

[jbeckva]

Ok, back 2 it... Now we have the 400 UP n RUNNING at about Mach 2.5. It is still loud enough in here to not be able to think... yeeeooww!!

 

[jbeckva]

And then it got louder.... and as in my tagline, I SAW THE GOD PARTICLE... heheheh

BUT

Seems these meters need a little help in unfreezing them. I know there's a trick to getting them where they move freely, right?

 

[Northwinds]

IT'S ALIVE

 

[fitz43]

Seems these meters need a little help in unfreezing them. I know there's a trick to getting them where they move freely, right?

Are they stuck in one position or just sloooooow to move?

I fixed one that was sticking on a 700b.

It involved taking the meter apart then gently manipulating the needle by hand to see what it was hanging up on. It turned out to be the metal plate with the markings on it was no longer being held in place with the two sided tape. A couple of small spots of silicone fixed it.

 

[laatsch55]

And then it got louder.... and as in my tagline, I SAW THE GOD PARTICLE... heheheh

BUT

Seems these meters need a little help in unfreezing them. I know there's a trick to getting them where they move freely, right?

Could be anything Jer, but fitz43 has a pretty good procedure going there.

 

[jbeckva]

Could be anything Jer, but fitz43 has a pretty good procedure going there.

I'll eyeball them this weekend sometime.. enjoying the tunes at the moment not wanting to take it back down yet..

 

[laatsch55]

Like me and Lickety Split, I love this 400.

 

[jbeckva]

Ok, so nowww.. I have a pretty lighted switch I just put in. Even heat shrinked the terminals all the way up to the switch (I just don't like 120 volts AC waiting to "git me" hehe).

I did notice however that the meters are moving freely, so that's telling me that I'm torque'ing down on the bezel set screws a bit too much. Lee didn't you have a good tip or two for that? With the switch it's getting a lil crowded so I don't want to be taking it apart.. back together.. apart again too many times until I"m sure those meters aren't binding up.

 

[laatsch55]

I had been putting a 1/16 inch thick by1" X1" aluminum pad on the back of the meter to spread the load from the aluminum "thumb" that the 6 X 32 screw runs through. It sometimes takes up to a couple days for the meters to free up, IF they aren't in a bind