2. amps-preamps
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Help with blown amp

I have a Plinius SA-102 amp which I have had for a few months. It sounds great and I have never had a problem with it. This evening, I was in another room, not listening to music. The amp was on as always, but no music was being played. All of a sudden I heard a loud hissing sound which lasted for about 3 or 4 seconds and then a click. The amp has an automatic mute switch which kicks in when there is a problem. When I checked out what was going on, the mute switch was on and I could smell burning plastic. The mute switch will not go off, and the amp will not work. I immediately unplugged the unit and tried to remove the top lid (per the instructions) to see if one of the fuses has blown. Unfortunately, I can't unscrew some of the allen nuts as they are too torqued.

Can someone please help me get a good night's sleep and tell me that it's only a fuse? Could it be worse? Any ideas on how to get overtorqued screws out?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
gboren
fbi
92 posts
 
~~~~Glad you have the warranty, sorry you have to wait.
For anyone else: If a screw is torqued or seized, and won't cooperate, it can sometimes be coaxed by slightly tightening and slightly loosening repeatedly until oxidation crystals release their bond. Has worked numerous times for me.

Just the Facts

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warrenh's avatar
warrenh
2,299 posts
 
I don't know about Plinius, but some manufacturers will nullify your warrantee if you mess with their stuff. Once you open it up you may have an additional problem. Burning plastic smell? Sounds like more than a scratch. Send that baby back. warren
gboren OP
143 posts
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. I finally got the lid open and none of the user accessible fuses are blown. That means something more serious. Back it goes.

As for the warranty, the user manual actually advises the user to open the device up and change the fuses. If only that were the problem.

Now to figure out why the thing blew.
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