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Fuse burned out in shipping? ?

Okay, I bought an amp--a Halfer DH220--from a 'gent' who assures me it was in perfect working order prior to arriving. It arrives and one channel doesn't work. It was poorly packed, so I wasn't surprised, but it also had a burned fuse on the channel that no longer worked. Bad sign.

So I write this 'gent' who continues to insist that the amp was functioning at the time of shipping and he can't imagine why a fuse would of burned out. ---- He suggested that perhaps something happened in shipping to cause the fuse to burn out!! ---- Okay, I'm not an electrical engineer, but I smell BS. However, I decided I would give his story one tiny modicum of the benefit of doubt and come here and post. Soooo.....

Is there ANYTHING that could happen to an amp, packed inside a friggin box and not plugged in, that could cause it to burn out a fuse? I think this is complete crap, but hey, I'm not gonna crucify someone if I'm wrong.
aewhistory
mechans
3,048 posts
 
The above answers are intelligent discussions of what may may have blown the fuse, but none even hint at an unplugged amp blowing a fuse on its own. So the straight answer is no but investigate the problem as suggested.
jea48
4,668 posts
 
The above answers are intelligent discussions of what may may have blown the fuse, but none even hint at an unplugged amp blowing a fuse on its own.
08-30-12: Mechans

Mechans,

He suggested that perhaps something happened in shipping to cause the fuse to burn out!!
Aewhistory

You know the way I read that?.... The amp could have been damaged in shipment and when the buyer hooked up the amp and powered it on the fuse blew.

Doesn't that make more sense?

Aewhistory,

Is there a chance you shorted the speaker output terminals, with the connected speaker wire terminations, of the channel with the blown fuse?

Before you install the new fuse and try to power up the amp again make sure the speaker output terminals are not shorted.
Jim
wolf_garcia
6,747 posts
 
Is is very common for shippers to leave things on the roof of a truck during lunch breaks and while driving slowly, thus subjecting items to lightening storms and wind driven falling power lines which can blow a fuse in an otherwise packed and sealed amp. Airplanes used in shipping get hit by lightening also, and often a criminal perpetrator is near or sitting on a box containing audio gear when being tasered. Very common, happens all the time.
hifigeek1
770 posts
 
It's possible the fuse got damaged in shipping from mechanical vibration. It's easy to tell if the fuse was damaged mechanically vs. was blown. Mechanically, the fuse element would be totally intact and just broke off. If the fuse blew you would see melted fuse element or charring of the element and sometimes the element gets deposited on the glass of the fuse. That being said the fuse would have had to sustain a rather large impact to break the element which begs the question, was the amp dropped in shipment?
swanny76109
382 posts
 
There could be a cold solder joint at the outputs that got loosened due to shipping damage. I had a set of monoblocks sent by a complete dumb^%$ who threw them into a weak cardboard box with a few peanuts and some bubble wrap. The box was toast, a big hole in it, the amp corners were bent, a complete mess. One amp didn't work at all and he didn't even help with the claim other than to say he packed them well. I got the claim paid but it was a pain. I advise to work with the seller to come to a reasonable solution but wouldn't be happy so far. You should expect it not to be DOA. Did you use paypal or credit card? I'd ask the seller to put in a damage claim asap.
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