Amp Shutting Down, need help

Great idea's.
1. Synergistic Research Powercell 10se MKII and the Cary will not work if it plugged into it or not.

2. The Cary will not work if it has all the speaker and interconnects attached or even if all the cables are not attached. As a matter of reference all of my interconnects and speaker cables are Crystal Cable Micro's.

3. I am using a 20 amp Maestro outlet.

Any other thoughts?

Hi 'Cappy.

Just to confirm; you're stating that the Cary still shuts down after 20 seconds without *any* cables connected except the power cord? If so, please bare with me with the following request:

Can you please re-confirm that your wall outlet(s) are wired and grounded correctly. You stated you're getting 118 volts between the HOT (smaller slot) and NEUTRAL (larger slot), and no stray voltage between the NEUTRAL and GROUND. Assuming your smaller slot is wired HOT, measure the voltage between it and the GROUND. If your apartment is wired correctly within the breaker box, you should read the same 118 volts as well since the NEUTRAL and GROUND should be connected together within the breaker box in most areas (I believe). *Some* equipment topologies require a properly polarized and grounded source to operate, hence, not to assume all is right even though other equipment designs will operate.

Please advise,

Metro04 - First off thank you very much for your insight. I had my friend who is knowledgeable about power test the lines and he confirmed that the polarity is correct vs. the small and large slots. He also noted that none of my outlets in my apartment are wired to ground it seems the ground is left to the junction boxes alone.

Where to go from here?

Cappy, *maybe* your grounding situation could be the culprit, though since I lack any knowledge regarding Cary's circuits, it might be worth a quick phone call to them for verification.

The only other thing I can think of is that your power cord might be wired backwards (if removable). I assume you've tried swapping it out with one or two other replacements as wiring mistakes do happen whether hi-end or cheap molded variants. Lots of equipment can still operate if reversed, but some circuit designs may take issue.

Also, since you haven't confirmed my question pertaining to your Cary being powered up with *no* input or speakers cables attached, have you tried powering it up with *only* speakers connected (no inputs)? Have you tried swapping speakers and speaker cables - independantly - just for troubleshooting sake (even using cheap speakers and lamp cord)? Note: The amp may not operate without speakers connected, and may trip off as well. See the operation manual for any warnings regarding operation without speakers connected.

Final advice; Be as systematic as possible while troubleshooting, change only one item at a time, and don't *assume* anything. After that, if you're *absolutely* sure every thing's wired correctly (including your AC), and Cary states your grounding configuration doesn't pose an issue, maybe someone else may have additional experience regarding acceptable DC percentages, if present.

In touch,

Thank you again for your suggestions! I am being extremely systematic and it never hurts to hear that over again:)

• I have tried two different power cords, the polarity on both of the power cords is correct
• The outlet polarity is correct. I have tried 4 different circuits in my apartment and the problem still occurs.
• I tried with and without speaker cables including lamp cord.
• It seems that none of my outlets have separate ground wires. I will call Cary today to discuss.
• Remember the unit works perfectly with a 50’ extension cord attached. WHY OH WHY does this work?
• My gut tells me that somehow I am getting dirty (do you love my technical term) electricity which causes the Cary to feedback and trip the 15amp circuit breaker. Remember the circuit breaker trips after 20 second after the unit is powered on.

To be continued……