Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:27 am
How to kill a Carver amp
From anatech (member here), found this posted on DIY Audio & thought it would be good get here for posterity:
Ways to kill a Carver:
Run mids and or highs only (locks the commutators up).
Run an extension cord or poor circuit (voltage falls and supply draws more to compensate).
Run off a small gas generator. (love that, both amp and generator become extinct).
Plug into 550 VAC (flames will cut TO-3 cases and bottom cover)
Let moron service it. (most people refuse to read the service manual).
Carver amps have more protecton than normal amps and normally will simply shut down (except in above cases). I've seen racks operate flawlessly for years.
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The Carver type power supply does not hold a huge amount of energy in reserve. It holds just enough to do the job. Therefore the standby current is very small, little heat being dissipated. Once a signal comes along, the required energy is almost immediately draw from the AC supply. This is because the energy is regulated right at the AC input. As the regulating circuits sense a supply voltage drop, they increase the conduction angle on the triac which results in more current being draw. It does this very quickly in time with the music. The fans on a PM 1.5 sit on their own winding and unregulated power supply, so are speed controlled by how hard the triac is turned on. You can hear them going to the music.
What I'm getting at is that the current demands are very immediate from the AC supply. Most times people load these amps down at 4 ohms or lower (even though they shouldn't). Now, a gas generator's output is controlled a little by changing the field current in the generator. The problem is that it can't track the Carver's current demands because they are so quick. The generator overshoots (voltage too high). This tends to cause a decrease in current in the Carver. The generator then undershoots (voltage too low) so the Carver draws more current. The cycle is like a low frequency oscillation - depending on the generator.
At some point the voltage gets high enough to damage the Carver, or low enough to damage the Carver and generator (at low voltage the Carver draws much higher than normal current). How would you like to have a mixer on the same circuit for that ride? All source devices get severely abused as well. Anyway, anything can happen once this gets out of control. I have no doubt that there are generators that can put up with this. The problem is that everyone buys the least expensive generator they can find.
Extension cords are also very bad for these amps if they are too thin or the run is too long. High voltage drop = high current = blown fuse at some point. A possible shorted triac means that when the fuse is replaced the amp may go full current with extremely high voltages inside. This is not pretty.
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Ways to kill a Carver:
Run mids and or highs only (locks the commutators up).
Run an extension cord or poor circuit (voltage falls and supply draws more to compensate).
Run off a small gas generator. (love that, both amp and generator become extinct).
Plug into 550 VAC (flames will cut TO-3 cases and bottom cover)
Let moron service it. (most people refuse to read the service manual).
Carver amps have more protecton than normal amps and normally will simply shut down (except in above cases). I've seen racks operate flawlessly for years.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Carver type power supply does not hold a huge amount of energy in reserve. It holds just enough to do the job. Therefore the standby current is very small, little heat being dissipated. Once a signal comes along, the required energy is almost immediately draw from the AC supply. This is because the energy is regulated right at the AC input. As the regulating circuits sense a supply voltage drop, they increase the conduction angle on the triac which results in more current being draw. It does this very quickly in time with the music. The fans on a PM 1.5 sit on their own winding and unregulated power supply, so are speed controlled by how hard the triac is turned on. You can hear them going to the music.
What I'm getting at is that the current demands are very immediate from the AC supply. Most times people load these amps down at 4 ohms or lower (even though they shouldn't). Now, a gas generator's output is controlled a little by changing the field current in the generator. The problem is that it can't track the Carver's current demands because they are so quick. The generator overshoots (voltage too high). This tends to cause a decrease in current in the Carver. The generator then undershoots (voltage too low) so the Carver draws more current. The cycle is like a low frequency oscillation - depending on the generator.
At some point the voltage gets high enough to damage the Carver, or low enough to damage the Carver and generator (at low voltage the Carver draws much higher than normal current). How would you like to have a mixer on the same circuit for that ride? All source devices get severely abused as well. Anyway, anything can happen once this gets out of control. I have no doubt that there are generators that can put up with this. The problem is that everyone buys the least expensive generator they can find.
Extension cords are also very bad for these amps if they are too thin or the run is too long. High voltage drop = high current = blown fuse at some point. A possible shorted triac means that when the fuse is replaced the amp may go full current with extremely high voltages inside. This is not pretty.
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TNRabbit
From FrankieD's lips to your ears: Sunfire: a quiet box of endless power.
Sunfire TG-IV/400~7 Amp
Carver SD/A-360 CDP
Benchmark DAC-1
Sony SACD/DVD-A
Active bi-amp: Ashly XR-1001 & 2 Rane PEQ-15s
Main: HotRodded AL-IIIs
Sub: Klipsch RT-12d
Center: Sunfire CRS-3c
Surround: Sunfire CRS-3 (x 2)
RIP WIlliam B. Dibble, 1948-2012. I'll miss you my friend.
From FrankieD's lips to your ears: Sunfire: a quiet box of endless power.
Sunfire TG-IV/400~7 Amp
Carver SD/A-360 CDP
Benchmark DAC-1
Sony SACD/DVD-A
Active bi-amp: Ashly XR-1001 & 2 Rane PEQ-15s
Main: HotRodded AL-IIIs
Sub: Klipsch RT-12d
Center: Sunfire CRS-3c
Surround: Sunfire CRS-3 (x 2)
OconeeOrange wrote:"Gary likes to play it 'loud' as do I. His system begs you turn it up until you die"
RIP WIlliam B. Dibble, 1948-2012. I'll miss you my friend.
