Line 6 guitar amp

** I have a Line 6 " Spider II " amp in the workshop (this is the head only version and removing the chassis seems impossible until you discover the trick with the front panel). It came in completely dead with both power ICs blown.

The amp has dual power channels rated at 75W each by the makers and uses a pair of TDA7293s - with 15 leads to remove from a double sided PCB with some very fine traces, replacement is tedious to say the least.

There is a quite a decent looking heatsink and the TDAs are clamped with steel brackets that apply lotsa force to hold the packages against silicone thermal pads which are stuck onto the heatsink.

When re-assembled and tested, each channel delivered 90W clean into an 8 ohm load - which is rather a LOT for an IC that only has slightly more heat tab area than a *single* TO3P !!

A finger test revealed that each TDA was getting very hot after only a few seconds while the heatsink was still essentially at room temp. Tested with a K type thermocouple, the mounting tab reached 90C in just over 1 minute and would clearly soon exceed 100C as the heatsink warmed. This is not good.

Being suspicious of the stick-on thermal pads, I decided to remove them and fit mica ones instead, aided by silicone grease. ( Pealing off the original pads revealed a thick film of adhesive on the heatsink which had to be scraped off and rubbed clean with solvent).

When re-assembled, I tested again and it was a very different story. The temp reading on the mounting tabs reached only 56C in the first two minutes and then stabilised at just under 60C.

Is there any need to mention the amp was made in China ??

BTW:

The reason for the dual channel failure is almost certainly that the owner plugged both outputs into the same speaker cab.

... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison
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Bergquist mentions that their 'Gap Pad' products can be reused but they can't decide if their Hi-Flow material is 'reworkable' or not.

One section of the catalog recommends Hi-Flow pad replacement every time a component is replaced and another section of the catalog specifically calls the Hi-Flow 225 product 'reworkable'. They offer a non-answer about reworkability of their 'Gap Filler' product and remain mum about the reworkability of the old Sil-Pads we've used for years.

I assume this means that they would recommend replacing Sil-Pads at each component replacement.

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

"Winston the Troll "

** Complete red herring !!!!!!!!!!!!

The pads used here were not of that kind or brand.

These consisted of a thin plastic film, coated in silicone on both sides, with a clear adhesive layer on one side.

When the blown TDAs were removed, there was no mark or indentation on the pads AT ALL.

The pads measured a tiny 0.15mm thick, which is similar to some 3M products.

** Guarantee it would not have helped one bit, the pads were performing exactly as per usual - ie crap.

Thin mica and thermal grease have 2 to 3 times less temp drop for the same power throughput than any of the low cost pads.

In this particular amp, it is critical that such temp drops be minimised.

... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

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Was this adhesive meant to be thermally conductive? Or did the assembly house just use whatever was on hand to get the work out?

r

Forgive my ignorance of musical instrument speakers, but why would the cabinet have been designed to make this possible, given that Murphy's Law is in full force?

Reply to
spamtrap1888

"spamtrap1888" "Phil Allison"

Was this adhesive meant to be thermally conductive? Or did the assembly house just use whatever was on hand to get the work out?

** The pads were "self adhesive " = like stamps.

Forgive my ignorance of musical instrument speakers, but why would the cabinet have been designed to make this possible,

** What cabinet is that ?

" I have a Line 6 " Spider II " amp in the workshop (this is the head only version .. "

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

I'm not sure how this is easily achievable, even by the most Numpty of all Numptys.

More likely IMHO that said Numpty connected the amp to a speaker where either the speaker cable or the speaker itself was shorted. He then did it again with the other side.

Or possibly he was otherwise exceeding the specs of amp and speakers, and that one side blew ages ago, and he only brought the amp to you when the other side also gave up the ghost.

Or it could have been not due to Numptyism at all, e.g. the manufacturers had put some sort of substandard silicon pad between Power device and Heatsink that did not perform as it should. Again, one side blew ages ago, he only brought it to you when the other side blew, rendering the amp useless.

Gareth.

Reply to
Gareth Magennis

"Gareth Magennis"

** It is very easily achieved.

Lotsa speaker cabs have twin, parallel wired sockets.

Imbecile.

** So you have no clue that TDA7293s fail short ?

Guess what instantly follows ?

** So you have no clue how TDA7293s fail short ?

Guess what instantly follows ?

The AC fuse blows of course.

So if you find *both* ICs on a common DC supply have failed short, they must have done so simultaneously.

BTW:

TDA7293 have over temp protection, which generally saves them from an inadequate heatsink but not from, sudden massive over dissipation.

Do you know anything about amplifiers at all ?

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

Er, no.

Gareth.

Reply to
Gareth Magennis

Sili pads are not the greatest to begin with, some be'n better than others.= The mfgr's of the sili pads don't recommend they be reused. I replace them= with mica most of the time. Chip amps need all the help they can get attem= pting to dissipate heat from that small of a package. The cheap fans used i= n the Mar$hall Mode Four and AVT series always take a shit and the chip amp= s go with them.

Just a note on those 7293s, make *damn* sure the rail filter caps are well = discharged before reconnecting the repaired board (or inserting a replaceme= nt chip). Charged caps will likely damage the chip and render it useless.

Reply to
boardjunkie1

Sili pads are not the greatest to begin with, some be'n better than others. The mfgr's of the sili pads don't recommend they be reused.

** The pads used here were not of the regular kind - these consisted of a thin plastic ( Kapton) film, coated in silicone on both sides, with a clear adhesive layer on one side. The pads measured a tiny 0.15mm thick.

When the blown TDAs were removed, there was no mark or indentation on the pads AT ALL.

I replace them with mica most of the time.

** Good.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

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