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My amplifier has developed a problem where it pops and crackles quite a bit and sometimes the left channel drops out completely then comes back a few seconds later. It's definitely the amplifier, not the source. Problem has got gradually worse in the last couple of years.
I'm wondering if it's something I might be able to fix myself or whether I'm likely to ruin it by trying.
If it's a question of soldering in a couple of new capacitors I can probably handle that.
Before I go ahead and open it up:
1. Is it likely to be fixable?
2. How can I diagnose what is wrong if it's not visually apparent upon opening it and having a poke about?
The main reason I'm contemplating having a go myself is because I doubt there is anywhere local that will do it, so the alternative will be sending it away to a specialist who will probably charge more than I paid for it when I bought it second-hand 21 years ago.
Disclaimer: I'm not an expert
Is it possible the volume knob(s) is dirty/degraded? as in, does the crackling get better/worse as you twiddle the knob(s) back and forth?
That's an easy fix and pretty cheap, if you're handy with a soldering iron.
No, volume knob doesn't seem to affect it.
I fixed my cd player in the first lockdown. All it needed was opening up and cleaned. Worth a go I reckon.
I had exactly this on my 30 yr old rotel amp.
A liberal spraying with wd40 contact cleaner cured it. I have to re-do it about every 6 months or so.
Edit: spray the moving parts, volume knob and rotary dials.
Edit 2: on the inside.
As above, first port of call should definitely be opening it up, blowing the dust out with compressed air and cleaning any physical knobs/switches with contact cleaner (even if the volume knob doesn't affect it, worth doing as preventative maintenance anyway). I brought an old Technics amp I got off Freecycle back from the brink with this process, and it's worked flawlessly ever since.
if you are anywhere near lancashire then these guys are great: https://www.wilkinsons.tv/hifi-repairs/
Depends what amp it is as to what could e the problem, although at that age it is likely capacitor related. Can you see any of them bulging or leaking?
It might also have fast blow glass fuses on the speaker outputs. My old Arcam Alpha had these and they were dodgy after a couple of years, with exactly the problems you say.
Bought a pack of the fuses for about £5 and kept the amp going another 10 years.
If it is switch related it is completely doable and often problems are mechanical. If it is cap related for that sort of issue then it could be difficult to track down. As others have said try opening it up, blowing dust out and contact cleaner on any switches in the signal path. On my old Rotel amp the problem was with a switch used to feed the output to a second set of speakers and the solution was just to bridge across the connections permanently so the switch did nothing. Diagnosis will just be things like seeing if you get the same result on all inputs, does waggling input/output cables make it worse, does pressing any of the switches give you a similar sort of crackle.
What amp? Recap on many old vintage models is quite easy and won’t blow the bank if it won’t work. Overcomplex low end 90’s Chifi then often not worth the hassle.
Plenty of people out there doing service recaps on Quads / Arcam and the like from the 80’s / 90’s for way less than the cost of buying a new Amp.
If you can get a cheap multimeter and learn the basics on how to test components then that will help a lot. I completely repaired a car dashboard binnacle once with a £10 multimeter and a soldering iron - just needed some soldering reflowed and a couple of wires adding in where the PCB tracks had cracked. Only really needed continuinity testing for that but if you could check individual components that would be even more useful.
Opening it up and just looking around at the components might help - any caps bulging, scotch marks, loose cables etc.
It’s possible to fix quite a lot of issues with very little knowledge but with some logic and careful perseverance.
Sounds like a dry joint where the solder is poorly jointed with component. Google it there are pictures of what to look for, then reheat joints with soldering iron. I had exact same symptoms on an old Yamaha amp the hardest part of fix was stripping it down to get to PCB properly.
Amp is an audiolab 8000s. I'll open it up later and see if there is anything visibly wrong. Will also order some of that contact cleaner. Thanks for the tips so far!
If you switch on the amp with the lid off, keep one hand behind your back.