Hi all, I’ve had my ps-100 for a couple months and switching amps today I had no sound, I turned everything off and made sure everything was hooked up correctly, I had selected the correct ohms for the new amp etc, everything was correct.
I turned everything back on and still no sound. I tested the amp without the PS100 and that worked fine. So second stage of trouble shooting, commence the jiggling.
Turns out the ohm selector for the speaker out on the ps100 isn’t making a super solid connection and will cut in and out if jiggled.
Given the unit is only a couple of months old I’m a bit surprised, I turned everything off and tried a little contact cleaner. Switched it back and forth and turned it back on, no dice, still cuts in and out.
I’m no stranger to working on amps and printed circuit boards, I’ve worked on all of my own amps recapping, reducing noise and doing reliability mods etc.
Given the switches in the ps100 are PCB mount and the PCB sits vertically for them I can’t see if the ohm selectors are sealed units, if they’re open I can get in there with a couple sets of fine tweasers and tweak the contacts to make better contact but I really would rather not open it up only find they’re sealed units and have to seal it back up and try to search for a replacement switch.
Does anyone know if the ohm selectors are sealed or open/you can get to the contacts. If they’re sealed, is that a part I can order? Is it a standard PCB slide switch? Is there a part number? A specific model number that’s used for those switches?
It appears that you have conducted thorough testing. It seems pretty watertight that the switch is the issue. But would you please take a look at this “no sound” checklist (skip any ideas you have already done)? It might help catch any issues before attempting a repair.
A good way of testing the circuit is toggling from BYPASS to OPERATE. If both positions have the problem, then the issue is indeed very likely the switch. Typically moving the switch up and down can help clean the contact. You have done one step beyond this with the cleaner.
I believe that switch is a custom part, so a replacement would need to be sent out to you.
Good afternoon/morning dependant on time zone I guess.
The unit as a whole operates at it should in all other aspects, I’ve tried two other amps which have 8 ohm and 16 ohm speakers/amp and neither of those positions with either slider switch for ohm selection cause issue even when jiggled it seems only the 4/2 ohm position on the speaker out impedance slider switch has issue.
The cut out state can occur just when switching to that position from another as it initially had when I first had a no output state, or it can be induced to occur by jiggling the switch but not moving it out of the detent position, primarily moving it side to side whilst in the detent but it can also be made to cut in and out applying light pressure “up”.
Of note whenever you get it to cut out, if you release pressure it does not spring back to a state where it achieves contact but will stay in the cut out state. So in order to get it to contact you have to jiggle it to a point where you have contact and then leave it.
It seems there’s a range within the detent position where it will and won’t make contact.
The movement of the switch in the detent position that causes the cutting in and out is very minor and very much within the detent so it’s not a case of being half in half out between selections.
How would I go about ordering a replacement switch from fryette? Is international shipping available? I’m in Australia.