Looking for Carver ZR1600 schematics

theswits · « **on:** 12 May 2018, 08:48 pm »

Howdy folks,
I picked up a Carver ZR1600 back in 2003, and it has just recently started to misbehave.
After it runs for about 30 minutes, I get a "pop" in one of the channels, very instantaneous, lasts like a tenth of second, maybe less.
The "pop" is quite loud compared to the volume the music is playing at.
After it starts, it keeps happening at random intervals, ranging from 10 seconds to 5 minutes.
I'm thinking maybe a random capacitor failure, but not really sure since I don't have the schematics to figure out what is going on.
So if anyone has some ideas, or access to the schematics, I would sure appreciate hearing from you.
Cheers, E.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #1 on:** 12 May 2018, 09:19 pm »

Welcome Theswits

Seems a diode is failing when the circuit warm.
https://www.eserviceinfo.com/downloadsm/45732/Carver_ZR%20series.html

https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/carver/zr-1600.shtml

https://elektrotanya.com/carver_zr-series_sch.pdf/download.html

In DVD:
http://knoppix.net/store/Carver-Hifi-Service-Manuals-Schematics-Pdfs-On-Dvd-Huge-Collection_301379544677.html

PDR · « **Reply #2 on:** 12 May 2018, 11:03 pm »

Techs here will help you....

https://thecarversite.com/

JakeJ · « **Reply #3 on:** 13 May 2018, 01:34 pm »

Hello and welcome to AC, theswits.

theswits · « **Reply #4 on:** 13 May 2018, 03:58 pm »

Thanks for the tips folks, I'll let you knwo how it works out ..

theswits · « **Reply #5 on:** 14 May 2018, 04:06 pm »

Ok, here's an update, weird as it is:
I bought my ZR1600 about 15 years ago, a rebuild from the factory.
I have been running it buried behind a bunch of other stuff since then, with nary a thought about it until the "popping" noice started (random and loud).
So, I finallly disconnected it, dusted it off and thought I should poke around inside.
The first thing I found odd was even before I opened the cover: under serial number, was a neatly stenciled "has been removed" label. (?)
After opening the cover, there were the typcial 15 year old dust bunnies attached to things.
But then I noticed that some of the thermal paste between the transistors and heat sink had crept its way down the transistor leads and had pooled around the base of the leads at the circuit board. Could the excess thermal paste have been a leftover from the factory rebuild? Hmmmm...
Furthermore, aforementioned dust bunnies exhibited a pronounced affinity to sticking to the pooled thermal paste.
A few isopropanol-soaked Q-tips and a quick vacuum later, and all excess thermal paste and dust bunnies had been removed.
Re-assembled, and the amp has now been running 24 hours without issue.
Problem solved? We shall see ....
Cheers.