Is it my transformer or rectifier?

[foTONICS]

1.What is the Make and Model of the AMP?

TEN-A1500 Power Amplifier from DynaTronic Corporatoin Ltd

2.What is the value of the mains fuse on the unit value?

20A

3."trip the circuit breaker",
Does the unit have a circuit breaker on it?
Or,are you talking about the one on the wall?

The switch on the front of the unit has a built in circuit breaker @ 25A

The circuit breaker on the wall, 20A, is what keeps tripping

4.Try operating the unit with all PCBs pulled from their sockets,
what happens ?

The unit functions properly if I remove the PCB's and the rectifier, if I add the rectifier but keep the PCB's removed the breaker on the wall trips



I was looking up the information on the transformer and the input to the rectifier is 22A, more current than the breaker on the wall can handle. This is frustrating for one VERY important reason. When we first installed this unit I told the electrician "It needs a 30A breaker". After the installation I was told that the 30A was installed, unit was powered on, and damage to the unit occurred. I'm starting to think that a 30A breaker was never installed (or installed in the wrong location). This entire effort may have been for something very, VERY, silly......

 

[Minder]

IMO if the unit has a 25a breaker then any breaker ahead of it should be at least 25a or greater (30a).
It is beginning to look like normal inrush more and more?
M.

 

[dorke]

I tried to find info on that unit on the web,nothing showed up.
What kind of PA is it?
Do you have any service manual or schematics?

The 25A CB on the unit hints at something consuming about 1KW of power.
Under normal conditions a 20A CB on the wall shouldn't trip,
although it is obviously a wrong value.
Can you use another circuit? like a one supplying power to air-condition etc.?

The big black Capacitor needs checking:
I assume it is connected to the +/- of the rectifier.
Are there any others like it?what is the value and voltage of the cap.

I would disconnect it(nuts) and check it's value with C-meter/ESR meter-make sure there is no voltage on it before!.
Also try operating the unit with all PCBs in the unit(all=3?)disconnected and the cap as well
,what happens?

If breaker doesn't trip it may very well be a defective cap.

 

[foTONICS]

IMO if the unit has a 25a breaker then any breaker ahead of it should be at least 25a or greater (30a).
It is beginning to look like normal inrush more and more?
M.

this is what I started to fear. It was my initial thought but the electrician told me he changed the breaker, and it still tripped, so I figured the unit had a fault. It turns out he may have just been misinformed so he's going to swap out the breakers for me, I will watch it this time, and see if the unit powers on.

 

[foTONICS]

Hey Minder/dorke,

The electrician swapped out the breaker for a 30A, I turned on the unit, and after a dim of the overhead lights the beast roared to life.....all this work and it turns out just to be inrush which makes me a little irritated that I spent so much time disassembling stuff. At least I learned a lot about the P.A. if that means anything.

Something that I do see as odd is that I have to turn the unit on twice. I flip the switch, lights dim/flicker, and the unit doesn't start up. I put the switch back off, then turn it back on and it starts up. The only difference between how the P.A. is powered now as to how it was powered before is one of these:

http://www.eaton.com/Eaton/Products...tectiveDevices/IndustrialCommercial/index.htm

The old configuration didn't have one, the new configuration does, and it's with the new configuration that I'm having issues. Perhaps the inrush sets this thing off?

Thanks again for the help,

 

[foTONICS]

Do you have any service manual or schematics?

a very poorly written chinese to english operations manual

The big black Capacitor needs checking:
I assume it is connected to the +/- of the rectifier.
Are there any others like it?what is the value and voltage of the cap.

You're right in your assumption that it's connected to the rectifier. There are four of these total
http://cdn.rcmart.com/images/hcg_33000.jpg

33000MFD 100VDC

 

[Minder]

Hey Minder/dorke,

The electrician swapped out the breaker for a 30A, I turned on the unit, and after a dim of the overhead lights the beast roared to life.....all this work and it turns out just to be inrush which makes me a little irritated that I spent so much time disassembling stuff. At least I learned a lot about the P.A. if that means anything.

,

I use Toroidal transformers extensively, and there can be considerable inrush, I have often found the effect compounded by poor wiring layout in the building, mixture of lighting and power points etc, without the regard to put on dedicated circuits efficiently etc.
M.

 

[foTONICS]

I use Toroidal transformers extensively, and there can be considerable inrush, I have often found the effect compounded by poor wiring layout in the building, mixture of lighting and power points etc, without the regard to put on dedicated circuits efficiently etc.
M.

I did mention quite a few times when the electrical contractor was here that the P.A. needed it's own dedicated circuit as per the crazy inrush. The first person I talked with wasn't the one who did the work so there may have been something lost in communication to the electrician who actually did the work.