Wow. Maybe I’ll have to break my rule that if it requires a tool, I have someone else do it.

Congrats. Way over my head and beyond my capabilities.

Terry.......

Jim.......

If you can handle a screw driver, a couple of hex keys, and a soldering iron, you can make this repair. That is, of course, that the issue on any particular subwoofer is a power supply capacitor.

Congrats on the successful repair Dan, kudos on a job well done!

JL Audio Fathom f113 repair
 

Dan,

Congrats!!! Panasonic caps are the Esoteric brand of caps. When possible, it’s my go-to brand. Well done, sir!!!!

Good work Dan!

Well done Dan! That type of repair brings such great satisfaction to me!

Dan,
I don’t have the same skill set. You are one of the many talented folks on this forum with electronics, but I have never soldered anything. Sure there are videos, but lots of videos make things look easy.

I found a video on mitral valve repair. Not sure I want to try this either...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zTHPLWBNjCU

Good job on the repair. I am a little envious.

Dan... well done! :ok:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/847/2...e2c081cb_o.jpg


Ivan.......Thank you. I REALLY did not want to have to pack and ship the Fathom. After two months without the f113 working it is a pleasure to have the super low frequency reinforcement back in the living room sound system. I was so happy to see the Master light and the Calibrate button illuminate. Gotta love it when a plan comes together.

Type in JL Audio Fathom f113 repair in the Google search line and the thread already comes up. I hope this thread proves worthwhile to others who may be experiencing the same issue I had. A little DIY project sure saved a lot of energy and money. What's not to like about that?

This morning's music with my coffee and pastry sounded so good with the f113 back in the system. I listened to Liz Story with Joel Di Bartolo. Joel's acoustic double bass was so enticing, the perfect compliment to Liz Story's amazing talent on the piano. I guess I was missing my subwoofer more than I realized. Sure good to have it up and running again.


https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3837/...3f0eb109_o.jpg

So Dan... how much for a house call? :lmao:

Reliability Side Note; between both my homes I’m running 16 JL Audio Subs. I have only had 2 failures (F113v1 x 2) in 15 years. :)

Good for you Ivan. You must be lucky. 3 F113’s and two of them went down with the same issue. For me a 67% failure rate in my home isn’t good. Since it’s s known part that goes would have expected JL to redesign or replace with a superior part to withstand the obvious load its carrying.
I sold two of my subs. One has been sitting dead in the corner for three years. Someday will decide if it’s worth it to fix or just sell as is.
On the other hand JL does have good CS when contacted. I’m just in a position with a severe disability at this point in my life restricting me from being able to lift, pull or otherwise handle the weight involved.
Overall, given JL’s reputation I would have thought they would have recognized the issue early on and take steps to resolve on future units.

I agree; and didn’t realize it was this common/widespread.

JL Audio Fathom f113 repair
 

Electrolytic capacitors are used in nearly every electronic device including microwave ovens, TVs, uninterruptible power supplies, toys, computers, etc.

Generally speaking, capacitors are very reliable, but they are susceptible to over-voltage and over-temperature. If a capacitor is chosen for a given application and it’s close to it’s limits for voltage and temperature, it will fail eventually. Moreover, there are some brands that tend to fail more than others.

I’ve resurrected/repaired many electronic items including major name TVs and stereo components due to failed capacitors.

This is not a problem specific to JL audio; it’s industry wide and the nature of the beast.

Here's a current f113 for sale description by a dealer on another site. Best regardless of price but they all need service? Hmm... :scratch2:

Best subwoofer regardless of price. Purchased from us in 2014. Just recently serviced. All the version 1’s will need service at one point or another so this is good to go for a long time. Comes in version 2 box.

JL Audio Fathom f113 repair
 

Indeed but not the same part with a very high known issue. I higher voltage rating etc with a more rugged construction and/or mfr. I’ve owned amps and components over the eons and never had a failure let alone two of the three I own amp boards I owned. So it’s very suspect.

As an example my beloved MESA Engineering Baron dual mono tube amp I’ve owned for 19 years and a good portion of that it was in storage -a condition which can cause electrolytic caps to leak or dry up. Had it thoroughly checked out a couple years ago out of concern after long storage and the United ChemiCon electrolytic caps were smack on in spec and still flawless.

They can have a custom cap designed specifically for their application to solve the issue. Again knowing JLs reputation quite surprised they haven’t.

BTW I ran mine off P10s so had constant voltage supplied.

This morning I ran the JL Audio automatic room optimization on my newly repaired Fathom f113. I contemplated not doing it because the calibration button light was illuminated, which the manual states: If you have already run A.R.O. once, the “Calibrate” light will already be on. Each time A.R.O. calibration is run, the previous settings are erased and the new settings are stored. My calibration button light was on, so I assume that meant my original ARO calibration was still stored in a non-volatile memory chip. The Fathom has been sounding excellent these past two days, so it is likely my previous calibration was still working. After mulling it over I decided to go ahead with ARO again. Once I plugged the calibration microphone into the f113 and followed the manual's instructions the ARO process went smoothly. I had forgotten how powerful those low frequency test tone sweeps are. So I now have a fresh automatic room optimization curve stored and all seems perfectly fine. I can't really tell if the new ARO curve is different from the original curve. All I know is the subwoofer is integrating very well with my PMC EB1i speakers while using all of the same control settings I had previously set. I am happy with the way the capacitor repair went. Having the Fathom f113 back in action pleases me to no end.

JL Audio Fathom f113 repair
 

Nice job, Dan :thumbsup:

Dan, do you happen to recall what size 2” machine screw you used to dislodge the heat sink?

I’m now 2 for 2 with the same problem after 3 years of use on each sub (very frustrated)? I sent the first one back for repair but I’m going to replace the cap myself as i’m confident it’s the same issue.

Karl

Karl.......I used four metric M6 phillips pan head machine screws. They measure 45mm length. They are slightly larger than the hole in the heat sink but the softer aluminum allows the machine screw to tap threads into it. Gradually screw them through the heat sink across the top, then screw each screw a turn or so back across the top until the amp heat sink pulls away from the recessed area of the subwoofer cabinet. Once the amp plate is free, unscrew the machine screws and save for future use.

http://www.inforum.com/sites/default...?itok=QaH773n-

:D

Thanks for the detailed information Dan! I’ll be saving this thread just in case I need it in the future. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Thank you Dan, much appreciated!

Gentlemen....... :tiphat:

I just made this a Sticky Thread. :thumbsup:

Ivan.......Good idea. I hope this thread helps some owners bring their JL Audio subwoofers back to life without the need to ship them to Florida.

Wow congrats Dan! I wish I had your skills, otherwise I'd try it on my F110!

paazel.......It is not as difficult a task as it may appear. Perhaps you could pull the amp yourself, then have a local tech replace the capacitor for you.

I hope some members give this repair a try. I am relatively confident replacing the capacitor in the stand-by power supply will solve the issue of the subwoofer not powering up.

Dan, where did you source the caps? Thanks!

Steve.......I ordered the capacitors online from Mouser Electronics. mouser.com

Mouser #:
667-EEU-HD1V101
Mfr. #:
EEU-HD1V101
Desc.:
Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors - Leaded Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors - Leaded 100uF 35volts 6.3x11.2 LS 2.5mm

1
$0.64
$0.64
1 Shipped



Mouser #:
647-UVY2G330MHD
Mfr. #:
UVY2G330MHD
Desc.:
Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors - Leaded Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors - Leaded 400volts 33uF 16x25 20% 7.5LS

1
$1.30
$1.30
1 Shipped


MERCHANDISE TOTAL:
$1.94
Order Total:
$9.93

Dan - glad to see you were able to easily fix the issue - congrats!

Tom.......Thank you. I would be pleased to learn that this information helped another member bring his JL Audio Fathom back to life.

Geez, less than 10 bucks... who said hi-end repairs are expensive!

Fantastic Dan, great find and fix, was ready to say Pete needs to come out for a visit to help ship the beast,but WOW you are the guy, this is a great repair story at a minimal cost.

I bet over the years many electronic failures from a simple $1-$10 part resulted in throwing away $1000s invested in gear.

You sure are helping a lot of folks :)

I also agree after 9 years and a decent amount of play time etc, not to mention all the power electrical storms in Florida right?

Anyway I think very high of JL and the build quality. This resolved perfect in the end thank you Dan! :thumbsup:

They are expensive! You are not only paying for the parts! The biggest expense is determining what to fix!

Steve.......The shipping cost four times the parts. Then I only required the single 100uF/35volt capacitor which cost $0.64. Even at $9.93 it was still a tremendous bargain.

Dave.......Thanks, and you're right, high-end audio repairs can get expensive quick. I have been fortunate through the years. The few repairs I had to pay for were typically less than $400.00. This particular DIY repair was driven by the fact that I did not want to deal with packing and shipping the weight of the Fathom f113. I knew there had to be a more appealing alternative. As I understand it, JL Audio has a $300.00 flat rate repair cost for out of warranty subwoofers that includes return shipping. Add in the shipping cost to get the subwoofer to Miramar, Florida, I was looking at a total of about $450.00. Between the cost and the back breaking effort to get the Fathom shipped, plus getting the sub unpacked and back upstairs when it was returned, I decided it made more sense to try to figure out what the problem was and repair it myself. Needless to say, I am pleased as punch the end results worked in my favor. I really hope others will benefit, too.

Karl.......Are you still planning to pull the Fathom amp and replace the power supply capacitor yourself? Please keep us posted how it turns out. I have my fingers crossed for you.

I am indeed Dan. I ordered the cap with some extras from Mouser just in case and will be doing the repair in a few weeks. Thanks for checking...I will certainly keep you all posted.

Karl