UPDATE:
It's been one month today since the successful repair of my JL Audio Fathom f113 subwoofer. I have played music in the living room everyday and the subwoofer is working flawlessly. I have the Fathom set for Auto turn-on when a music signal is sensed at the inputs, exactly the way I used it for nine years before the capacitor failure. All is well and hopefully I will not have any other issues for years to come. Long live my JL Audio subwoofer. |
:thumbsup:
|
Nice job Dan
What ESR meter did you purchase? I have an old Heathkit Cap tester that runs them under load and voltage selectable from 2-600v, great for checking coupling caps. Sometimes its difficult to test mylars. Curious if yours will test Mylar Sometimes it almost mandatory to have a good cap to compare. |
John.......I use the Signstek MESR-100 capacitor meter.
https://www.amazon.com/Signstek-MESR...70_&dpSrc=srch |
Dan, thanks for all the details and pics! My F112 (v1) died about a week ago, leading me to search online. I found posts from others complaining about similar issues. However only your post had sufficient info for me to attempt this on my own.
I also had trouble removing the amp, but the M6 machine screws did the trick! I only needed one and the amp came out enough for me to do the rest. Once the amp was on my workbench, I removed the hex bolts holding the PCB and the power transistors, but the PCB was still stuck. Turns out there is some black mushy material (silicon caulking?) on the large capacitors that hold it to the metal. Slicing it near the metal freed it. I did not have an ESR device, so I ended up changing both caps that you referenced from Mouser. I double checked my work and put everything back together including the cable ties that hold the wires in place. I plugged the amp back in and attached a few screws to hold it in place. I plugged in the power cable and it turned back on! My amp was finally on again! Big sigh of relief. At this point, I heard some ground noise I never heard before. I don’t know why, but figured maybe something else had also gone wrong. Since the hum was mild, I figured it should be fine from in my listening chair. I unplugged power, finished securing all the screws, then moved the sub back into its place. I plugged in the source RCAs and the power cable. The ground hum was now gone... no idea about this one. I played a few tracks and all was well! Oddly, I became somewhat accustomed to listening without the sub, and realized I had its level higher than necessary. I adjusted it slightly down and now the bass transitions smoothly from my Olympica III’s to the sub bass of the F112. Very happy this repair went so smoothly. Thanks again Dan! |
Thanks Ivan for making this a sticky thread!
The F113 repairs Dan specified worked exactly the same for my F112. I should also add that my first thought when the sub died was not how to repair it... but what to upgrade to! :lmao: |
Quote:
|
Quote:
In looking over this thread again, and Dan's photos, I can't help but be impressed with the amplifier module contained in the F113. It is impressive. I have two E110's in my bedroom theater, and one E112 in my 2 channel office system. They do a fabulous job. :yes: |
@dan,:cheers:
@pete, agreed! The fact that this was a rather simple repair, and that it was only caps, gives me more confidence in JL Audio subs! I will continue to be a customer when it is time to upgrade or expand into 2.2. I would have thought the actual moving driver would fail first but fortunately it is still kicking. FWIW, the date on the box for this sub is 2009. I got it used in 2014, and its use is regular / near daily at low to moderate volume. So like Dan, it has served me well for many years and I also leave its power setting on Auto. Makes me wonder why only the power supply caps needed replacement. Is it because of the 85C specification? Like others have noted, caps don’t last forever. I’d be willing to change out all of the caps now that I have seen how easy it is to change two. |
r0b.......I don't have a schematic for my f113 but as I am able to determine the auto-on sensing circuit cuts power to the amplifier circuitry, yet the auto-on circuit remains energized 24/7 when the auto-on mode is selected in order for it to control the relays that power the amplifier once an incoming audio signal is detected. This means the capacitors in the amplifier are only energized while music is playing, and once the auto-on circuit senses loss of audio signal and times out the amplifier is no longer energized. This would naturally extend the life of the amplifier's capacitors.
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Update:
My JL Audio Fathom f113 subwoofer is still rocking the living room system. It has been 10 months since replacing the capacitor in the auto-on circuit board and the subwoofer continues to work perfectly. I still find myself glancing at the subwoofer's grill each morning when I energize the system to make sure I see the green lights come on, always happy to see them glowing through the grill cloth. Color me a happy listener. . :roots: |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
|
Thanks to jdandy for his informative post. I recently picked up a used F110 sub with an early 2012 build date, and decided to take a peak at the capacitors on the amp board.
My unit uses Capxon capacitors, but there appears to be several different series identified by color. About half of the caps with blue labels had high ESR. The 33uf / 400v cap was was in very bad condition. All of the black, orange, and green labeled caps measured fine. I changed all the blue labeled caps for new 105 degree Nichicons which were listed as well suited for switching power supplies (which is basically what these amps are). Here's a photo in case it proves useful for anyone with an F110 who wants to do this themselves: https://i.imgur.com/4XZmlgBl.jpg |
electrafixion.......Great job. You should get many more years of great service from the f110. Thanks for the photo and the outline on the suspicious caps.
|
Dan... I bought 6 of each Cap you mentioned earlier in this thread from Mouser, just to keep on hand. Dirt cheap, and super fast shipping.
Thanks! :ok: |
Quote:
|
I’ve just joined the dead F113 club. I was watching Spiderverse a month or so ago and it was still chugging along. But watching Bohemian Rhapsody didn’t have as much punch. My Crowson shakers probably masked the loss of the sub.
Wish I’d seen this thread earlier. I ended up ordering a GoldenEar SuperSub XXL with dual 12” and dual passive radiators today. That arrives on Monday. In the meantime, this will give me a chance to test my soldering skills. Thanks to the thread starter and the various contributors for the help. To be fair, the f113 has served me well for 7 years. And it was so impressive I stopped using the Crowson transducers for a long time. I only put it back on to do a demo for a friend. Would be keen to see how the GoldenEar stacks up. [emoji51] |
doggiehowser.......If you follow the method described for removing the amp from the f113 subwoofer and replace the caps described, I am relatively confident your Fathom will be back in business for years to come. It is worth repairing. It has been almost a year since I repaired my f113 and it is still working perfectly.
|
Quote:
It's still such an amazing sub. Anyone know what the v2 adds over the v1? |
Quote:
|
Thanks audio bill.
|
Quote:
I have never been more confused. https://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...ZKkJBz7qJsY%3D This doesn't look like the one in the photo https://au.mouser.com/images/panason...ges/EEH-ZA.jpg Or is it this one? https://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...j0GWHtGlel8%3D https://au.mouser.com/images/panasonic/lrg/nhg_SPL.jpg |
Or this one?
https://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...bqUE9MEHeRE%3D https://au.mouser.com/images/nichico...series_DSL.JPG Is the spec right? The Nichicon is only rated for 1000 hours - isn't that a bit short? The Panasonic for 2000 Here's a Panasonic with 6000 hours https://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...52BwKUw0HtM%3D https://au.mouser.com/images/panason...UFR0J102_t.jpg I am confused. |
JL Audio Fathom f113 repair
Here’s what you do. Once you’ve taken the amp out of the sub enclosure, measure the size of the caps you are replacing. Diameter is usually the limiting factor for radial leaded caps.
Then find a replacement cap that is the same diameter with the same capacitance rating and the highest working voltage and temperature rating you can find. If you have a choice, go for the longer base life part as well. A base life of 2000 to 8000 hours is a good target. 1000 hrs is low. The reason you select parts this way is that voltage stress and temperature stress are the two things that kill electrolytic caps. It’s not linear either. Doubling the voltage spec will increase life 2.65 times. Increasing the temp specification is an even bigger life accelerator. Going from an 85 C cap to a 105 C cap when the cap itself is at 50 C will increase the life 4 times. These effects are multiplicative. So all other things being equal using a 105 degree C cap with twice the voltage rating of the original will increase the life 10.6 times! I have simplified the math behind these assumptions and can point you to more info if you’d like. I used The ATT Reliability Handbook and MIL HDBK 217 to make these rough calcs. Tom |
Thanks for all the help and pointers.
I’ll try to pull out the amp module over the weekend. But in the meantime, the GoldenEar is here. And for what I use it for (pure home theatre), it’s bloody awesome. It doesn’t have ARO or XLR connections. But it does pack a punch. And a lot of kick. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fe840a18a0.jpg |
Quote:
|
Quote:
Thanks! |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
fingers crossed. |
Quote:
My f110 went belly-up on me last night and I just want to make sure I'm getting the right capacitors. You have the f113 so are these the same capacitors I should get for my f110? Thanks! |
Quote:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/840/2...49690609_o.jpg |
Thanks Dan. I was never good at understanding electronics but I do know how to follow directions. The info you've provided is awesome.
|
Photoboy.......Hopefully this information will help you get your f110 up and running again in a jiffy.
|
We had an incident here on Cape Cod last month with the electric. The AC motor boated; turned on & off very rapidly, about 5 or 6 times in succession. Not even off long enough for a back up generator to turn on, and help.
All of my gear was perfect (some systems were even playing). One F113v2 wasn’t as lucky; it was producing a rather high pitched signal for a sub, at a fairly loud level. The sub was in standby mode. JL Audio tech support was familiar with the issue; it was a Transistor and a few other components. They had me measure the impedance of the driver, to verify it was ok. It measured 2.4 ohms (well in the safe zone) I sent the Amp plate, and the internal crossover (requested by them) for warranty repair. I received it back in about a week, and all is fine once again. JL does recommend keeping the sub on at all times, as opposed to signal sensing mode. |
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:32 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.10
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
©Copyright 2009-2023 AudioAficionado.org.Privately owned, All Rights Reserved.