Dog chewed through Subwoofer power cable.

[courtjameson]

My puppy chewed through my subwoofers power cable. I have a Paradigm CT 90 5.1 set. How do I fix this? Can I get a similar sized power cable, cut it off and attach it to the by twisting the wires around together? Then tape it up with electrical tape? Does it have to be a specific type of cable? Or is there a better way? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[rojo]

Hey court, and welcome!

10" 120W sub. I think it's a sign that your dog is ready for an upgrade. You've got the perfect excuse.

To repair this one, twisting the wire ends to join a new cord would be fine. Some might recommend soldering the twists to make sure they don't come apart, but I'm not that obsessive myself. However, rather than taping the joins, I'd sooner use heat shrink tubing on each wire, then bigger heat shrink tube over the joined wires of the cord. Electrical tape is not permanent. But if I were you, I'd sell it cheap on Craigslist and let it be someone else's problem, then put the money toward something a little more authoritative.

 

[afterlife2]

Yep look into a Dayton Audio SUB-1200 12" 120 Watt Powered Subwoofer

 

[rojo]

I suspect the Dayton 12 would be more a lateral replacement than an upgrade. I was thinking more along the lines of the NXG NX-BAS-500, unless budget allows for something like a Reaction Audio or Hsu or similar.

 

[afterlife2]

Yeah the NXG sub is a great, but no budget was said and the Dayton is good sub on a budget. I like mine.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

From the picture that I saw on line, that power cord doesn't seem to detach...so I understand your question. You could splice two cables together, like you mentioned. You could also splice your original cable back together if the two halves are still long enough for you, as opposed to buying a new cord.

Another option is to completely replace the power cord without splicing. You should be able to take the plate amp off the back of that sub and see where the power cord wires are attached on the inside. If you get a new power cord, you could remove the original cord, cut the end off the new cord, strip the wires, and attach them directly to the inside of the plate amp.

 

[slipperybidness]

My puppy chewed through my subwoofers power cable. I have a Paradigm CT 90 5.1 set. How do I fix this? Can I get a similar sized power cable, cut it off and attach it to the by twisting the wires around together? Then tape it up with electrical tape? Does it have to be a specific type of cable? Or is there a better way? Any help would be much appreciated.

1) The BEST repair is to repair it RIGHT. Like what Adam said, pull the plate amp, desolder the bad cord, get a new cord strip it and solder it on. This is the only "Right" way to fix it. This also requires the most work. It would also be a good time to consider an IEC connector so you could simply replace the cord in the future.

2) Next best would be to simply order a new cable (if necessary) make the splices and solder the wires together and use heat-shrink to cover it (remember to put the heat shrink on before you solder! countless times I have had to desolder/resolder because I forgot )

3) It's not really a good option AT ALL, but yeah you COULD twist the wires together and use electrical tape. If you do go that route, then I would highly recommend using wire nuts rather than just twisting it together without the nuts, then cover it all with electrical tape. The thing with this though, I would think that if anything bad ever happened and a house fire started, the insurance company would start trying to blame this fix as the cause of the fire (whether it was or not). So to me it isn't worth the risk.

4) Send it to an authorized dealer for repair = $$$

 

[courtjameson]

Hey court, and welcome!

10" 120W sub. I think it's a sign that your dog is ready for an upgrade. You've got the perfect excuse.

To repair this one, twisting the wire ends to join a new cord would be fine. Some might recommend soldering the twists to make sure they don't come apart, but I'm not that obsessive myself. However, rather than taping the joins, I'd sooner use heat shrink tubing on each wire, then bigger heat shrink tube over the joined wires of the cord. Electrical tape is not permanent. But if I were you, I'd sell it cheap on Craigslist and let it be someone else's problem, then put the money toward something a little more authoritative.

Ha that's funny. Yeah I can do what you're suggesting. I have a soldering iron and I think I can get one of those plugs at radio shack. Another thing that was suggested to me and I'm start to consider is simply attaching a new plug rather than a cord and plug. Using something like this "Leviton 15 Amp 125-Volt Rubber Grounding Plug-R60-515PR-000" (can't post links yet). And if it's too short than I can use an extension cord.

I can get a new sub however I bought this as a 5.1 system, does it sound best with the original sub or does it not matter?

 

[courtjameson]

Yeah everyone seems to love the Dayton, I'll look into it. How about the bic pl-200 too?

 

[courtjameson]

Yeah I thought about taking the black plate off too. It seems very difficult but I'll look into it, as of right now I'm liking using a new plug on the same cord and then attaching an extension cord unless there's something wrong with that.

 

[courtjameson]

1) The BEST repair is to repair it RIGHT. Like what Adam said, pull the plate amp, desolder the bad cord, get a new cord strip it and solder it on. This is the only "Right" way to fix it. This also requires the most work. It would also be a good time to consider an IEC connector so you could simply replace the cord in the future.

2) Next best would be to simply order a new cable (if necessary) make the splices and solder the wires together and use heat-shrink to cover it (remember to put the heat shrink on before you solder! countless times I have had to desolder/resolder because I forgot )

3) It's not really a good option AT ALL, but yeah you COULD twist the wires together and use electrical tape. If you do go that route, then I would highly recommend using wire nuts rather than just twisting it together without the nuts, then cover it all with electrical tape. The thing with this though, I would think that if anything bad ever happened and a house fire started, the insurance company would start trying to blame this fix as the cause of the fire (whether it was or not). So to me it isn't worth the risk.

4) Send it to an authorized dealer for repair = $$$

Yeah I looked into sending it to the dealer and the prices didn't make sense. I'll take off the back panel and take a look. I agree, with it being a very powerful subwoofer its probably best to chose what I do wisely. I'm probably going to take a look inside of it and see if it's something I can do but if there are no issues with just simply splicing a new plug to it, I might just being doing that.

 

[rojo]

Ha that's funny. Yeah I can do what you're suggesting. I have a soldering iron and I think I can get one of those plugs at radio shack. Another thing that was suggested to me and I'm start to consider is simply attaching a new plug rather than a cord and plug. Using something like this "Leviton 15 Amp 125-Volt Rubber Grounding Plug-R60-515PR-000" (can't post links yet). And if it's too short than I can use an extension cord.

I can get a new sub however I bought this as a 5.1 system, does it sound best with the original sub or does it not matter?

Whether you fix the end with just a plug or a hacked extension cord I guess depends on where your puppy chewed the cord. For what it's worth, a home improvement store like Lowe's or Home Depot would be more likely to have replacement plugs. Or if you've got an Ace Hardware or a locally owned hardware store, you'll probably find what you're looking for more easily and get more knowledgeable advice from the employees.

Anyway, does a home-theater-in-a-box sound best with the original sub? No, I would say not.

Timbre matching your front stage (main left+right+center) is important. Matching the surrounds to the front stage can have benefits sometimes. But having a subwoofer of the same manufacturer and series rarely gets you the best sound. More often than not, especially with speaker kits, the subwoofer is included just as a matter of convenience for the consumer and a way to sell more kits for the manufacturer, the cheapest way they can.

Yeah, an aftermarket subwoofer will make your 5.1 system sound better. A good sub can play deeper, with more authority, and give you more headroom for better dynamics. Be conservative with the volume knob and you should have no problem blending a larger, more powerful sub with your system.

Here's a thorough review of the BIC PL-200. Also, here's one for the NXG NX-BAS-500. I think those are probably the best sub-$300 subs you'll find.

 

[TLS Guy]

Do not do an unsafe repair. Your only safe option is to replace the power cord. This should not be difficult. You likely will have to sacrifice the press fit grommet that anchors the cord to the chassis. Radio Shack have a good supply of these in a range of prices.

 

[JohnnieB]

Should you decide to go with a new plug and extension cord, make sure the extension cord is at least the same gauge as the original power cord. Heavier gauge certainly won't hurt.

Replacing the cord at the amp is the best route as stated.

 

[courtjameson]

Thanks guys, finally getting around to this today. I guess I'll just replace the cord. I wanted to go as simple as possible but you guys are right, probably don't want to mess with such a powerful electronic.

Good to know about the subs, I thought the whole system was made to match. I figured since my system was 900 msrp that the sub was at least a $200 range sub. Defeating the purpose of buying another at the same price but from reviews it seems like I'd get better performance. I'll check it out.