Help me troubleshoot my setup for sub!! :(

[evilkat]

HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!

I just had the best idea. This test will confirm if the subwoofer does indeed have a problem or if it doesn't. This is ironclad, I am pretty sure it is anyway. I feel silly for not thinking of this before.

Your sub has high level inputs and outputs signified by speaker terminations. Connect the front left/right outputs of the receiver to the high level inputs on the subwoofer. You don't need to route the high level outs to your speakers to run this test, only do that if you really want to.

If you get no sound from the sub this way, then it has a problem and will likely have to be returned and serviced.

I already did that and got no sound. I just hooked up the left speaker to the left high-level input on the sub.

 

[Seth=L]

Your sub is the problem, not the settings on the receiver, sorry.

Receivers don't have smart connections to analog devices. The only interfaces that I know of that are smart interfaces, ie ones that detect errors, are Firewire, HDMI, or USB. So your receiver doesn't have any idea if it has a sub connected to it or not. The receiver will only do what you tell it to do.

Looks like you will be paying that outrageous shipping charge unless one of the output stage fuses are blown from a spike.

 

[evilkat]

Ah, shitski.

Let me wait and see what Outlaw says about this.

-xed fingers!!!!

 

[Tomorrow]

Ah, shitski.

Let me wait and see what Outlaw says about this.

-xed fingers!!!!

We tried, Kat. Sorry. Good luck!!! Let us know what Outlaw has to say.

 

[evilkat]

Well I spoke with the Outlaw guys, and they're trying their best to help me avoid having to ship the sub back.

So the next step they wanted to perform was to check all connections. Here are pics of the PCB and the terminals on the woofer. Anyone see anything suspicious, coz I sure didn't.

The other thing they wanted me to try was to remove the terminals on the woofer and re-attach them. Being a n00b, i'm not a 100% sure how to remove them. The rep said it was spade like and you should be easily able to remove them...but I don't know...I don't want to mess things up. Is it the type you just pull out or something?

The final thing to try was to measure the resistance between the two terminals using a voltmeter. I don't have one at hand...but that's the next thing to try.

 

[Seth=L]

First, the connections to the woofer should come off easily, that is in your second picture. The red and black wires run all the way up to the woofer and connect to the spade, the spade should come right off with a little pressure.

Also I can't see the circuit very well because of glare, is there any fuses that you can see. They would look just like the one you can access from the outside of the sub, though they may be physically smaller.

You can't know if a fuse is damaged unless you test it for continuity, which requires a continuity tester or multimeter. You could also put it in a DC circuit to test the fuse as well. If you need an explaination just ask.

 

[evilkat]

I dun have a voltmeter or a multimeter or a tester or anything! I'm a comp Sci major, not a EE major!

Okay, so poking around all this crap that I don't have too much understanding of is really making me neverous...I'm fine inside a computer, but I am too afraid of doing something with my sub that might void the warrenty. Hell I even broke out my anti-static strap before doing anything!

The point is, seeing as all the connections look connected and solid (I tried to remove the spades from the woofer, but they were so tightly on that I was too scared to apply more force and break something, that I left well enough alone!) and that I have none of the proper equipment to test it with, I'm afraid I've reached the limits of my ability to do anything with this beast.

I've asked for an estimate for the shipping from them (gulp!)

 

[Seth=L]

Did you see any fuses?

 

[evilkat]

Did you see any fuses?

You're not gonna believe this...but I don't think this sub has a fuse in it
In fact it doesn't even have an earth pin on the power cord, which I thought was strange.

But look at the first pic and in the upper left corner, you see the wires leading away from the power plug. I don't see a fuse anywhere near there I would think that a fuse would be kept somewhere near the power wire's entrance point into the pcb (unless the blue/green blobs are the fuses). I've looked at all the other pcbs and haven't seen anything like a fuse (I've only seen the cylindrical fuses that have a glass window in it so that you can see if it's burned out or not. Of course I know car fuses look different, so I'm sure there are many other forms of fuses)...I'll try and get some more pics taken once my camera charges up.

 

[Seth=L]

There is the fuse that can can remove without even taking the sub apart, but I don't think that would be blown. That fuse is the AC line protection fuse, and if it were blown the indicator lights wouldn't come on at all.

Sounds like the fuses are integrated, which is cheap on their part, bad for you. If you do send it to them, you can lower your shipping charges by sending them just the amplifier. That would be lighter, easier to package, and not to mention a hellava lot cheaper than sending the whole sub. Be sure to ask Outlaw if they would allow you to do that before you do though.

Is the power supply attached to the amp plate or is it elsewhere in the sub? I wasn't sure if that one on the plate was the main one because it is so small.

 

[evilkat]

Thought I'd give you guys an update on this issue, because I wouldn't want anyone to think badly of Outlaw now

I had to go out of the country for a bit but I got back in late Jan and managed to get back to Outlaw with the issues I was having, even though by now, I was waaay outside of the return period. I managed to find test the speaker and I got a reading of 0 which according to Outlaw meant that it's a dead speaker.

So they paid for the S&H for the return and shipped me a new sub before I even returned the original. I have to say the new one worked flawlessly and is an amazing sub! It blends in so well with my Axioms that sometimes it's really hard to tell when the sub kicks in because it simply blends in! It's incredibly smooth and when watching action movies it rocks my futon quite heavily Because it seems so non-localizable, despite the fact that it's right next to my futon, I just left the cross-over at 80hz.

It adds something subtle to music (esp when there's deep bass), but is never over-powering boomy. But personally, I feel that it really shines when playing movies!

Overall could NOT be happier with the new sub, and the amount of customer support Outlaw provided! I guess I was just unlucky to receive a defective unit first.