New receiver turns off

[EddieG]

I just bought the HK AVR 146 and played my first movie. After many minutes the display read "protect" and it shut itself off. This happened again a few more times so I will call HK tech support tomorrow, but wanted to see if anyone here knows something I can try or check.

Thanks!

Eddie

 

[Adam]

Eddie, I'd suggest that you check out if the unit is getting really hot. If you have it in a cabinet that restricts air flow, the unit may be overheating and going into a a thermal protection mode. That makes the most sense to me because you said that it operated for many minutes before going into a protect mode.

 

[EddieG]

Eddie, I'd suggest that you check out if the unit is getting really hot. If you have it in a cabinet that restricts air flow, the unit may be overheating and going into a a thermal protection mode. That makes the most sense to me because you said that it operated for many minutes before going into a protect mode.

I will check the box for heat, but it is in a cabinet with no front door so I thought there would be enough ventilation. It is on it's own shelf with no other components.

I guess how you use it creates more heat? I was setting up the speakers and it worked fine, but with a DVD it turned off.

I'll call HK tech support to make sure.

Thanks!

Eddie

 

[brendy]

HK receivers are known for running hot.How much space is above the receiver ?

 

[EddieG]

HK receivers are known for running hot.How much space is above the receiver ?

About an inch. If I had to I can move it to the bottom shelf and move my other components to the top shelf, but it would be a pain.

 

[bandit]

You could put it on top of your cabinet and let if free stand and see if you still have the problem. Were you listening at extreme levels when the system went into protection mode? And oh yes- do double check the speaker leads to make sure there aren't any strands shorting - as this would likely cause the receiver to go into a protection mode....

Hopefully all turns out well.

Bandit.

 

[Adam]

Bandit has good ideas. If you don't want to move the receiver around just yet, you could also put a fan on it to try to keep it cooler and see if the problem persists (as opposed to putting it on top of the cabinet). If that fixes the problem, then it is a thermal issue. You could also remove all speaker cables from the receiver and see if it shuts down. With no speakers plugged in, you know that you're not shorting out any of the speaker cables.

 

[EddieG]

You could put it on top of your cabinet and let if free stand and see if you still have the problem. Were you listening at extreme levels when the system went into protection mode? And oh yes- do double check the speaker leads to make sure there aren't any strands shorting - as this would likely cause the receiver to go into a protection mode....

Hopefully all turns out well.

Bandit.

I was watching Finding Nemo and had the unit pretty loud. While playing my Wii for a while the unit was fine. I will try again with a disc and see what happens. I did have to splice some speaker wire to make it longer so I'll check that. (my wire goes under my carpet so I can't just replace it)

Thanks!

 

[MikeLH]

It is never a good idea to run wires under carpet, too great a chance to eventually destroy the protective layers of the wires and then lead to shorts, etc. This could possibly be why you are going into protect mode, the wires could be shorting out under the carpet.

Mike

 

[garbage pale kid]

check the manuel and see if you have a fan inside you can turn on

 

[mtrycrafts]

I was watching Finding Nemo and had the unit pretty loud. While playing my Wii for a while the unit was fine. I will try again with a disc and see what happens. I did have to splice some speaker wire to make it longer so I'll check that. (my wire goes under my carpet so I can't just replace it)

Thanks!

A couple of things. 1" of space is not enough, especially if you drive it hard. How about on the sides?
What is the speaker load impedance and sensitivity?
Wires under carpet? With a splice? Not good combination.

 

[Thunder18]

I had a similiar occurrence to this with my Pioneer. Turns out a pair of banana plugs on one of my front speakers were touching each other. It took me a while to figure out because it was so hard to gauge when it was going to turn off. Eventually, I disconnected the speakers from the receiver and connected one speaker at a time until I discovered it was only the left front speaker.

 

[EddieG]

A couple of things. 1" of space is not enough, especially if you drive it hard. How about on the sides?
What is the speaker load impedance and sensitivity?
Wires under carpet? With a splice? Not good combination.

The splice is a few inches from the receiver, NOT under the carpet.

And I have about 2 inches on top, not 1 with about 1/2 inch on the sides.

 

[mike c]

1/2" on the sides is much too small and so is 2" on top. the manual says 4" all around ... you need to move the receiver or put in some fans.

a pc fan connected to an AC to 12v DC adapter will help a lot (both on top of the unit and some pulling air out of the shelf.

you can plug the adapter to the switched outlet at the back of the receiver so it turns on and off at the same time.

 

[mtrycrafts]

The splice is a few inches from the receiver, NOT under the carpet.

And I have about 2 inches on top, not 1 with about 1/2 inch on the sides.

Well, the splice is at least accessible Make sure there are no strands from the splice poking out. What speaker loads and sensitivity are you driving, how loud?

 

[Rickster71]

If the cabinet has a back on it, take a hole saw, make a whole to accommodate that fan Mike C mentioned, and mount it to the back of the cabinet.
As Mtry and Mike mentioned, your cabinet clearances are too tight.
That's the reason to mount the fan on the outside rear of the cabinet back.

 

[markw]

Before doing any reconstruction, try some troubleshooting first.

First. make dang sure you don't have any hairline shorts in your speaker wire splices. That's why I like to stagger my splices by about two inches or so, to assure there is no possibility of a short.

Second, take the receiver out of the cabinet and play it normally for a few days just to make sure it's not a receiver problem. I'm sure the SO will allow this for an experiment to isolate the problem, won't she?

If it still kicks off outside the cabinet, you know there's either an issue with the receiver. You may be asking too much from it, it may not like load the speakers present, or there's a problem with the receiver itself. First things first. See what happens.

If it works fine outside of the cabinet, try that fan suggestion from rickster but remember, the receiver is designed to draw in cool air from the bottom and sides and pass the heated air out the top.

 

[EddieG]

Well, the splice is at least accessible Make sure there are no strands from the splice poking out. What speaker loads and sensitivity are you driving, how loud?

I called HK tech support and they said it is most likely speaker wires touching each other. I checked the splice and the electrical tape came off, so the wires must have been touching each other. Hopefully this will fix it.

I don't know what my loads and sensitivity are, or even what that means. How do I find that out?

As for how loud, my display read about -25 db or so.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I called HK tech support and they said it is most likely speaker wires touching each other. I checked the splice and the electrical tape came off, so the wires must have been touching each other. Hopefully this will fix it.

I don't know what my loads and sensitivity are, or even what that means. How do I find that out?

As for how loud, my display read about -25 db or so.

Get on the speaker's web site, find your speakers and check their spec sheet. There, you should find impedance rating and sensitivity given as some dB spl at 1W and 1meter= xdB 1w/1m

As was suggested by mark, stagger the wire connections by 2" at least. also, you may want to use a magnifying glass to check all connections at the amp and speakers too for any wire touching.
The level is normal.
Let us know the outcome.

 

[mike c]

even if it was the wire causing the protect mode ... you still need to give the receiver some breathing room.