Eclipse EA 4000 amp just died!

GKK · 11-14-2006, 12:27 AM

I bought an Eclipse EA 4000 4 channel amp exactly 20 days ago and today while listening to an old Beastie Boys CD the amp just died.

I had the volume up a little less than 3/4 and the bass was sounding great. All of a sudden the amp shuts down, I thought to myself that the amps protection circuit must have triggered the amp to shut off. I waited about 10 minutes and turned on the Alpine head unit. The amp turned on and when I turned the volume up to about half way, the amp shut down and never started again.

I checked all the power cables (battery +, remote) for 12 volts and they were fine. I also, checked all the fuses (radio, battery 60 amp fuse and two 30 amp amplifier fuses) and they were also, fine.

Anyone else ever have an amplifier die this soon?

If this amp needs to be brought in for repairs, I will replace it with a Phoenix Gold amp because I can't trust this amp anymore.

EatRice · 11-14-2006, 12:37 AM

Are there any lights on the amp? How many speakers did you have connected to it?

Personally I have installed ALOT of Eclipse product and maybe had one piece go bad quickly. I have seen a few pieces die but mostly from installer error. You might have gotten a defective product. I would contact the place you bought the amp and not give up on Eclipse so quickly.

GKK · 11-14-2006, 12:54 AM

There are no lights lit on the amp. The Eclipse logo usually lights up but, it's dead. 12 volts is going to the amp but, inside the amp it seems something is wrong.

I have a pair of Infinity Kappa 5 1/4" components on channels 1 & 2 and I have channels 3 & 4 bridged to power a 10" Bazooka tube.

Also, since I bought the amp at Circuit City (just in case something like this would happen) I can still return it or exchange it for another one within 30 days.

EatRice · 11-14-2006, 01:13 AM

Sounds like you should have no problem. In a situation like yours I like to check a few things before installing the new amp. If you have VOM do a continuity test of the speakers, check the ground to make sure it is tight and the power.

Overall it sounds like you have a bad amp.

GKK · 11-14-2006, 01:19 AM

The ground is connected to the seat bolt and all the cables are tight and routed properly. The amp was sounding really nice for the past 20 days. All of a sudden nothing?

Thanks for your quick help EatRice!

GKK · 11-18-2006, 03:51 PM

Update:

I returned the Eclipse amp and received a complete refund. I then went home and decided to re-install my Profile AP-1040 4 channel amp that the Eclipse amp replaced due to the audio cutting out.

Well, it happens that the Profile amp is operating fine and the audio cutting out problem is gone!?

The Profile amp has a lot more power than the Eclipse and the Profile amp also, runs a lot cooler. So, for now I'm going to use the Profile amp and just keep an eye on it.