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VTF 2 mk 3 quit working?

post #1 of 39
2/12/10 at 8:03pm
Thread Starter 
Oh crap!

I started up Serenity today only to notice that I was getting absolutely nothing from the sub. Lo and behold, I check the back of it and it doesn't seem to be powered on at all! The little light that is either red or green doesn't turn on at all.

Could it be that the electronics or the amp has died in this thing? I haven't used it all that often and it's only a little over 2 years old.....which means the electronics might be out of warranty.

What should I do? My system sounds lifeless without it...does HSU let you buy replacement parts if need be?
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post #2 of 39
2/12/10 at 8:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by epsilon72 View Post

Oh crap!

I started up Serenity today only to notice that I was getting absolutely nothing from the sub. Lo and behold, I check the back of it and it doesn't seem to be powered on at all! The little light that is either red or green doesn't turn on at all.

Could it be that the electronics or the amp has died in this thing? I haven't used it all that often and it's only a little over 2 years old.....which means the electronics might be out of warranty.

What should I do? My system sounds lifeless without it...does HSU let you buy replacement parts if need be?

Did you double check all your cables? Did you check the fuse?
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post #3 of 39
2/12/10 at 8:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spur Darren View Post

Did you double check all your cables? Did you check the fuse?

I did double check my cables. I don't know where the fuse is on it though....I'm guessing that's not the volt switch? Where would the fuse be?

edit: I found the fuse, I can turn it and it pops out, but when I put it back in and plug everything in, I still get no power. It looks like it's still good too, the little metal wire in it doesn't look like there's anything wrong with it.
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post #4 of 39
2/12/10 at 8:35pm
Is it on the same breaker as the rest of the system?
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post #5 of 39
2/12/10 at 8:37pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wid View Post

Is it on the same breaker as the rest of the system?

Yeah...and everything else is getting power just fine.
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post #6 of 39
2/12/10 at 9:41pm
Try unplugging it for 10- 15 minutes then plugging it back in.
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post #7 of 39
2/12/10 at 10:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spur Darren View Post

Try unplugging it for 10- 15 minutes then plugging it back in.

Well, it's been unplugged for more than an hour and I just tried it...nothing

I've had it for all this time and have not once opened it up...are these things supposed to be cleaned out (dust?) every once in a while, or are they fine without that?

The sub worked fine a week ago, and has been unplugged since then. I had just barely plugged it in today when it died - I wasn't playing anything loud on it or anything. It was completely cool too.
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post #8 of 39
2/13/10 at 6:20am
Hsu is supposed to have great customer service. I would contact them and post the problem on the forums on the Hsu site. Pete is always on there answering questions.
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post #9 of 39
2/13/10 at 8:37am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spur Darren View Post

Hsu is supposed to have great customer service. I would contact them and post the problem on the forums on the Hsu site. Pete is always on there answering questions.

I contacted them and they already emailed me telling me that I could send it in and get it repaired/replaced...it's out of warranty so it'll be $80-$120 plus shipping, but that's better than having a dead sub!

It would be nice if it was something obvious and easily fixable...I have very basic electronics and soldering experience...I doubt though that I'd be able to see what the problem is.
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post #10 of 39
2/13/10 at 8:59am
It seems strange the sub was not working when it had been unplugged. I hate to ask but are you certain the power cable is secure on the back of the sub?
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post #11 of 39
2/13/10 at 9:16am
Just for giggles, try plugging the sub on a seperate outlet all together and see if that works. Sounds crazy but I had my laptop stop charging from the bottom connection of the same outlet. I thought something was wrong with the laptop but accidentally pulled it, plugged it into into the top section of the outlet and worked fine. Try moving it to another outlet and see if anything changes.
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post #12 of 39
2/13/10 at 9:17am
Thread Starter 
Should I worry about shock hazards when taking the amplifier section out?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wid View Post

It seems strange the sub was not working when it had been unplugged. I hate to ask but are you certain the power cable is secure on the back of the sub?

First rule of troubleshooting: Make sure it's plugged in
Yeah, it's secure as I can get it...I've tried more than one power cable, making sure it was firmly pushed in, tried jiggling it a little to see if I get any response...

I don't know. It was working for a few seconds after I plugged it in and turned it on, before it died yesterday. Something must've went wrong in that time, maybe?

@Bunga99: I've tried it plugged into a surge protector (everything else that is plugged into it is working) and I've tried the other connection on the same outlet. I guess I could try a whole other outlet altogether, but I'm not exactly hopeful of it working
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post #13 of 39
2/13/10 at 3:02pm
I would see if Hsu is willing to let you just send the amp in for service and save on shipping.
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post #14 of 39
2/13/10 at 3:05pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spur Darren View Post

I would see if Hsu is willing to let you just send the amp in for service and save on shipping.

Yeah, they told me to disconnect the amp from the rest of the sub and just send that. Thank God...I'd much rather pay for shipping for the amp than for the whole sub
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post #15 of 39
2/16/10 at 12:47pm
Thread Starter 
Well, I'm shipping it off to HSU in California today to get it looked at. So far the customer service has been great. One of their techs called me personally and talked to me about it.

I'll cross my fingers - hopefully my sub won't be absent from my setup for too long!
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post #16 of 39
2/25/10 at 6:49pm
Let us know what the diagnosis is. I just ordered one earlier today.
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post #17 of 39
2/27/10 at 6:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spaceman View Post

Let us know what the diagnosis is. I just ordered one earlier today.

They told me that it didn't show any signs of abuse or anything, but they replaced a couple components, including a chip. I got it back yesterday and it works just fine again.

Also, I don't think I gave the correct age of the sub earlier in this thread - it turns out it's just over 3 years old.
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post #18 of 39
2/28/10 at 12:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by epsilon72 View Post

I did double check my cables. I don't know where the fuse is on it though....I'm guessing that's not the volt switch? Where would the fuse be?

edit: I found the fuse, I can turn it and it pops out, but when I put it back in and plug everything in, I still get no power. It looks like it's still good too, the little metal wire in it doesn't look like there's anything wrong with it.

So wait, you took the fuse out and put the same fuse back in? If the fuse is bad then it still won't work by popping it out and putting it back in. I've seen bad fuses where that little metal wire looks perfectly good. I would have tried a new fuse? I don't know, I've never replaced a sub fuse before but I assume it's something you can get from ratshack? Yikes, if so, they may have just replaced a $3 fuse.

Don
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post #19 of 39
2/28/10 at 6:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by epsilon72 View Post

They told me that it didn't show any signs of abuse or anything, but they replaced a couple components, including a chip. I got it back yesterday and it works just fine again.

Also, I don't think I gave the correct age of the sub earlier in this thread - it turns out it's just over 3 years old.

holy crap i cant believe ive had my vtf2mk3 for over 3 years now! time for a new sub i think
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post #20 of 39
2/28/10 at 7:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dondino View Post

So wait, you took the fuse out and put the same fuse back in? If the fuse is bad then it still won't work by popping it out and putting it back in. I've seen bad fuses where that little metal wire looks perfectly good. I would have tried a new fuse? I don't know, I've never replaced a sub fuse before but I assume it's something you can get from ratshack? Yikes, if so, they may have just replaced a $3 fuse.

Don

He did say the fuse looked fine. If it was a bad fuse it would be easy to see it was bad.
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post #21 of 39
2/28/10 at 7:42am
I've owned 3 different subs over the last 10 years and have had the amps go out on all of them. I'm starting to think that this is just part of the experience of having subwoofers. I do not play them particularly loud but I do put a lot of hours on them.
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post #22 of 39
2/28/10 at 7:56am
JimP,
What subs needed repair (if you don't mind reporting) ?
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post #23 of 39
2/28/10 at 7:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spur Darren View Post

He did say the fuse looked fine. If it was a bad fuse it would be easy to see it was bad.

All I'm saying is he said he did nothing but a visual inspection of the fuse and came to the conclusion it was still good. I've seen fuses that "look" fine but are not. Personally, I would have spent the few bucks to rule that out before going through all the rest he went through.
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post #24 of 39
2/28/10 at 10:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gotchaforce View Post

holy crap i cant believe ive had my vtf2mk3 for over 3 years now! time for a new sub i think

You've had a 2.3 for over 3 years? I don't think they've been out that long. I have a 3.2 that I got just about 3 years ago, and the .3s weren't out yet. I got it right when we moved into our new rental house. Unless we've been in this house almost 4 years... Time sure flies!
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post #25 of 39
2/28/10 at 10:47am
There is a post in the hsu forums that is titled A New era for Hsu research and has the .3's in 06
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post #26 of 39
2/28/10 at 10:59am
Wow. Haha.

I think I got my 3.2 right before the HO came out. I guess it's been about 3.5 years, because we moved to the house in the spring time, maybe April~May.
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post #27 of 39
3/27/10 at 12:14pm
Timely thread.

Interesting my HSU VTF2 MK 3 amp just started eating fuses this week too. I purchased it in Oct 2007... just out of the 2 year electronics warranty. In a way it feels all too convenient.

Wish it weren't so but I sent HSU an email asking if it will void my warranty on the driver if I look at it myself. 5th year electrical engineering student here, I have a funny feeling it's going to be an easy fix.

I think next time I'll be getting something different like a SVS. Kinda frustrated.
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post #28 of 39
3/27/10 at 1:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nweibley View Post

Timely thread.

Interesting my HSU VTF2 MK 3 amp just started eating fuses this week too. I purchased it in Oct 2007... just out of the 2 year electronics warranty. In a way it feels all too convenient.


Yes, it's a conspiracy. All HSU subs are programmed to start failing after 2 years...
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post #29 of 39
3/27/10 at 2:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by epsilon72 View Post

They told me that it didn't show any signs of abuse or anything, but they replaced a couple components, including a chip. I got it back yesterday and it works just fine again.

Also, I don't think I gave the correct age of the sub earlier in this thread - it turns out it's just over 3 years old.

So...I am guessing you got it back. How do you feel HSU handled it? I am thinking about this model, but am a little concerned, sounds like at least a few people here experienced very similar problems.
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post #30 of 39
3/29/10 at 6:21am
Several companies that are highly regarded for subwoofers (with long threads on this forum) have had a few amplifiers fail (either within and outside warranty periods). With another company's subwoofers and a similar statement about the possibility of amplifier failure, I spent time reading a very long thread. The proportion of amplifier failures appeared very small.

It is the nature of this forum that individuals who have had amplifier failures will make comments at a much higher proportion than others.
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