What is this?

[jjdresselhaus]

Hey guys (and gals)

I just bought a new amp for my car (Eclipse PA4212). When I brought it home, I heard something rattling around inside. I opened it up, and found a component loose.

Any ideas what it is? Any advice on how can I fix it? I tried to snap a pic of both the component (small black cylinder), as well as the board--both zoomed out, and zoomed into where I think it came from.

Cheers for any help.

What is this? - Album on Imgur

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[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

Hey guys (and gals)
I just bought a new amp for my car (Eclipse PA4212). When I brought it home, I heard something rattling around inside. I opened it up, and found a component loose.

Any ideas what it is? Any advice on how can I fix it? I tried to snap a pic of both the component (small black cylinder), as well as the board--both zoomed out, and zoomed into where I think it came from.

Cheers for any help.

What is this? - Album on Imgur

it's a cap (like a battery for amp to store power)

 

[jjdresselhaus]

Any thoughts on replacing it? Considering the amp runs, what are the ramifications of running it without it?

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

im not so sure thats a cap, it looks more like a diode but its hard to tell

id avoid running it without that, you should be able to solder that back on yourself but if you want look for an electronics repair shop local to you, even a tv repair shop and im willing to bet theyll do it for relatively cheap - just be really nice to them

looks like a diode connecting the case of the amp to the ground, or maybe the rcas to ground

diodes restrict current from flowing in both directions to only one, and theyre commonly used for ground filtering

edit; just looked closer and thats exactly what it is, at this point you have no ground from the case of the amp to the board so that connection is open circuit. get it fixed

and after looking at it more again you're going to need a replacement diode because it looks like theres no wire coming out of the diode anymore

only other thing i can imagine it being is a resistor

 

[jjdresselhaus]

Just tried running it and the amp runs, but it seems to be distorting at levels that I wasn't expecting. Is that consistent with what you think would happen withoiut that diode?

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

Just tried running it and the amp runs, but it seems to be distorting at levels that I wasn't expecting. Is that consistent with what you think would happen withoiut that diode?

no, but im by no means an electrical engineer familiar with the way these circuits work on that level. i know a good amount, but thats above my pay grade lol

my only theory for that would be the amplifier case getting a static or otherwise charge and having no way to dissipate it through ground because that connection is gone, and that could cause that issue.

you're lucky in that its a simple issue that wont be expensive to fix, you're just going to have to deal with having no amp while its getting fixed which ***** but it is what it is