Solved Hartke 3500 shutdown problem

[crthnsn]

I've been struggling with this for a long time.
The amp would work fine until it heated up and then would shut off.
I checked for bad solder joints.
Checked DC offset and bias.
Checked the power supply.
Checked for shorted or open components.
The first stages of the power amp module would get very hot.
Finally one day I noticed that I could make the problem happen by pushing on the relay in one direction and fix it by pushing in the other direction.
It wasn't a bad solder joint so I got the plastic cover off of the relay and cleaned the contacts with DeOxit.
That seems to have fixed the problem.
The circuitry doesn't even get hot anymore.
This took so long to discover that I thought it would be a good idea to post the fix here in order to save others some time if they have the same problem.
I must say that I learned a lot by reading posts here and trying various troubleshooting techniques.

[crthnsn]

OK well the problem is NOT solved yet.
After a few hours of use the relay started tripping again.
The relay is getting hot so it may be an issue with the relay itself.

[Enzo]

You did not specifically say that you actually resoldered the relay, so do so if not.

The relay IC (7317 or something like that) turns the relay on, and the most common failures in that circuit are the small value electrolytic caps. Without me looking at the schematic I seem to recall a 1uf, a 0.47uf, and I think a 10uf, all clustered around that IC on the schematic. On the board as well. In particular, are there not two resistors in parallel near the relay, and they get pretty warm? And is there one of those small caps RIGHT next to them? He is the most suspect. Since they cost little, I just replace the whole group.

[crthnsn]

I did resolder the relay. Still getting shutdown. Next thing I'm going to do is replace those caps around the relay IC. Thanks!