Looking for advice & schematic for Crate GX-30M

[DrGonz78]

Okay, I have this Crate GX-30M sitting around and decided today to resurrect the dead. It is a long shot to get this amp working again and is really just for some fun. There is the ribbon that connects from the main PCB board to another module board. I noticed there on the module what I believe to be an IC chip that blew up. So, then I try to get the nut and screw loose... Damn thing!! Had to drill out the screw just to get the sucker out. What I can see on the chip is "TDA 205?" (the question mark might be a 8 or 9) since it's blown and can't read the last number.

Anyway, does anyone have an idea what chip I need to replace this component? I can't find any schematic online at all. Seems Crate is hard to find online these days. I was also looking for the Crate GX-130c and had no luck earlier in the week. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[soundguruman]

The best advice is to throw it away, not worth putting money into.
You can put time money and effort into it, and get it working, then it will fail again for another reason.

[MarkusBass]

Can it be TDA2050 http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/data...onics/1461.pdf ?

Mark

[Enzo]

It's going to be a TDA2050. The TDA 2030/2040/2050 family of 5-legged power amp ICs is about the most common amp part in small solid state amps.

The TDA2050 in this Crate amp will be just as reliable as the TDA2050 in a Marshall or Fender or anything else. Same chip.


Soundguruman, give it a rest. Either say something helpful or get the fuck out of the way. The TDA2050 in this Crate pactice amp is no more likely to fail here than it will anywhere else. Whether YOU like it or not, this person has an amp he'd like to work on. Your rubbing his nose in your own personal tastes is not going to be of any benefit. If trashing Crate gets your dick hard, well how happy for you, but if you genuinely have reason to say this crap, then SAY it. The blah blah blah Crate sucks blah blah blah tells us nothing. If you are sold on this idea, then tell the individual WHY the amp will be unreliable. Specifically. SHOW him where the circuit designs is weak. POINT OUT where the designers made mistakes or cut corners. TELL him which parts are underspecified. Unless you just believe in voodoo, this is a circuit board full of parts. If the board itself is haunted, well that alone is worth study. If the parts are weak, then why are the Cliff jacks on the Crate crappy, but the same jacks on a MArshall are OK? WHy is a TIP142/147 pair worthless on a Crate, but the same circuit on a Fender is OK? I have to replace a lot more transformers on MArshall and Fender amps than I do on Crate, am I doing it wrong?


And if you still think that Crates are just totally 100% unreliable and worthless, then all the more reason to help a novice work on them to gain the valuable direct experience of seeing for himself what you are ranting and raving about like a schoolgirl.

[DrGonz78]

Yeah that looks like the part to me and don't know why I did not think it was "0" as the last number. LoL. Hey thanks for the feedback Mark.


Soundguruman, right now in my stage of learning of amps>>> my thought is to fix anything I can get my hands on. This amp was giving to me for parts and if I get it working that might be a miracle. No, I won't throw more than $10 bucks into it tops. I appreciate the advice too, but if I can learn something from fixing this amp it's definitely worth 10 bucks and my time spent on repairs. Then I will sell it for $20 or $30 to recoup the funds as well. That's my plan anyway.

[Enzo]

Gonz, here is your schematic.

If the 2050 blew up, make sure the 1 ohm R63 nearby is OK.

[DrGonz78]

Hey thanks Enzo that's awesome! Shouldn't be very much to replace that part either and yes I was looking at the cap & that resistor nearby wiping off the blackened carbon muck on it. I tested it in the circuit but now with the schematic I will test it out of circuit.

My rule of thumb is to work on any amp that comes my way and learn learn learn.

Thanks again guys!!

~Jer

]

[Jazz P Bass]

. So, then I try to get the nut and screw loose... Damn thing!! Had to drill out the screw just to get the sucker out..

Amplifier manufacturers revel in ways to keep components from moving.
In this case, if a "Loktite" type was used at the factory, the heat generated from the failing IC may have changed the composition to something akin to a rock

[Jazz P Bass]

It's going to be a TDA2050. The TDA 2030/2040/2050 family of 5-legged power amp ICs is about the most common amp part in small solid state amps.

The TDA2050 in this Crate amp will be just as reliable as the TDA2050 in a Marshall or Fender or anything else. Same chip.


Soundguruman, give it a rest. Either say something helpful or get the fuck out of the way. The TDA2050 in this Crate pactice amp is no more likely to fail here than it will anywhere else. Whether YOU like it or not, this person has an amp he'd like to work on. Your rubbing his nose in your own personal tastes is not going to be of any benefit. If trashing Crate gets your dick hard, well how happy for you, but if you genuinely have reason to say this crap, then SAY it. The blah blah blah Crate sucks blah blah blah tells us nothing. If you are sold on this idea, then tell the individual WHY the amp will be unreliable. Specifically. SHOW him where the circuit designs is weak. POINT OUT where the designers made mistakes or cut corners. TELL him which parts are underspecified. Unless you just believe in voodoo, this is a circuit board full of parts. If the board itself is haunted, well that alone is worth study. If the parts are weak, then why are the Cliff jacks on the Crate crappy, but the same jacks on a MArshall are OK? WHy is a TIP142/147 pair worthless on a Crate, but the same circuit on a Fender is OK? I have to replace a lot more transformers on MArshall and Fender amps than I do on Crate, am I doing it wrong?


And if you still think that Crates are just totally 100% unreliable and worthless, then all the more reason to help a novice work on them to gain the valuable direct experience of seeing for himself what you are ranting and raving about like a schoolgirl.

Whoa!
Was someone eating nails for breakfast?
+1

[Enzo]

Nah. It is one things for jerks to show up at a party, but when they start pissing in the punchbowl, it is time to address the issue.

[DrGonz78]

This was always one my favorite threads ever, and just in case someone was ever needing this schematic here it is... again. The file Enzo posted got killed in the server hiccup that happened a while back. Just happened to come upon this thread again and realized the file was dead.

[soundguruman]

And here's the bias adjustment tool.

[g1]

Well, thanks at least for bumping this post, just so we can all read what we would like to see a special someone get told on a daily basis.

[DrGonz78]

Gotta love this place!!

[SpareRibs]

Hello,
I totally agree with Enzo. I have a crate amp which cost almost nothing. I got it because it was damaged from neglect, not from manufacturers defect. In my opinion the Crate amps are no better or worse than any of the others in the same price range. How many posts come through this forum on a daily basis, and only one brand receives a critical, almost rabid response each and every time from the same person. Any time I post about Crate, I know that one reply is coming. It just comes with the territory.