RSW-15 Subwoofer: "The Adventures of Picky"

[picky]

Well
now, THAT was scary: Let me start from the beginning.



Two weeks ago, before Verna and I left on the road to Indianapolis for the 2012
Klipsch Pilgrimage, I went downstairs to our HT and switched off the main
switch to our power line conditioner. Everything in the theater that draws
110-volt power, draws it from our Tripp Lite LCR2400 Line Conditioner. Or, so I
thought. So, we left town on our merry way, had a stellar time with all of our
Klipsch Forum friends and returned home to find that our house was still in one
piece, but there had been a brief power failure in the neighborhood while we
were gone, according to our next door neighbor. Everything seemed fine.

One week later: I'd been very busy with school so I had not had
the chance to use our theater since we got back, but since Thursday, June 21st
was our last day of class, I invited my lab partners over to the house for a
lunch BBQ and a theater demo. Therefore, the night before, I went downstairs
and switched the system's power line condition back to "on".

The next day, my lab partners, Verna, Ms. Rose and I all had a
great BBQ lunch and then it was time to demo the theater. My pals eagerly tried
out the comfy theater seats and got ready for the exciting debut. Except.....not
so much! Oh, the sound was incredible...to them...but I could tell something
was VERY wrong. There was NO SUB!!! My RSW-15's cone was not moving and there
was no indicator lamp lit on the front.

Closer examination revealed that I did not have the sub's power cord
plugged into the special protected power outlet, but instead, it was plugged
into the un-protected, standard wall outlet next to it. This meant that when
the power failure had occured that the sub was still energized, even though it
was set to "Auto On". RATS! Anyway, I ran the remainder of the demo
for the guys and they all said it sounded great, but I knew it was nowhere near
as exciting as it normally is.

The next day, last Friday, I started investigating what was wrong.
I checked the power cord connections at both ends, the input cable, the switch
positions and finally the fuse. The RSW-15 uses a special, 6 Amp, Slow-Blow
fuse that is available from Radio Shack (part # 270-1028). You get about 4 of
them for less than $2 bucks. But when I checked the one I removed from the sub
with my volt-ohm meter, it measured 0 ohms, which meant it should have 100%
continuity. I put it back in and the sub was still dead. A bad fuse should
theoretically measure infinite resistance, or Infinity which means No
continuity. But, again, this one read 0 ohms (no resistance).

So,
now suspecting that the internal, BASH power amp was in jeopardy, I contacted
Klipsch Customer Service via email. Since I purchased my sub in 2004, I already
knew it was past warranty. Sure enough, they got right back with me. It was my
old buddy Steve Phillips. Steve suggested that, although it did not make any
sense at all, to go ahead and buy some replacement fuses at Radio Shack and
just go ahead and try replacing the fuse just for grins. He said, who knows, it
might just work?? I must admit that I doubted it would do any good, but I trust
Steve so I went ahead and tried it.

Guess what? IT WORKED!!! The sub's indicator lamp lit up green and
we had a signal! WOO-HOO!!!! But the good fuse reads the same as the supposed
"bad fuse": 0 Ohms??? I immediately threw the bad fuse away and now I
have some spares. But, I also switched the power cord over to the protected
outlet to avoid this scenario from happening again. I can't thank Steve
Phillips enough for his expertise and for getting back to me so quickly.
Klipsch truly does have the best customer service department in the business.
Steve said that he stopped trusting the ohmmeter reading on fuses a long time
ago. LOL

So, for those of you out there who suddenly encounter a dead sub
for no apparent reason, just try changing the fuse even if you think the fuse
is okay. It could save you time and it could save you some bucks in repair
costs. Mine blew because the fuse was protecting my sub's amplifier from harm.
In other words, it did its job as designed

Thanks Klipsch and thanks Steve Phillips! -Glenn

[CECAA850]

Gotta love a happy ending.

Be sure that your protected outlet that you now have your sub plugged into will handle the load. Most aren't, and the recomendation is to go straight to the wall with the sub cable like you previously had it.

Edit: just looked it up. It will support a total of 20A or 2400w. You may want to total up everything you have plugged into it.

[dtel]

Good news, If they liked the sound without the sub you did well, would have loved to see their faces with the sub helping. []