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Post subject: Passport 500 overheats?
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 6:06 pm
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Hobbyist
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Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2014 4:18 pm
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Hi-

Newbie here, I have a passport 500 (not the pro 500). I connected a small FM radio to test the stereo inputs and I left it playing thru the PP with the storage compartment closed at about 10% gain and in about 45 minutes it went into protected mode. I opened the storage compartment and turned it back on and it is working fine for over 5 hours in about 85 F ambient temp. Is the storage compartment door supposed to be left open when using the amp? I can hear the fan running. I couldn't find a user manual for the 500 but the 250 manual says there is an air filter in the base, mine doesn't have one so it's not a dirty filter. Am I going to have to worry about it overloading if I start to use it harder?


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Post subject: Re: Passport 500 overheats?
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 7:16 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:24 am
Posts: 434
I'm not familiar with a "non-Pro" Passport 500. I own a 500Pro. So, I have to do some guessing.

The term "Gain" is common parlance on other models of mixers for what Fender calls the "Volume" knob for each channel. There's nothing on my Passport labeled "Gain".

Meanwhile, you say nothing about what your Master Volume was set to, and nothing mentioning what the volume level was on the radio. If you have the channel volume set low and/or the radio volume set low, then the incoming signal will be weak. Perhaps you used the Master Volume cranked up high to compensate for a weak input signal.

Keep in mind that the Master Volume is the knob that makes the power amp work hard and heat up. You might be over-amplifying a very weak signal, overheating the amp.

On the model I have, there's an indicator light on each channel that is black when there's no signal, green when there's a not-loud input signal, amber when there's a "it shouldn't get louder than this" signal, and red when there's a "too loud" signal.

So, when your radio is playing, the indicator light should be solid green with moments flickering amber, but it shouldn't turn red. Make sure that your combination of radio volume and what you call "gain" are set high enough to make that indicator turn amber now and then, and THEN turn the Master Volume up high enough to play as loud as you want.

This way, you distribute the load so the power amp isn't doing all the work. The radio is working hard enough (but not loud enough for clipping), and the input channel is loud enough (but not loud enough to clip) and the power amp brings it up to a useful volume so the Master Volume LED stack shows the signal in the green or the amber, but doesn't pin itself up in the red.

I hope this helps.


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