Subwoofer caught fire while on standby?!!

[Don Blish]

Originally Posted by lpfan71

Your story is really making me consider turning off my sub woofer, at least at night and when not using surround.

The simple solution to having your SubWoffer go off is to plug it into the SWITCHED outlet on the back of your reciever.

[JasonR]

Will it still turn off if the receiver is only set into standby and not powered off?

[C_Doc]

My old 10" JBL subwoofer blew out like that, on a few occasions. The first time, it woke up in the middle of the night, making whining noises. I went and unplugged it, then plugged it back in... It start blasting 150watt shots full blast into our apartment BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM... heh

I found on a forum the bad capacitor that had blown, and fixed it for a whole 39 cents, and it was good to go for another 2 or 3 years. I did put a switch on the back of it at that point, to turn off the power completey. It went out again the other day, and I fixed it one last time, then jacked it up and ran a new JBL Sub12 under it.. hehe Now, it's someone else's problem: I gave it to my dad and he sold it at the flea market.

[Samsang]

Probably a filter capacitor in the sub's power supply. A common failure mode for high value electrolytic capacitors is an internal short circuit. The high current through the short makes them blow up with a loud "POP!!!

Mind you though, by "common failure mode", I mean common among those that fail. Electrolytic caps are amazingly rugged and reliable, with a very low failure rate. There's no reason to expect that this will happen to others out and about, so quell your fears and resume normal normal routine out there.

It's possible that the cap didn't take any other components with it when it popped. If so, it will be a quick and inexpensive repair. Don't expect that, necessarily, but it could happen. Good Luck!

[Big Daddy]

All electrical and electronic devices can catch fire. I worry more about space heaters, fire places, gas ovens, and gas dryers. Many people fall asleep when they are watching TV with the heater, etc. on. It is wise to double check everything and have one of these fire extinguishers available inside the house. They don't cost that much and are available at Walmart, Home Depot/Lowes, Amazon, etc.

[Blu-Buddha]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

All electrical and electronic devices can catch fire. I worry more about space heaters, fire places, gas ovens, and gas dryers. Many people fall asleep when they are watching TV with the heater, etc. on. It is wise to double check everything and have one of these fire extinguishers available inside the house. They don't cost that much and are available at Walmart, Home Depot/Lowes, Amazon, etc.

Some ten years or so ago my roommate and I got back from having dinner out, sat down to watch t.v. and we heard a pop! pop! pop! from the kitchen and we go in to find smoke and flames billowing out of the stupid toaster. Since then I unplug near everything when I leave the house- especially for any extended period of time.

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by Don Blish

The simple solution to having your SubWoffer go off is to plug it into the SWITCHED outlet on the back of your reciever.

Most receivers with the switched outlet option restrict the wattage of devices plugged into them. It's usually about 100 watts, enough to run a tape or disc drive.

I wouldn't plug a subwoofer into it.

[MacDaddyOJack]

I think it's next to impossible for the driver to start a fire or spark, so it must have been your amp. I'd make sure you don't have any wires or parts touching and maybe contact eD to see if they have heard of the problem before.