Sterling 5" powered monitor problem

I went through all the troubleshooting techniques but still got no results..my powered monitor sounds like a transistor radio sometimes..not all of the time the woofer cuts out..even in power up it sometimes doesn't work..it's brand new practically but not under warranty so I'm asking if anyone has an idea what this is?..I have a multi meter and a soldering pencil..if need be..I've never heard of a speaker blowing out and still occasionally working but maybe it is,a blown speaker..but it works sometimes..any ideas?
 
I suspect at that price it is not a 'bi-amped' monitor? That is to say there is just one power amplifier and a regular passive crossover. If so there is a very good chance that the problem is 'dry joint' on the C/O PCB, often a badly mounted inductor.

Could of course be a fault in the LF path anywhere and EVEN an intermittent woofer voice coil but if you do track it down to the LF drive, have a good look at the rivets which connect the 'pigtails' to the tags. These can be badly 'whooped' in production, can be soldered with care (stuff rags underneath to protect cone from hot solder drips)

Only you can determine this (post a disassembled picky) but USUALLY active monitors have all the lethal mains voltages carefully insulated and so it is perfectly safe to spread the giblets out on the k'table, feed a signal in (pod, phone) and CAREFULLY poke and move wires and connectors to establish the fault. The danger is not of electrocution, BUT ALWAYS USE JUST ONE HAND! but of shorting a DC line. Big flash, power chip has gone to Silicon Heaven. Poke with a plastic tool.

Dave.
 
I suspect at that price it is not a 'bi-amped' monitor? That is to say there is just one power amplifier and a regular passive crossover. If so there is a very good chance that the problem is 'dry joint' on the C/O PCB, often a badly mounted inductor.

Could of course be a fault in the LF path anywhere and EVEN an intermittent woofer voice coil but if you do track it down to the LF drive, have a good look at the rivets which connect the 'pigtails' to the tags. These can be badly 'whooped' in production, can be soldered with care (stuff rags underneath to protect cone from hot solder drips)

Only you can determine this (post a disassembled picky) but USUALLY active monitors have all the lethal mains voltages carefully insulated and so it is perfectly safe to spread the giblets out on the k'table, feed a signal in (pod, phone) and CAREFULLY poke and move wires and connectors to establish the fault. The danger is not of electrocution, BUT ALWAYS USE JUST ONE HAND! but of shorting a DC line. Big flash, power chip has gone to Silicon Heaven. Poke with a plastic tool.

Dave.
I'm really not too tech savvy..in other words i dont know exactly t you mean with all the technical terms, but checking for loose wires seems to be a start..maybe I could use the multi meter contact sticks as probe to see if it kicks the speaker on, whatever I touch that is...I thought someone experienced this and would direct me to the problem..professional talk and not layman's terms confuse me..by the way, what are rivets and pigtails? And tags?
 
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The above (if it works! I am not very computer savvy) is not a really good pic' but the best I can find quickly. See the tags? If you blow the picture up you might just see a rivet and on the left, jeeeust a wire curling under the connector board? That is one of the pigtails, very flexible braids that carry current to the voice coil.

Sorry for the technicalities Robert but a spark plug is a spark plug and a sump plug...You get my drift? We HAVE to call things by their names.
No one can point to the exact cause/location of the fault. Starting at the woofer you go back to the X/over (if there is one) then the power amp feeding that (could be a dry joint in that causing a high pass filter effect) . Is there any response modifying switching on the back? Another possible source of trouble...PLUS! A ll the connectors in the line! Crimped spade connectors CAN be badly done, if that proves the case try squeezing it with BI Mother pliers. You COULD try solder but there is always the risk of it flooding the receptacle and rendering it bog useless.

Some pictures would help us point you in fruitful directions.

Dave.
 
Told ya I was PC rubbish!

See attached (I hope!)
 

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The above (if it works! I am not very computer savvy) is not a really good pic' but the best I can find quickly. See the tags? If you blow the picture up you might just see a rivet and on the left, jeeeust a wire curling under the connector board? That is one of the pigtails, very flexible braids that carry current to the voice coil.

Sorry for the technicalities Robert but a spark plug is a spark plug and a sump plug...You get my drift? We HAVE to call things by their names.
No one can point to the exact cause/location of the fault. Starting at the woofer you go back to the X/over (if there is one) then the power amp feeding that (could be a dry joint in that causing a high pass filter effect) . Is there any response modifying switching on the back? Another possible source of trouble...PLUS! A ll the connectors in the line! Crimped spade connectors CAN be badly done, if that proves the case try squeezing it with BI Mother pliers. You COULD try solder but there is always the risk of it flooding the receptacle and rendering it bog useless.

Some pictures would help us point you in fruitful directions.

Dave.

I understand now.. thanks..
 
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