JL Audio 500/1 AMP will not turn on

[jbgp1200]

Last season my JL Audio 500/1 sub woofer amp began to sound like something was shorting out. If would go on and off and give me that shorting out electrical sound through the sub from time to time. It wouldn't work and then I would hit a wake and it would turn back on. Seemed like a simple short and yet it still may be.

This past weekend I tested every connection. Ground, positive, remote wire and everything was 12V. Tugged on some wires here and there and it gave me that shorting out sound again but would not turn on. Finally I just gave the thing a hard tap with my fist and it came back on and worked. Tapped it again and its dead. Now I'm thinking the short is inside the amp. Carefully took the whole thing apart thinking maybe I had a cob web or something in there. It was clean as can be. Nothing visible that would be causing the issue. Put it all back together and wired it up and it works like a door stop. Nothing, no power light, just dead.

Is it dead? Can it be fixed? is it worth fixing? Any other ideas?

[chpthril]

Sounds like a broken or bad solder on the PCB. Likely fixable, just not sure of that cost and down time compared to just replacing it.

[Ditch Doctor]

If it was going on and off it is likely you would be able to see a loose connection in the amp somewhere. Now that you pulled it and put it back in recheck your power and ground cables. Also pay close attention to the backside of the power and ground terminals inside the amp if you go back into it. If you have no activity though I would think it would be directly related to power or ground supply.

[jbgp1200]

I give up. My electrical engineers at my office who geek out on this stuff could not figure it out.

New question, After the foam around my JL sub rotted out I picked up a Polk MM1040UM Sub (350 W RMS to 700W max) for next to nothing. Not interested in rattling the screws out of my boat but I want it to sound clean. Would the Polk Audio PA880 AMP be sufficient for this sub? After looking at the site I don't see Polk makes and other Mono amps that will pair with this sub.

[chpthril]

What did you give up on, fixing the amp or figuring out why it wont come on? JL will likely fix it for a $120-$150. They will put a new surround on that sub too.

besides being on the low end of the RMS, I dont see a thing wrong with the PA880 amp.

[jbgp1200]

Yeah the low RMS was my concern. The amp will only push 300 Watts x 1 (4 ohm) and the sub is a 350W RMS.

[jbgp1200]

So I picked up a PA880 amp for $100. at this point I was just hoping to get some bass back in my boat. Hooked it up and it powers right up. Unfortunately it is giving me zero output. Power, ground, remote, speakers and volume control are all connected solid and I have got nothing out of a brand new Polk MM1040UM Sub. Any advice or other things to check. I'm at a loss here.

[jbgp1200]

Any suggestions? I have not a clue as to why this brand new amp which is powered up is not getting a signal or its not sending a signal to the Sub. Everything seems to be connected correctly.

[jbgp1200]

Always make sure that the bass setting on the receiver is not set to zero. Sigh