"Coughing" Polk Audio PSW202 subwoofer

[Sarven Atam]

Hi! I know this thread is a few years old but seem to have a similar issue with my sub, it sounds like it's coughing...Capacitors don't seem swollen, they are 35v 4700μ, audio IC seems ok, no blown fuse..Should i change the caps for 50v as suggested in several forums?

 

[duke37]

As long as the voltage rating is adequate, the change to 50V working will not improve things.
The fault is likely to be bad capacitors, to check temporarily connect a similar capacitor across the doubtful one. If the fault disappears then you have found the bad capacitor.

Do not change components until the fault is found, thereby lies all sorts of trouble.

 

[marcus_clarkus]

3.5 year update: subwoofer still works great after my fix. thanks again duke!


Sarven Atam - I agree with duke. If you start swapping seemingly good parts you're just introducing more potential issues and not fixing anything. Sorry I can't offer more advice than that...

 

[Sarven Atam]

I was told that these 2 capacitors are usually the culprit and that voltage value needs to be increased as per below link which is pointing to this post so i'm a little confused, i see 35V on my caps and 50V on the caps displayed in this pic:

http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/139378/psw202-amp-not-working-properly

 

[duke37]

If the applied voltage is under 30V, then 35V capacitors are adequate. If the voltage is over 30V, then go to 50V capacitors.
Capacitors have various faults, they can leak or have a large internal resistance (ESR) or low capacitance. If the amplifier works at all, it may not be leakage. Low capacitance or high ESR can be checked by adding a good capacitor in parallel. Make sure it is connected the correct way round.
105deg capacitors should be used, thet will last longer.

 

[Sarven Atam]

Thanks! I will try suggestions and report back..