"PROTECTED" message on my Sony Receiver (1 Viewer)

[Walter Smailus]

When I got home Friday night and turned on my Receiver (SONY STR-DE615) it started out in TV mode but then changed to PROTECTED??? What is that?? Is it toast?? Any clues would be helpful since I'd rather not have to spend the bucks taking it into the repair shop for something that may be minor.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Sean M]

Power it down, disconnect all the speaker connections on the back of the receiver and turn it back on. If it still says protected, then you can open it up and look for a blown fuse (I don't recall whether fuses are even used in this model), otherwise it'll probably have to go to service. If it powers up just fine without the speakers connected, then you probably have a short somewhere caused by loose or frayed cables. Good luck.

 

[Alf S]

Before opening it up....UNPLUG the receiver and leave it unplugged overnight at least. ALso check for speaker wires touching one another (speaker end and receiver end).
If it doesn't power up after being reset, take it to a service center, or if you think you're ok with it, open it up and look for the fuse mentioned.
Alfer

 

[Steve Berger]

If a pair of fuses are open I would advise you NOT to replace them until the output transistors are checked for shorts. If a speaker or wiring problem blew the outputs they may be the only parts that failed (along with the fuses). If you replace the fuses (with shorted outputs) and power it up additional parts usually fail instantly since high voltages are suddenly applied to parts that can't handle it.

If no fuses are bad you might carefully tighten the amp board mounting screws since these also act as ground connections on this model and can upset bias and put the unit into protect. If you go to measure anything , be aware the power supply filters can hold quite a charge for several weeks or more under the right conditions.

 

[Sean M]

Alf, good looking out on the unplugging it and leaving it overnight step. I forgot about that one.

 

[Jason Bell]

This same thing happened on my old Sony receiver. It turned out to be caused by speaker wires touching each other just a little bit. It would play fine at real low volume but as soon as you turned up the volume it would go into protection mode. Rechecking and fixing my connections immediately fixed the problem. I didnt wait overnight.

 

[Walter Smailus]

Thanks for all of the input. Lot's of good advice there and will try those things Wednesday night when I have time. If I solve the problem with one of your suggestions, will let you know.

Thanks again.

 

[EricHaas]

This has happened with my Denon. It is almost always a short caused by touching wires. If your cables are not professionally terminated, you can almost be certain that this is the case. Unplug the wires channel by channel until the protect mode doesn't happen any more, then you will know which one is causing the short.

 

[Walter Smailus]

Well, looks like it's time for servicing. Unplugged everythign from the back... still getting "PROTECTED". Opened it up and checked the fuse (is there more than one?) It was fine.

Thanks for all your help anyways. Hoping it is just a quick service issue and not something expensive. If it's toast or going to be expensive I may be back asking about recommendations for good sub-$300 receivers.. that's all the budget I have.

Thanks again.