Yamaha amp goes into protection mode (1 Viewer)

[batman144144]

So, this morning I turned on my Yamaha MX-A5000 amp but it went into protection mode. I'm not getting any audio out of it and the power indicator blinks a few times. I've already tried leaving it unplugged a few minutes; that doesn't fix anything. Does anyone know of a solution other than taking the unit in for repair?

 

[John Dirk]

Not a whole lot you can do with this type of an issue but here are a couple of suggestions. If neither of these yield results then you'll probably need to contact Yamaha support.

• Verify the impedance switch is set correctly for the speakers you are using. Maybe it was inadvertently moved.
• Disconnect all speakers and try again. If problem remains it is in the unit. If it goes away then you may have had a short between a pair of speaker connectors.

 

[batman144144]

Thank you for the suggestions. I'll give those a try and check back in.

 

[JohnRice]

To second John's suggestion, some amps have a hard reset for protection when you turn them off, disconnect everything (inputs and speakers) then turn them on again. You might even have to do it a few times to get it to reset. So, even if it goes into protect the first time, try it a few more times.

 

[batman144144]

Okay, I'll give that a try as well.

I just checked impedance selector and it was on 8ohm. That has seemed to work fine for about 6 years now, but the thing is, my front L,C,R speakers are Polk Lsi 9, which are listed at 4ohm. (I'm not sure what my surrounds are rated at....probably 8? I don't know.) Anyway, I set the amp's switch to 4ohm, then turned the amp on again, but still no luck. So, I'll try to get to some of the other options tomorrow...

 

[JohnRice]

It’s unlikely the impedance switch will cause this. Zero chance when you’re not even playing anything.

 

[JohnRice]

You didn’t ask, but if you are driving 4 Ohm speakers, you really should use an amp capable of driving them. An impedance switch is just a very poor fix on an amp that can’t handle the load. Mostly marketing to cover up a poor design. Sorry, but trying to help.

 

[batman144144]

Okay, I believe what you're saying as a rule, but if the speakers were drawing more current than the amp was meant to handle, the amp would be running pretty warm, right? Now, I haven't specifically checked how warm the amp was running in a long time, but every time that I have checked it, it was barely warm. In fact, I'd say it's the second coolest-running amp I've had. Only my old, 5-channel Chiro amp ran cooler. All of this may have to do with the fact that I live in an apartment and I never listen at loud volumes.

 

[JohnRice]

OK. My advice was from someone who has low impedance, low sensitivity speakers he drives hard enough to have sent two extremely powerful amps to the grave.

 

[batman144144]

In my youth, it probably would have been an issue. I enjoyed loud music and movies then. As someone a bit older, I don't really get the charge out of it I used to. Nowadays, audio sounds harsh to my ears when it's very loud. I also have a bit of tinnitus and loud sounds just make it worse.

 

[JohnRice]

I'm no spring chicken myself, but I still like my movies and music reasonably loud, at times at least. Not to the point of sounding harsh, but it's nice to shake the house a little.

 

[Mark Stenroos]

Check your wired connections to your speakers and amp. You may have a + and - wire hitting each other. That happened to me on my center speaker and caused my Yamaha amp to shut down. Securing the wires better fixed it. Happened when I had moved the speaker to dust. Sheesh.

 

[batman144144]

Okay, I've too much going recently to really get back to this issue with my amp, until today...

Long story short, I tried most of the suggestions here with no luck. I found on online a way to reset the power protection circuitry. I had to open up the unit and locate the switch. You have to hold the switch down while you plug the unit in and it will reset the protection circuitry. When I powered the unit on, I heard a switch trip so I thought I had success, but then I heard a switch trip again, the power light started flashing again, and the unit remained off. I tried this several times to no avail.

If I had to guess what's going on, I'd say the first switch I heard was the protection circuitry turning off, then for the second click it's immediately re-engaging. Obviously, something internal is going on with the unit. I really don't know what else can be done other than take it for repair, which I'm not going to be able to do any time soon...

 

[batman144144]

Since it's going to be a while before I can take this in for repair, if anyone else has any suggestions...

 

[3dbinCanada]

Okay, I'll give that a try as well.

I just checked impedance selector and it was on 8ohm. That has seemed to work fine for about 6 years now, but the thing is, my front L,C,R speakers are Polk Lsi 9, which are listed at 4ohm. (I'm not sure what my surrounds are rated at....probably 8? I don't know.) Anyway, I set the amp's switch to 4ohm, then turned the amp on again, but still no luck. So, I'll try to get to some of the other options tomorrow...

Did you disconnect the speakers as suggested and turn the unit on? It maybe a speaker or a whisker short across the terminals. If you didnt, try that and add one speaker at a time to the amp to make sure the speaker isnt damaged. Also, move the impedance selector switch back to 8 ohms or you'll be reducing the power delivered to the speakers.

 

[batman144144]

Did you disconnect the speakers as suggested and turn the unit on? It maybe a speaker or a whisker short across the terminals. If you didnt, try that and add one speaker at a time to the amp to make sure the speaker isnt damaged. Also, move the impedance selector switch back to 8 ohms or you'll be reducing the power delivered to the speakers.

Yeah, I tried that already. In fact, I had it disconnected from everything for a couple of weeks. No luck.

 

[3dbinCanada]

Yeah, I tried that already. In fact, I had it disconnected from everything for a couple of weeks. No luck.

That sucks. I guess its off to a repair shop.

 

[Max Taxable]

While you had it open, how did the dust collecting system look? (That's my euphemism for the entire interior.) Literally, dust can cause these types of problems. Get a can of Ultra Duster or equivalent, and blow that puppy out.

 

[batman144144]

While you had it open, how did the dust collecting system look? (That's my euphemism for the entire interior.) Literally, dust can cause these types of problems. Get a can of Ultra Duster or equivalent, and blow that puppy out.

My preamp/processor sits on top of the amp, so not much dust gets into the amp. I didn't notice any dust inside the unit.

 

[gralenk]

My 3070 did that too to the point that the light did not come on. I ended up calling Yamaha and they directed me to a place. (Best Buy sucks). It turn out it went into protection mode because I went a year without using it. They had to put in a new processor and now it is good as new. In fact it is new because I turn it on and off twice and that was before I had to move. It was under warranty so it was free