JL Audio Fathom f113 repair

[Masterlu]

So Dan... how much for a house call?

[Masterlu]

Reliability Side Note; between both my homes I’m running 16 JL Audio Subs. I have only had 2 failures (F113v1 x 2) in 15 years.

[oddeophile]

Good for you Ivan. You must be lucky. 3 F113’s and two of them went down with the same issue. For me a 67% failure rate in my home isn’t good. Since it’s s known part that goes would have expected JL to redesign or replace with a superior part to withstand the obvious load its carrying.
I sold two of my subs. One has been sitting dead in the corner for three years. Someday will decide if it’s worth it to fix or just sell as is.
On the other hand JL does have good CS when contacted. I’m just in a position with a severe disability at this point in my life restricting me from being able to lift, pull or otherwise handle the weight involved.
Overall, given JL’s reputation I would have thought they would have recognized the issue early on and take steps to resolve on future units.

[Masterlu]

I agree; and didn’t realize it was this common/widespread.

[Cohibaman]

Electrolytic capacitors are used in nearly every electronic device including microwave ovens, TVs, uninterruptible power supplies, toys, computers, etc.

Generally speaking, capacitors are very reliable, but they are susceptible to over-voltage and over-temperature. If a capacitor is chosen for a given application and it’s close to it’s limits for voltage and temperature, it will fail eventually. Moreover, there are some brands that tend to fail more than others.

I’ve resurrected/repaired many electronic items including major name TVs and stereo components due to failed capacitors.

This is not a problem specific to JL audio; it’s industry wide and the nature of the beast.

[tweet]

Here's a current f113 for sale description by a dealer on another site. Best regardless of price but they all need service? Hmm...

Best subwoofer regardless of price. Purchased from us in 2014. Just recently serviced. All the version 1’s will need service at one point or another so this is good to go for a long time. Comes in version 2 box.

[oddeophile]

Originally Posted by Cohibaman

Electrolytic capacitors are used in nearly every electronic device including microwave ovens, TVs, uninterruptible power supplies, toys, computers, etc.

Generally speaking, capacitors are very reliable, but they are susceptible to over-voltage and over-temperature. If a capacitor is chosen for a given application and it’s close to it’s limits for voltage and temperature, it will fail eventually. Moreover, there are some brands that tend to fail more than others.

I’ve resurrected/repaired many electronic items including major name TVs and stereo components due to failed capacitors.

This is not a problem specific to JL audio; it’s industry wide and the nature of the beast.

Indeed but not the same part with a very high known issue. I higher voltage rating etc with a more rugged construction and/or mfr. I’ve owned amps and components over the eons and never had a failure let alone two of the three I own amp boards I owned. So it’s very suspect.

As an example my beloved MESA Engineering Baron dual mono tube amp I’ve owned for 19 years and a good portion of that it was in storage -a condition which can cause electrolytic caps to leak or dry up. Had it thoroughly checked out a couple years ago out of concern after long storage and the United ChemiCon electrolytic caps were smack on in spec and still flawless.

They can have a custom cap designed specifically for their application to solve the issue. Again knowing JLs reputation quite surprised they haven’t.

BTW I ran mine off P10s so had constant voltage supplied.

[jdandy]

This morning I ran the JL Audio automatic room optimization on my newly repaired Fathom f113. I contemplated not doing it because the calibration button light was illuminated, which the manual states: If you have already run A.R.O. once, the “Calibrate” light will already be on. Each time A.R.O. calibration is run, the previous settings are erased and the new settings are stored. My calibration button light was on, so I assume that meant my original ARO calibration was still stored in a non-volatile memory chip. The Fathom has been sounding excellent these past two days, so it is likely my previous calibration was still working. After mulling it over I decided to go ahead with ARO again. Once I plugged the calibration microphone into the f113 and followed the manual's instructions the ARO process went smoothly. I had forgotten how powerful those low frequency test tone sweeps are. So I now have a fresh automatic room optimization curve stored and all seems perfectly fine. I can't really tell if the new ARO curve is different from the original curve. All I know is the subwoofer is integrating very well with my PMC EB1i speakers while using all of the same control settings I had previously set. I am happy with the way the capacitor repair went. Having the Fathom f113 back in action pleases me to no end.

[Cohibaman]

Nice job, Dan

[McDaddy]

Dan, do you happen to recall what size 2” machine screw you used to dislodge the heat sink?

I’m now 2 for 2 with the same problem after 3 years of use on each sub (very frustrated)? I sent the first one back for repair but I’m going to replace the cap myself as i’m confident it’s the same issue.

Karl