I had noticed a faint chemical smell in my “audio room†for three of four days but put it down to cleaning fluid. This morning I was listening to Radio Three on my hi-fi when there was a very loud crack from the Audiolab 8000A amp. The sound was cut off then resumed, but with a noticeable background hum. There was another, less intense crack and I saw thin but heavy vapour lazily drifting from the top ventilation slots. The smell was stronger, took on more that of overheated electronic devices and clearly emanated from there.
The casing was not unusually warm. Opening it up I found that the plastic cover of the toroidal magnet looks slightly burned, as does the corresponding part of the plastic circlet glued to the casing.
At the opposite end there is a little pool of what resembled the oily fluid that can leak from batteries and traces of it on the casing, about 3†above it and maybe carried up by an explosion. The manual does not include a circuit diagram but the pool is around the feet of two vertical silver and black components like little cylinders. About half an inch away there are two little horizontally mounted black components of different sizes, one of which shows clear burn marks on the circuit board.
The amp won't be re-connected due to fire risk and I imagine it is a write-off. I can stomach that, after 28 years and an estimated 30,000 hours of faultless service, but what could have caused the problem?
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Fuming Amp new
Fuming Amp new