Carver DSP amp. Update: fixed. Beats are back :D

[Chris_D]

So after months of trudging around fleabay and the classifieds I found a replacement amp for mine, which had met a watery death about a year ago. Yippee!

Ebay seller was asking €400 which I thought was actually reasonable seeing as I had only been finding ones advertised for silly money. €7-800 usually being the case.

I saw he was open to offers so made an offer of €290. Cheeky I thought, but worth a punt.
What do you know, this morning found that he has accepted my offer! Top banana!

Not sure if I will need to code the amp to the car tho, as it's a later firmware revision, the next one up in fact. Any ideas?

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Update new amp in and working. See my later thread entry for waterproofing the amp.

[GuidoK]

I don't know if it'll need coding/reprogramming, but if it does, the best/most knowledgeable place to get it done in NL is probably thommy.nl.

[Simon 3.2M]

I've got one of them sat in my wardrobe!!

[Chris_D]

I've got one of them sat in my wardrobe!!

Ffs. Lol!
Whats the part no? If its to spec i might make u an offer as it could come in handy as a spare...
Been a bit of a chew having to use headphones in the car for a year

[Chris_D]

I don't know if it'll need coding/reprogramming, but if it does, the best/most knowledgeable place to get it done in NL is probably thommy.nl.

Thanks Guido. Noted. Speaking from experience with them?
Fijn weekend

[GuidoK]

Speaking from experience with them?

No not personal experience, but I know a few who went there with odd problems.
And he has been in the BMW coding business quite some time now, including retrofitting specializing in satnav/multimedia/telecom.
He's the only one in NL that I know of that really specializes in this stuff.

But who knows, maybe your amp is plug&play

[Chris_D]

Speaking from experience with them?

No not personal experience, but I know a few who went there with odd problems.
And he has been in the BMW coding business quite some time now, including retrofitting specializing in satnav/multimedia/telecom.
He's the only one in NL that I know of that really specializes in this stuff.

But who knows, maybe your amp is plug&play

Hooplijk. Hopefully...

[Chris_D]

In preparation of the arrival of the replacement amp, assuming it will work, I now have to make sure I don't face the same predicament of water-damage and failure.
Hence, I'm looking to waterproof the amp whilst retaining the amp case's thermal dissipation properties.
Looking to actually keep it in the battery compartment...foolishly or not, but I'm intending to fashion a bag or wrapper from thermal foil with the idea that any heat produced by the amp will actually conduct through the foil.
Foil of course is waterproof and if I construct the bag properly it should prevent any water ingress.
Any alternative ideas/thoughts?

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[Number5]

I've replaced one in the past and it went straight in. No programming required.

[Chris_D]

Speaking from experience with them?

No not personal experience, but I know a few who went there with odd problems.
And he has been in the BMW coding business quite some time now, including retrofitting specializing in satnav/multimedia/telecom.
He's the only one in NL that I know of that really specializes in this stuff.

But who knows, maybe your amp is plug&play

Hooplijk. Hopefully...

Just nipped out to the zed to see if this new amp works. Plugged it in and hey presto- Nadda. Nothing. Lol
Not sure if it's a dead one too or if the car needs coding to the amp. Its the next later SW revision. So maybe.
I'll contact thommy.nl on your advice and see if they can shed any light....

[Chris_D]

I've replaced one in the past and it went straight in. No programming required.

Did you replace with a newer or older HW or SW revision, or was it the same spec?
No joy with my ebay find (one SW revision up)

[ChazLuke]

I just replaced mine. $250 off ebay. It worked and no issues. No coding. Carver DSP. I want to see if I can move it out of the battery hole. My third brake light kept breaking and leaking. My trunk would slam shut. I replaced the damper struts and now if closes without slamming. Hope this fixes the break light issue and the leak. I still would like to relocate the amp. I heard there's a side panel in the trunk where i might move it. Has anyone done that?

[Chris_D]

I just replaced mine. $250 off ebay. It worked and no issues. No coding. Carver DSP. I want to see if I can move it out of the battery hole. My third brake light kept breaking and leaking. My trunk would slam shut. I replaced the damper struts and now if closes without slamming. Hope this fixes the break light issue and the leak. I still would like to relocate the amp. I heard there's a side panel in the trunk where i might move it. Has anyone done that?

I'm intending to plug the holes in the battery compartment as i believe this is where water ingress occurs.
Will relocate the amp to the original location after waterproofing it with alu tape and aqua band. Both metal based tapes, so should conducf heat away from the amp too.

[Chris_D]

Aight, so had another fiddle with the amp today and I dont know what I did differently but it's now working. Yay!
Fuses were all fine. Checked 47-50 and all good. Could have been loose harness connector or pin.

In any case it works and now I can stream bassdrive.com through the speakers instead of earphones

In order to mitigate a risk of the same issue i decided to protect the amp from water ingress by using foil tape and aqua band. I also plugged the 3 drain holes in the battery compartment underneath the amp where I suspect the water had come in from the wet road.

For anyone following this thread or searching for a fix for the same issue i made a couple of photos of the waterproofibg measures...

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Some foil tape covering the joins of the amp plates first

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Overlapping layers of foil and aquaband. Should keep moisture at bay.

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The idea behind using foil tape is that it will conduct any thermal energy away from the amp instead of insulating it and running the risk of it overheating.
We'll see how it pans out but for now I'm happy to have the choonz back