I am very interested in learning how to repair car amplifiers. I would like to know what type of equiptment do I need to own,what classes should I take. I can get a hold of a older O-scope for 100.00,is an O-scope needed? I just basically need a rundown of what's required. Any help will be great.
Some basic electronics classes would give you a decent handle on some of the terms, theories, calculations ,etc that you should know for doing repair work. They aren't a necessity but it would help you out a lot. Perry Babin's tutorial would be most likely better than any single class you could take if you are just concerned with learning amp repair and not learning electronics as a whole. Its a steal for the price he is asking. As far as equipment you at minimum are going to need a GOOD soldering iron (wellers are nice),a reliable multimeter, a power supply of some sort(hopefully one with voltage and amperage meters and the biggest you can afford) and a wide range of small hand tools for disassembling amplifiers. If you plan on getting serious you will need an oscilloscope and various other equipment.
Spooney is right you can't beat Perry's tutorial. Learn To Repair Car Audio Power Amplifiers It is very helpful. You can find other stuff on the net too, but not much about car amps. I bought a scope a couple years ago for way less than 100, it does not show the voltage but it works fine for amps. Power supplies are expensive if you buy a new one, I have picked them up here and there. You need a lot of power to run a large amp. The rest is what you would figure, tools to take the things apart mostly and a good DMM. I have found some meters very cheap at garage sales and auctions, if you shop for a while.
You need to understand electricity and basic electronics, then you can expand from there. That info is on Perry's site and others. There is a learning curve if you are not familiar with that stuff, I suppose classes would help but it is not that difficult if you work at it.
I don't use my scope that much, but it can depend on what amps you work on too. Some of them fail in ways where you don't need a scope very often. But when you need one, you need one. I have an old 10A power supply a guy actually gave me broken, took some work to rebuild it, but I use that for most of my testing as I don't have to fuse the amp for 10A. I turn on a larger one only when I need it. If you stick to certain amps you can start out with less equipment.
You need to understand electricity and basic electronics, then you can expand from there. That info is on Perry's site and others. There is a learning curve if you are not familiar with that stuff, I suppose classes would help but it is not that difficult if you work at it.
I don't use my scope that much, but it can depend on what amps you work on too. Some of them fail in ways where you don't need a scope very often. But when you need one, you need one. I have an old 10A power supply a guy actually gave me broken, took some work to rebuild it, but I use that for most of my testing as I don't have to fuse the amp for 10A. I turn on a larger one only when I need it. If you stick to certain amps you can start out with less equipment.
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