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Author Topic: QSC 3602 Reliabilty Issues-Anyone?  (Read 20564 times)

Chuck Simon

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QSC 3602 Reliabilty Issues-Anyone?
« on: May 01, 2011, 01:41:30 PM »

Last night I had a QSC 3602 go out on me and took the circuit with it.  I was running subs at 4 ohms and not really pushing it very hard.  It sounded great right up to failure.  It happens to be the newest of all my amps, less than one year old.  I have other QSC amps that are up to 10 years old and even a few Carvers doing monitor duty that are 17 years old without problems!

The good news is that QSC has a great warranty and I am sure they will take care of it.  Is mine just a fluke or has anyone else had issues with this model?  I read here of someone mentioning a failure of a 3602, so I was just wondering.
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Matt Martin

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Re: QSC 3602 Reliabilty Issues-Anyone?
« Reply #1 on: May 01, 2011, 02:41:43 PM »

I'm also using 3602s for subs. I have yet to have any issues, however, you said you didn't up until failure. I would also be interested to know if something is wrong with these for sub duty.
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Matt Martin
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Bob Leonard

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Re: QSC 3602 Reliabilty Issues-Anyone?
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2011, 02:51:43 PM »

Last night I had a QSC 3602 go out on me and took the circuit with it.  I was running subs at 4 ohms and not really pushing it very hard.  It sounded great right up to failure.  It happens to be the newest of all my amps, less than one year old.  I have other QSC amps that are up to 10 years old and even a few Carvers doing monitor duty that are 17 years old without problems!

The good news is that QSC has a great warranty and I am sure they will take care of it.  Is mine just a fluke or has anyone else had issues with this model?  I read here of someone mentioning a failure of a 3602, so I was just wondering.

Chuck,
Years ago I posted my thoughts to this board pertaining to the 3602 and it's use with subs. I personally thought the amp was an amp that shouldn't be considered for that use. I felt the tone was fine, the power available fine, but the amp itself was far to succeptable to voltage variations and in particular low voltage conditions that would not otherwise effect other amps including those made by QSC.
 
To that point I removed ALL of my 3602s from sub duty and replaced them with heavy iron in the form of 4050HDs. I have never had a problem with these amps powering subs, regardless of conditions. I now use the 3602s to power my upper cabinets, SRX725s and have had no problems since.
 
If you balk at the use of heavy iron then the 4050HD is not for you. However, many members of this board have followed my lead since that time long ago and they are all very happy with the 4050HD. As for the 3602, it has no use for driving subs in my world.
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BOSTON STRONG........
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Chuck Simon

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Re: QSC 3602 Reliabilty Issues-Anyone?
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2011, 04:13:44 PM »

Interesting comments, Bob, and I bet we'll see some interesting responses!

I usually use the QSC Powerlights in my bigger rack for serious sub duty, or my powered 618XLF's, but I like the flexability the PLX's powering a couple dual 15's for smaller jobs where space is a premium.  So, I am very much interested in as many opinions as possible.
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Alan Sledzieski

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Re: QSC 3602 Reliabilty Issues-Anyone?
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2011, 04:38:09 PM »

Last night I had a QSC 3602 go out on me and took the circuit with it.  I was running subs at 4 ohms and not really pushing it very hard.  It sounded great right up to failure.  It happens to be the newest of all my amps, less than one year old.  I have other QSC amps that are up to 10 years old and even a few Carvers doing monitor duty that are 17 years old without problems!

The good news is that QSC has a great warranty and I am sure they will take care of it.  Is mine just a fluke or has anyone else had issues with this model?  I read here of someone mentioning a failure of a 3602, so I was just wondering.

Everything breaks. LOl
   Your going to get a bad amp from time to time. I think in this day of light wieght amps there are going to be many more failures.
  Im running crest pro series amps now, replacing the old heavy large ca series and v series crest amps I used. Never had a ca or v go down in 15 years, the pro series I'm not so lucky.
 A big sound company that I know started using crest pro amps as they are growing, there other amps are crown macrotech. 4 of there pro series amps went down in a year, the macros are fine.
 A buddy of mine went from a full crest ca rig to a qsc plx rig, no failures on the ca's, 2 plx's went down last year.
 A repair shop I know has seen a 4-1 increase in crown failures, comparing the macro the a I tech series lightweight amp, The Itechs are not as durable as the macro's.  But easyer to repair then a crest pro, as the crown is a modular design,  I have a pro9200 in the shop right now, and was told to dig a hole and bury it.  The shop preformed the hail Mary test on it right from crest, and blew up a bunch of outputs, as it happens sometimes.  lets not forget, crest is no longer crest, its peavy now.  Posibly looking for a ca 18 to replace it, but its heavy.
 My buddy went from crest v series to crown XTI series, same problem, a xti failed.

 Long winded and may have went off in a tangent, but don't expect any of the light wieght switching amps to hold up like a old linear supply with a 30 lb transformer.

 Good luck
Al
   
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Chuck Simon

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Re: QSC 3602 Reliabilty Issues-Anyone?
« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2011, 05:13:24 PM »

Carver was the first of the light weight switching amps, and as I said, I have some I have been using 17 years without problems.  However - monitor duty - not subs. 
I have a friend that's been running a pair of 4 ohm SRX718's out of each side of a PLX3402 for years now, and he pushes them in the red on a regular basis, extracting every volt possible out of that amp!  I would hope that the 3602 would be even better.  Maybe I got the one rotten apple in barrel.
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David Parker

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Re: QSC 3602 Reliabilty Issues-Anyone?
« Reply #6 on: May 01, 2011, 05:36:15 PM »

I've been running my subs on PLX3402's for many years, 4ohms stereo operation. 3 of them. One went down during the whole run, and it turned out to be a weak component, just an expected bad apple now and then. Didn't cost much too fix. I'm sure I could get better performance from heavier amps, but then I'd have to haul the heavier amps in and out every night, and most of the time I'm alone.
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Jeff Bankston

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Re: QSC 3602 Reliabilty Issues-Anyone?
« Reply #7 on: May 01, 2011, 06:49:19 PM »

yeah the old haevy 75 pound QSC 3800 and 50 pound QSC 3500 with seperate power transformers and metal case toshiba transistors are bullet proof. ohhhh my back !!!
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Robert Weston

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Re: QSC 3602 Reliabilty Issues-Anyone?
« Reply #8 on: May 01, 2011, 08:19:16 PM »

I use the PLX-3602's for subs (4ohm - bridged).  Never had a problem with them, except they need a good steady amount of current (i.e. they really need to be on their own circuit).  The can run a bit hotter than the 3402's, (as has been mentioned before in this forum), but I've never had one fail.  Though, with the amount of current they need to run, I've tripped many breakers.

About a year ago, had a 3402 power supply fail during a sound check (amp was running FOH mid/high).  QSC was superb in managing the repair and getting the amp back to me.  The largest amount of time spent getting it repaired was the shipping time to and from QSC.

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Bob Leonard

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Re: QSC 3602 Reliabilty Issues-Anyone?
« Reply #9 on: May 01, 2011, 08:51:49 PM »

I use the PLX-3602's for subs (4ohm - bridged).  Never had a problem with them, except they need a good steady amount of current (i.e. they really need to be on their own circuit).  The can run a bit hotter than the 3402's, (as has been mentioned before in this forum), but I've never had one fail.  Though, with the amount of current they need to run, I've tripped many breakers.

About a year ago, had a 3402 power supply fail during a sound check (amp was running FOH mid/high).  QSC was superb in managing the repair and getting the amp back to me.  The largest amount of time spent getting it repaired was the shipping time to and from QSC.

Hot is not the word for it. I push my systems hard, as hard as anyone, and the only component I've had problems with are 3602s when used for subs. My first bad experience years ago was an outdoor concert. I had good voltage to the amps and every 3602 I owned shut down at one point or another. Every one of them was hot enough out front to burn your hand on. Since replacing them I have had NO problems, even at the same venue, and under the same conditions the 4050HDs run ICE COLD. OK for tops, not OK for subs. Weight is not a factor when 500-1000 people are standing out front wondering why the system JUST WENT FUCKING DEAD.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2011, 01:44:56 AM by Bob Leonard »
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BOSTON STRONG........
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: QSC 3602 Reliabilty Issues-Anyone?
« Reply #9 on: May 01, 2011, 08:51:49 PM »


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