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Owners of Carver Crimson 275 -Caution/Warning--Potential Increased Risk of Electric Shock

What's going on?:   If you own a Carver Crimson 275 amplifier there is a real potential that your amplifier does not have a proper chassis grounding scheme inside.  There is a type of grounding system involved, but the third prong of the IEC socket (the actual electrical socket on the inside of the amplifier) is left wide open on my amplifier and and at least one other amp that I have virtually confirmed (not firsthand--only through another owner).  

What does this mean?:  If one of the hookup wires carrying power/B+ came loose from its soldered weld and touched either the chassis or something conductive to the chassis and the user then touched the chassis/unit with the power on they could get a significant electric shock. There are some seriously high voltages in this tube amp (like many amps of its topology) and the result could be lethal.

Carver Corporation's Response to Status on Grounding:  I have notified Frank Malitz of the Carver Corporation about this problem.  He responded to me in writing saying the following, exact quotation, nothing more or less:  

"the design is under review with engineering and I'll contact you tomorrow." (F. Malitz)

In the interim, users may be at an increased risk of shock and bodily harm.   I would encourage you to check with an electronics expert or the Carver Corporation for further guidance, as I'm not qualified to say more than there's no confirmed chassis ground in the unit that I have and at least one other unit.  

Finally, unless you are qualified in working with high voltages do not open your unit to check for the ground wire running to the ground prong on the IEC. Please note that doing so with or without a chassis ground should only be done by someone experienced with electronics--i.e. caps must be discharged and care taken to cause an issue.  Seek professional help. 

I'm just a music lover and hobbyist.  I'm merely relaying this information out of concern for the safety of fellow humans. I'm not an expert and perhaps an expert will rule out this identified potential increased risk as non-existent.  For now, I can say that it is my opinion that there is a real reason to believe that grounding scheme might be deficient and I will not be using my amp until this is sorted out.  

I'll report any response from the Carver Corporation as soon as I hear back.  For now, my amp will sit unplugged. 

 

128x128jbhiller

Showing 2 responses by raysmtb1

raysmtb1's avatar
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raysmtb1
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I’ve always been a big fan of Bob Carver. Maybe there was a mistake made maybe not. All consumer-electronics need to have her UL approval. I don’t understand how some of the guys on this forum are taking the screws to Good ole Bob.

 

it’s funny how this subject never comes up when we’re talking about the latest power cord from some dude in his basement that claims it brings out more highs in the soundstage. Also I just wandered do fuses need to be UL approved? How many of you guys don’t think twice about sticking a fuse that you have no idea who manufactured it or tested it for safety all because some goofball says it’s moves out the soundstage. This really bums me out. What did Bob do to deserve this?

raysmtb1's avatar
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raysmtb1
793 posts
 

What a huge waste of time this whole thread is. I know I know the OP likes to think that he save someone’s life. I especially like the story about Bob Carver started selling his amplifiers on eBay. Shake my head that is so funny eBay wasn’t even a twinkle in someone’s eye when Bob started in this business. The sad part is somebody’s gonna lose some sales over this and it’s going to be a dealer and good old Bob. 

this thread speaks to the bigger picture of what’s wrong with things today. People can say things and actually mean well but the problem is, they aren’t responsible for anything to do with the product. They have 1/10 of the knowledge that Bob has about these amplifiers but they can do hundreds of times more damage than they do actually helping the situation. 
 

this reminds me of that Danny guy from GR research Who takes apart other people‘s products and beats the daylights out of them to his thousands of fans. There’s just something wrong about the whole thing. Guys are out there trying to do the best they can and then somebody they don’t know , can come out of nowhere and take shots at them. Man that bums me out. Why would anybody ever wanna try and open up a manufacturing business?

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