BIC Model V1020 Fuses Keep Blowing

[OGCrunches]

Just picked up a BIC Model V1020 home theatre sub from a friend who didn't want it because it no longer worked. First thing I did was check the fuse and sure enough it was blown. 4 fuses later I was positive that there was an internal issue. Opened it up and checked all of the wires and nothing was loose and at first didn't really see an discoloration or fried spots. But I looked a little close with some better light and forgive me since this isn't my expertise nor something I am knowledgeable about. But there are two chips near where the wire comes off the power connector and two large cylinders as well right behind them. At the bases of all of them the what looks like glue, seems to be burned.

 

[sender jones]

If you suspected that these caps cause the problem, try to replace them. They don't look like good caps. Here is a site where people are good at cap replacement.
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

At the bases of all of them the what looks like glue, seems to be burned.

That's because it is glue, used to fix the capacitors in place.

And while capacitor failure (due to cheap crap quality ones been used) is common, it would be pretty unlikely that it would blow the fuses.

More common would be rectifiers, or the power amp(s).

 

[throbscottle]

There's no reason why glue at the bases of the capacitors would be burned. So I think you have a red herring there. Most likely culprit is rectifiers like Nigel says. If it has a switched mode supply, try testing the resistance across the mains wires (both ways). If it is low (continue test for 30 seconds to allow caps to charge), you have a short across the mains and can rule out the rest of the sub, concentrate on the psu. Note, this test is useless if it has a linear supply - you would have to disconnect the transformer secondary and test across where it connects to.

Could you get a schematic for the sub and post it here?