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January 23, 2026, 05:54:03 pm
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Hoffman Amps Forum image Author Topic: 5E3 Build Smoke Comes out of Resistor  (Read 45 times)

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Offline apeontheweb

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5E3 Build Smoke Comes out of Resistor
« on: January 23, 2026, 12:47:28 pm »
I built a chinese Ebay 5E3. I plugged it in and it sounded great. I smelled smoke and shut it down. The smoke came from a 4.7K voltage dropping resistor in between the first and second filter capacitors. On some schematics, it's noted as a 5K resistor. To help orient you on the schematic, it is tied to a 22K resistor I was wondering if anyone could help me troubleshoot my problem.

Offline Banjan73

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Re: 5E3 Build Smoke Comes out of Resistor
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2026, 01:30:07 pm »
My first thought is that the resistor has too low wattage. But since this is a kit... I don't know.
Have you measured current/voltage drop over the resistor (if it still measures 4.7k)?

Offline JPK

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Re: 5E3 Build Smoke Comes out of Resistor
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2026, 03:56:18 pm »
This layout shows it as 2 watt. I checked a Weber and Robinette layout and they're all 2 watt. You can see them on my populated, un-soldered board on the bottom left. Did they supply a lower watt resistor? Got a BOM or pics of it?
« Last Edit: January 23, 2026, 04:00:47 pm by JPK »
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