What to Do If Your Stereo Receiver Suddenly Switches Off

Gary Altunian was a freelance contributor to Lifewire and industry veteran in consumer electronics. He passion was home audio and theater systems.

• Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Jessica Kormos is a writer and editor with 15 years' experience writing articles, copy, and UX content for Tecca.com, Rosenfeld Media, and many others.

A sudden power disruption from your stereo receiver represents a potentially serious problem, even if it only occurs intermittently. You should identify the cause of the problem and fix it promptly to avoid damaging your equipment.

Check Connections

Check that there are no loose strands of speaker wire touching either the receiver's back panel or the back of any connected speakers. Even one tiny strand of stray speaker wire is enough to cause the receiver to switch off because of a short circuit.

Make sure your equipment is off before you start poking around and testing connections.

Remove loose strands, strip the affected speaker wires with the wire strippers, and reconnect the speakers to the receiver.

Inspect Speaker Wires for Damage or Fraying

If you have pets, check the entire length of all speaker wires to make sure your pets didn't chew through any of the wires. Unless you have wires that are hidden or out of the way, appliances (such as a vacuum), furniture, or foot traffic also damages wires.

If you find any damaged sections, splice new speaker wire or replace the whole thing. Once finished, reconnect the speakers to the receiver. Verify a solid speaker wire connection before turning anything back on.

Assess Overheating

Most electronics have a built-in fail-safe to protect against overheating. Engineers designed these fail-safe systems to automatically switch off the device before the heat level causes permanent damage to the circuits. Very often, the device won't be able to turn back on until the excess heat has sufficiently dissipated.

Check if your receiver is overheating by placing your hand on the top and sides of the unit. If it feels uncomfortably or irregularly hot to the touch, overheating is likely the cause. You can also check the front panel display of the receiver since some systems feature warning indicators.

Check Speaker Impedance

Low impedance means that one or more speakers are not fully compatible with the power delivered by the receiver. A speaker with an impedance of 4 ohms or fewer may be too low for the receiver you have.

The best way to confirm appropriate impedance levels is to check the speaker and receiver product manuals to compare compatibility.

Ensure Adequate Ventilation

It's essential for a stereo receiver to have enough ventilation, mainly if it's located in an entertainment center or close to other electronics. It's best not to have anything sitting on top of the receiver or blocking any vents or exhaust because the blockage traps heat and leads to overheating.

Move the receiver so that it's away from other components, preferably in a less confined cabinet for better airflow. You could alternatively install a small cooling fan inside the entertainment center to boost air circulation.

Avoid Direct Sunlight

Protect the receiver from sunlight. Sometimes this solution can be as simple as closing the blinds. Otherwise, you'll want to move your receiver so that it's out of the way.

Clean Excess Dust

Even a thin layer of dust acts as insulation. Inspect the interior of the receiver through any open vents or slots. If you see dust, use a can of compressed air to blow it out. A small hand vacuum can help suck the dust out, so it doesn't resettle elsewhere.

Check Current

Underpowered circuits are at risk of damage. If a receiver is not getting enough current, it will turn itself off. If your receiver shares a wall outlet with another high-current appliance (such as a refrigerator, air conditioner, heater, or vacuum), the receiver may shut itself off when there is insufficient current. Or, if you plugged the receiver into a power strip, you may have too many other electronics plugged into that same strip. Plug the receiver into a dedicated wall outlet.

Service the Receiver

If faulty wires, overheating, or low current aren't the problems causing the receiver to shut off, it's likely that the unit needs service.

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