Last week I was at my reader’s Bh. He had complained about his Internal Amplifiers which are not producing the loudness that it used to be. He wanted to change them all but the Amplifiers had only played for a year. I told him some of my Amplifiers are still running after 5 years. There are for internal sound which played 24/7 non-stop. I don’t see why his Amplifiers are not functioning properly after a year.
He was surprised and asked “James how did you do that? What brand of Amplifier are you using?”
As he wanted to change all his Amplifiers I told him “I am using the same Amplifiers like most of you all are using.”
The only different is that I do proper maintenance. I told him what I did, the 6 steps. Later as I checked all the connection points between the wires and the output channels I discovered all expose wires are oxidized. I cut and trimmed them and connect them again. He had never adjusted or turned the control knobs ever since the sound started a year ago
Internal sound is as important as External sound. Without the Internal sound the Birds’ population won’t increase. The Internal sound Amplifiers are played 24/7 non-stop. Often after a year or more the loudness and the clarity of the sound would be affected. Eventually malfunction and has to be changed. This is due its surrounding environment which is damp, hot and often no movement of air in the control room. If the Amplifier is of reliable brand then it would last longer otherwise within 2 years problems start to arise unless you do proper maintenance.
It may sound OK for many even though the loudness and sound quality have reduced but to birds they can sense the differences. Over the time the loudness won’t be the same anymore compared to when it was first played. The sharpness of the sound also affected.
Here are few ways (Tips) that you could do to extend the life of the Internal Amplifiers and maintain its sound quality.
Whenever you Visit your Swiftlet Farms make sure you do The 6 steps Amplifier Check:
1) Switch off the Amplifiers. This is for the USB or SD card to restart as well as the Amplifier internal micro chips. This would also reduce the stress (hang, jerking, etc) on the micro chips that had been played non-stop 24/7.
2) While the Amplifier is in off mode, turn all control knobs (Volume, Bass, Treble, etc) from low to high for (left to right, via versa) at least 12 times. This is to remove residues at the contact point which had oxidized. High quality Amplifier uses gold plated or copper materials for contact point whereas cheaper ones use copper plated which won’t last long especially in the Bh environment.
3) Periodically, at least once every 8 months trim the speaker wires that connect to the speaker channels (back of the Amplifiers). The exposed wires often harden and its copper oxidized over time making the contact ineffective thus reducing sound quality. Trim about an inch and connect them again.
4) Make sure to use 100% copper wire. There is no guessing game here if you can afford to build a swiftlet farm you can afford using 100% copper wire.
5) The control room must be ventilated. There must be some movement of air. It is not advisable to us fan directly blow onto the Amplifiers as dust would accumulate inside around the capacitors, chips, connection points, etc and heat will build up. This would shorten the life of the Amplifier.
6) Change the USB or the SD card every 3-4 months. They are using flash memory imagine 24/7 non-stop over a long period the flash response might be affected.
After you have done the above, the loudness of the sound and its quality should be back to how it first started. Even better if you could periodically change the internal tweeters, remove those that are malfunctioned.
Go and try out the above and you would hear the different.
Swiftlet Farming is for All!
By James 012-3173811
www.swiftletfarmer.blogspot.com