Powered Mixer Died At Rehearsal - Any Prognosis Welcome

paulphoenix · November 2017

As per the title really - what was a powered mixer in perfect working order on Tuesday became a DOA powered mixer at rehearsal last night.

Plugged in/connected as normal only for it (Phonic powerpod 1860) to emit a blue flash and pop upon pressing the "on" button, taking with it the ring main trip switch at the rehearsal room.

There was no smoke or burning smell - so that's good right?

I've owned the unit from new and have been gigging it for the last 9 months with zero problems.

My tech is on holiday until 20th of the month and I've managed to borrow a PA for my gig at the weekend but, is it likely I am to be PA shopping in the very near future?

jpfamps · November 2017

Switch mode power supply in that unit (and I assume class D output stage) would not bode well to be honest.

ICBM · November 2017

If it tripped the ring main breaker that's almost certainly a switch-mode power supply failure.

Power supply board/module replacement if you're lucky and the manufacturer will supply just that bit, plus labour to fit it. Probably fairly expensive.

If you're *very* lucky it may be repairable at component level by someone very familiar with them. Although the repair procedure is often described as "replace all active devices, turn on and pray". Which can also be expensive.

paulphoenix · November 2017

@ICBM @jpfamps ;;

Thanks both.

My tech used to be a local sales centre and repair man for Phonic so he might just have the guile to repair this - i'll have to await his return from Tenerife.

Meantime it would appear to be prudent for me to be researching a possible replacement unit.

maltingsaudio · November 2017

paulphoenix said:

I've owned the unit from new and have been gigging it for the last 9 months with zero problems.

Does this mean it’s under a year old? If so check your warranty

paulphoenix · November 2017

Alas no - I’ve owned it for 12years!!!

maltingsaudio · November 2017

Shame! As above SMPS let out the magic blue smoke good luck

Danny1969 · November 2017

The fact you say it doesn't smell is encouraging. The power transistor(s) and controller I.C do tend to smell when they blow. You might find it's just blown some caps in which case it's not a difficult fix.

Other stuff I've seen with SMPS units in mixers are screws vibrating loose and finding they way onto the power supply .... as half of it is directly connected to the mains that's a problem. I've also seen a large cap with no glue to help it stand up break off the board and rattle it's way into fuse blowing trouble.

On a Behringer powered mixer I had in for repair they hadn't fitted one of the reservoir caps on the secondary side, the space was there, but the cap wasn't .... the fan was also fitted the wrong way round, owner insisted he had owned it from new so must have left the factory like that. Everything was working fine at low volumes but as soon as he started gigging these faults became very apparent.

ICBM · November 2017

I have to say flash-pop-trip is slightly more encouraging than crackle-smoke-fuse which is the other usual failure mode for this sort of thing

. It does tend to indicated a direct short rather than a cooked semiconductor.

Danny1969 · November 2017

Indeed ... might actually just be the X-cap on the filter before the rectifier

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Powered Mixer Died At Rehearsal - Any Prognosis Welcome

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