Broken Chroma Q Scroller PSU

[mikeyp]

Hi Guys,

 

I've managed to 'blow up' the PSU for some Chroma Q scrollers. While connecting the 4-pin XLR into one unit (the psu must have been powered-I forgot to check) it sparked and now the psu won't power on at all. So I've shorted something somewhere.

 

Does anyone know anything about these devices which might help me diagnose the fault in the PSU and fix it? Or any suggestions on what I could do myself before sending it back to be fixed/buying a new one? Those PSUs don't appear to be the cheapest in the world!

 

Any suggestions gratefully appreciated.

 

Cheers,

Mike

[leofric]

Afraid I can't offer much help with the controller itself but before you plug in a replacement go back and check that all of your cable is suitable for running your scrollers. There is some 4 pin cable out there which have a couple of the pins linked this may be the cause of your short and scroller psu's really don't like it.

 

I had it happen to me a couple of years back one piece of the wrong cable in the rig one controller blows up as we switch it on and then the junior member of the team goes 'its alright I have brought a spare' and proceeded to blow that up as well before I could stop him. One very embarrassed call to the warehouse and about an hour searching the rig for the guilty cable.

 

Good luck with it

[topsy100]

you could always build a new one if yours is unrepairable. are you sure its not just a fuse? if you want to build your owen contact me and I will tell you how

[Simon Brockwell]

fuses fuses fuses, that's what they are for! Is it the only unit you have? If you have 2 you could try swapping boards and components to problem solve the

damage. If not send it off to someone like A.C. If you can't fix it yourself it's probably best not to make it worse.

[Ian Ferguson]

Mike

 

Give our technical services team a call on 01494 838352, they will be able to talk through the problem with you and advise you if you can repair it yourself or if you need to get it repaired.

[mikeyp]

Hi Everyone,

 

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. I took the cover off and it all looked fine. So I thought I would give it another try and low-and-behold it powered on fine. I've had it running in a show yesterday and today with no problems. I've no idea why it refused to work for an hour or so and then spring back to life. Some residual current maybe?

 

Thanks again.

 

Cheers,

Mike

[Nicktaylor]

Maybe a thermal cutout rather than a fuse and it took maybe 15minutes to reset

[WiLL]

I've never had a problem with plugging/unplugging cables from a 'live' psu or from a scroller when the other end of the cable is in a powered psu. Should I be more concerned and combat my laziness? I do it simply when either 'on the run' during a tech or show and one scroller in a chain needs a hard reset or when I'm rigging to let me know that each scroller as I go down the line is receiving power.

[Nicktaylor]

I have never had a problem either. I have loads of the four way cable, some new when I got the scrollers, actually I made them up and a load bought at auction a while ago. Not once have I had a probelm as described. Anyone out there got a couple of the older par Chroma qs. Have two that developed a fault at once Power to the unit but not motor winding at allI get the impression a component has gone pop on the motor control side. In fact does anyone have a circuit diagram for the units?