TC Electronic problems...

[Tungstengruvsten]

Here's the G-Major issue 90% of the time:

http://forum.tcelectronic.com/viewtopic.php?id=275

 

[deuce42]

Thanks tung - yes I tried that but the chips seem firmly planted in their right spot.

May check the rails for ripple. My thinking is lytic caps then.......

What is it with TC Electornics??? I mean I like the sound of their stuff, but gigging with a G major is like playing russian roulette with your performance. You simply never know when it will crap out. How do so many of their units have such flaws?

 

[s2udio]

good link thanks
Ahh the loose chip.....or "psu ripple".....most common cause of intemittent operation in
all smps based digital consumer electronics...

 

[Tungstengruvsten]

What is it with TC Electornics??? I mean I like the sound of their stuff, but gigging with a G major is like playing russian roulette with your performance. You simply never know when it will crap out. How do so many of their units have such flaws?

Bean Counters. 

 

[deuce42]

What is it with TC Electornics??? I mean I like the sound of their stuff, but gigging with a G major is like playing russian roulette with your performance. You simply never know when it will crap out. How do so many of their units have such flaws?

Bean Counters.  

Guess you're right but seems kind of lame for a company that spends so much money on flashy celebrity endorsed marketing and advertising for products that are full of flaws. Anyway, maybe this is a discussion for the brewery.

My thinking is simply replacing all the lytic caps in the power supply is not a particularly difficult exercise and may just sort the problem. Here's hoping.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

What is it with TC Electornics??? I mean I like the sound of their stuff, but gigging with a G major is like playing russian roulette with your performance. You simply never know when it will crap out. How do so many of their units have such flaws?

The CEO/major shareholder of the TC group is an MBA...

 

[verbos]

Try replacing the PWM chip on the sub pcb........had a GForce which i recapped and still refused to play....
A replacement chip UCC28C42 cured it.........a UC2842B is Also an equivalent device

Thanks! That worked!

Mark

 

[Mikael]

I would suggest that this cap is changed to a low ESR type, as well as moved up in value from 100uf 25v to 220uf 35v.  The 100uf cap seemed to allow too much ripple from switching the output drive this is why I would go to a higher value if possible.

*BUMP*

Hi all!

I'm experiencing the same problem with my M2000. Changed the above mentioned cap to a 220uf 35v, the old 100uf seemed almost completely shorted. Reassembled, plugged in power and switched on and boom - the fuse blew in an instant! Replaced fuse and put the old 100uf cap back in, and I'm back to my starting point (the M2000 won't power up). At least the fuse does not blow...

I'm now suspecting I got a bad ESR spec for the new cap. What ESR value should I look for? The choice of this cap seems extremely sensitive for me being an electronics newbie/amateur.

Any tips would be great.

Cheers /Mikael

 

[zayance]

This might help?

http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=19733.0

 

[dustbro]

I would suggest that this cap is changed to a low ESR type, as well as moved up in value from 100uf 25v to 220uf 35v.  The 100uf cap seemed to allow too much ripple from switching the output drive this is why I would go to a higher value if possible.

Thanks sooo much for your work! My Fireworx went down yesterday, and I had it back up in no time by replacing the suggested cap. I owe you a beer or two.

 

[psyche]

Hi there,

Sorry to bring this up again, but i have some problems with one of these PSUs.
The other day while working one of my M3000 went off. As an electronics engineer i opened it in order to repair it.

I started measuring all components on the SMPS but i found nothing wrong.
I have to say that i forgot to check the caps for low ESR.
After a search at Google for potencial problems i found this topic here.
I replaced the cap but the SMPS still doesnt work. I replaced all the caps and still the same.
All the resistors measure fine. So does the diodes.
I have to say that i replaced the FET with a new one and one resistor which is under the transformer. I burned those while i was moving the probe around. I replaced the ucc28c42 with a uc3842. This is what i could find here!
Checked and recheck everything but still it refuses to start. I even replaced the daughter board with a working one from my other M3000. Still nothing.
What i have till now is that the VCC of the UC3842 oscilates from ~10 to ~15.7v at 1sec period! This isnot normal. It has to go to 16v in order to start up. I think that the feedback is faulty but i tried the daughter board from my other M3000.

My experience with SMPS is not so big, but i have repaired most of them! I would be glad to hear some suggestions on what to check on that board. The only that i have left to do is replace the transformer but these dont go bad.

Thank you in advance!
Padelis

 

[Tungstengruvsten]

If time is of the essence, complete Power supplies are still available - they can be ordered through dealers. 

Part#720060011 (Wizard Power Supply) covers M2000/M3000/Rev4000/Fireworx/Gold Channel/Finalizer series

 

[radardoug]

Hi,
    I've had the main reservoir cap fail on TC's- never seen that cap fail on other switchmodes.
Went from 100 uF to about 1 uF.
Every TC unit that I have serviced has had failed switchmode supply. Talk about save a few dollars!
Also one I saw recently (D2 delay?) had a switchmode supply with no overcurrent protection for the switching fet. Bang!
Its easy to fit though. Use a small npn transistor. Wire a low value resistor in series with the bottom end of the fet. Connect the transistor so the base emitter junction is across this resisitor, with the base to thefet. Tie the collector to the gate of the fet.

 

[psyche]

I am really tired with this SMPS! I recapped it, changed resistors, changed FET but still nothing!
I tried to power the uc3842 using an external supply but the resistor below it went boom!
The consumption was at 0,5A at that time! All the diodes measure fine. Now the VCC at the uc3842 is stable at 2V.
This is really annoying! I don't want to buy a new one. This is the easy road which i dont want to take!
I want to repair the SMPS no matter what! Any more suggestions?

 

[s2udio]

You HAVE shorted the ""power on leads"" as they need a switch pulse to switch it on ?
What model should be the Question !

 

[T-rex]

I hope it's ok to bump such an old thread.  I just wanted to say thank you to Svart.  I had my M2000 go down and I was able to grab a cap from radio shack and get it back up and running in time to finish a mix.  I ordered some better caps to recap the power supply but in the meantime, I only lost an hour or so of work.  This is a seriously great resource and thanks to everyone.

 

[tubejay]

Wow, who knew it could be so simple.  I just had an M2000 die on me.  I replaced that cap, and it's back up after only 15 minutes down.  Thanks Group DIY...thank you internet!  I guess more...thank you SVART!

 

[Dade81]

Hi all guys!!! I'm Davide from Italy and I'm new here!!! I've just a question about my M3000 Power Supply failure. When I power it up, it works for few moments, then it go freezing and on the display remain all blank. If I shout down and power it up again, it stays freeze and nothing works. I tried to open it up and check the Cap in this topic, but after removing daughter board, I remove the cap and I found that it's a Rubicon A0813 105degrees 47uf 35v and not the 100uf 25v as described in the topic. What's the trouble?

Thank you in advance and waiting for your reply!

Bye all,
Davide

 

[Dade81]

Guys anyone can help me? Sorry for the request...

Tnx a lot, Dave

 

[bpucekov]

I had a similar problem with the D-Two.
The simplest way is to change all the electrolytic capacitors in the power supply.
Probably some of them are bad. In my case it was a large reservoir capacitor.
Branko