Prisoner at War hath wroth:
I have a two year-old Yamaha P-90 and I occasionally trip over the
power supply line.
(...)
Any advice, thanks in advance! (Any sarcasm, please be witty at
least.)
1. Buy, borrow, or steal a really cheap DVM (digital voltmeter). Test
if the power supply is generating whatever it says on the label. Don't
be suprised if it produces more than the nameplate voltage rating.
The cords and connectors on such "wall warts" frequently fail when
mechanically stressed. If nothing is coming out of the power supply,
find the break or find a replacement power supply.
2. Buy, borrow, or steal a flashlight. Look carefully inside the
power connector on the Yamaha and see if it's broken. Carefully and
gently wiggle the center pin from side to side. If it moves
excessively, then the connector is broken. That's an easy repair if
you know what you're doing. If not, find someone who can open the
Yahmaha and also knows which end of the soldering iron to grab. The
hard part is finding a replacement connector. If you're lucky, you
may be able to glue the broken plastic parts of the connector back
together.
3. Buy, borrow, steal, or build a right angle power extension cable
or adapter for your power supply. You don't really need it to operate
the keyboard, but if you decide to again fumble over the cord, the
connector will unplug itself at the junction between the wall wart
power connector, and the adapter. The idea is to NOT put any sideways
torque on the power connector on the Yamaha keyboard. If you can't
buy, borrow, steal, or build one, simply replacing the straight
connector on the power supply, with a right angle version, is possibly
sufficient to minimize any connector damage. If that's also too much,
install some kind of easy to disconnect two pin connector in the power
cord, so that it disconnects when you trip over it. It's also
possible to attach a service loop at the power connector. However, if
you do that, and trip over the cord, the keyboard is likely to get
dumped on the floor.
4. You also install the "trip over the cord disconnect" at the 117VAC
end. See:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/drivel/slides/wall-wart-01.html
for how I do it. If I trip over one of the cords, it either unplugs,
or destroys the power strip, possibly starting a fire.
5. I have a policy of avoiding cords on the floor. Eveything is
either tangled in a Gordian Knot behind the computahs and MIDI mess,
or laying in a plastic wire tray at the back of the workbench. The
problem is not just tripping over the power cord. It's shredding the
cable with the vacuum cleaner, getting it chewed by the cat, or just
kicking the power strip when I'm sitting at the bench. It also looks
nicer. Google for "cable organizer".
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558