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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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#1
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dirty DC power input
Hi,
I'm a total electronics newbie, so forgive the ignorance! I have just gotten a device (a drum machine) with an apparently dirty DC input power socket. Using a 9V AC-DC adapter, the unit works, but only when the connector is just in the RIGHT position. Otherwise the thing doesn't turn on. How does on go about cleaning out one of these jacks? The jack is not loose or anything and fits the plug very tightly, but the slightest movement can cut the power. Any suggestions? Also, while I'm here, can any damage be done by using a 300 mA adapter on equipment that requires only 50 mA? Again, total newbie here, but using this adapter on the drum machine hasn't hurt it (yet!). Thanks in advance. |
#2
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dirty DC power input
wrote in message ups.com... Hi, I'm a total electronics newbie, so forgive the ignorance! I have just gotten a device (a drum machine) with an apparently dirty DC input power socket. Using a 9V AC-DC adapter, the unit works, but only when the connector is just in the RIGHT position. Otherwise the thing doesn't turn on. How does on go about cleaning out one of these jacks? The jack is not loose or anything and fits the plug very tightly, but the slightest movement can cut the power. Any suggestions? Also, while I'm here, can any damage be done by using a 300 mA adapter on equipment that requires only 50 mA? Again, total newbie here, but using this adapter on the drum machine hasn't hurt it (yet!). Thanks in advance. its more than likely its a either a broken joint on the PCB or cable |
#3
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dirty DC power input
Howdy! No need to apologize for asking a question!. The most likely
suspects for your intermittent power with that AC-DC adapter are that you may have an adapter plug (if coaxial) with a center female that's too large OR that the coaxial type power jack (I'm assuming that's what you have) has a poor "switched" contact inside it which is also very common. Does this unit have provision for internal batteries? As to your second request regarding the use of a power cube rated apparently at the same voltage but higher current, the answer is "maybe". The reason here is that many (most) of these adapters are unregulated and are nominally rated for their voltage AT the rated current - so using it on a light load will often result in a significantly higher voltage (measure it to be sure under load.....using a subsitute resistance instead of your valued load is the best way to get a feeling for whether it'll be acceptable). Gord wrote: Hi, I'm a total electronics newbie, so forgive the ignorance! I have just gotten a device (a drum machine) with an apparently dirty DC input power socket. Using a 9V AC-DC adapter, the unit works, but only when the connector is just in the RIGHT position. Otherwise the thing doesn't turn on. How does on go about cleaning out one of these jacks? The jack is not loose or anything and fits the plug very tightly, but the slightest movement can cut the power. Any suggestions? Also, while I'm here, can any damage be done by using a 300 mA adapter on equipment that requires only 50 mA? Again, total newbie here, but using this adapter on the drum machine hasn't hurt it (yet!). Thanks in advance. |
#4
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dirty DC power input
Hi,
thanks for the suggestions... I somehow doubt there's a connection broken as I can't see it ever being able to break in the first place i.e. the unit was never opened as far as I know. The too large center female maybe the problem (and I am using a universal, rather than device specific power supply), but looking at the jack, it is quite dirty, so I wonder is there a way to clean it up easily? and if so, would that help anything? The device DOES use batteries, but these are also not working at the moment. I cleaned up the blue gunk from the springs, but the negative (-) contacts are brown and dirty as well, so I guess there's no connection being made... I tried using an eraser to clean them, but to no avail. I don't know how else to clean these contacts. Any other suggestions? |
#5
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dirty DC power input
Anonymouswrote:
Hi, I'm a total electronics newbie, so forgive the ignorance! I have just gotten a device (a drum machine) with an apparently dirty DC input power socket. Using a 9V AC-DC adapter, the unit works, but only when the connector is just in the RIGHT position. Otherwise the thing doesn't turn on. How does on go about cleaning out one of these jacks? The jack is not loose or anything and fits the plug very tightly, but the slightest movement can cut the power. Any suggestions? Also, while I'm here, can any damage be done by using a 300 mA adapter on equipment that requires only 50 mA? Again, total newbie here, but using this adapter on the drum machine hasn't hurt it (yet!). Thanks in advance. I don`t think you have a dirty plugin jack. I beleave it may have some bad solder connections where it is attached to the main powersupply board or you may have a faulty 9 volt adaptor. |
#6
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dirty DC power input
Anonymouswrote:
Hi, thanks for the suggestions... I somehow doubt there's a connection broken as I can't see it ever being able to break in the first place i.e. the unit was never opened as far as I know. The too large center female maybe the problem (and I am using a universal, rather than device specific power supply), but looking at the jack, it is quite dirty, so I wonder is there a way to clean it up easily? and if so, would that help anything? The device DOES use batteries, but these are also not working at the moment. I cleaned up the blue gunk from the springs, but the negative (-) contacts are brown and dirty as well, so I guess there's no connection being made... I tried using an eraser to clean them, but to no avail. I don't know how else to clean these contacts. Any other suggestions? Doesn`t matter if the unit was open up before or not. These solder connections can come loose just by plugging the adaptor in and out. This is a very common problem for these units that has an addaptor. Either it has bad solder which I tink it does or the whole jack is bad and needs to be replaced completely. But I would suggest to have it opened up even tho this will be the first time the unit has everbeen opened up and have those solder connections checked. |
#7
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dirty DC power input
Thanks again for all the suggestions....
I will definitely have a look at the soldering. I am also ordering a unit specific power supply which is cheap enough to at least help rule out using the wrong sized connector. |
#9
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dirty DC power input
wrote:
Hi, I'm a total electronics newbie, so forgive the ignorance! I have just gotten a device (a drum machine) with an apparently dirty DC input power socket. Using a 9V AC-DC adapter, the unit works, but only when the connector is just in the RIGHT position. Otherwise the thing doesn't turn on. How does on go about cleaning out one of these jacks? The jack is not loose or anything and fits the plug very tightly, but the slightest movement can cut the power. Any suggestions? Also, while I'm here, can any damage be done by using a 300 mA adapter on equipment that requires only 50 mA? Again, total newbie here, but using this adapter on the drum machine hasn't hurt it (yet!). Thanks in advance. most likely a broken wire in the plug on the adapter or a inside you have a solder joint connection problme! most likely needs to be resoldered. -- Real Programmers Do things like this. http://webpages.charter.net/jamie_5 |
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