Almost fried MPC, not sure what to do...

I bought a MPC 2000 classic on eBay, when it arrived it came with no power supply so I contacted the seller in regard to why he/she had not sent a power supply along with the MPC, the seller said that they had forgot and mailed me the power supply. When I initially plugged it in it and turned it on it was fine but when I tried to load my SCSI zip drive it froze so I switched it off. On the second time switching it on I heard a spark and began to smell burning. The screen blinked, then turned off. Approximately a week later I opened up the MPC to manually install 8 outputs, once finished I attempted to turn it on in order to view if the outputs had been installed correctly and what previously happened occurred again. Does anyone have any advice they can offer me about my next move?

That's what mine says, I'm in the UK as well, so the MPC you have is fine fo rthe UK (I believe they all work internationally anyway).

When you say 'power supply' I take it you just mean 'kettle lead', because only the MPC500 uses a PSU to drop the voltage down.

There's nothing special about a kettle lead, any one will do the trick as long as it's got the right shape to fit in the back of your MPC.

As you've only just bought it second hand, I'd be somewhat concerned that the first thing it did was spark like that. The power supply circuit board inside has a replaceable glass 2 amp fuse which should blow if there's an electrical problem - I've had them blow before when I've had an issue with a zip drive, although that's on my XL and it was an internal drive, not an external SCSI. You can pop it out and inspect it visually - you can easily see the wire inside if it hasn't blown. If it's gone, grab a new one off ebay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120626448161

The SCSI port has a fuse as well, but that's not really user replaceable, and again, I had one of those blow, but it made no sound at all. Avoid plugging in your scsi cable while both MPC and zip drive are powered on (ideally have them both turned off when you make the connection).

Other than that, I'm no expert on the electrical side of things - there's a few people round here who may be more familiar with this. All else fails, send it back before you're out of the time frame for an ebay refund.

Thank you for replying, I really appreciate it.

MPC-Tutor wrote:When you say 'power supply' I take it you just mean 'kettle lead', because only the MPC500 uses a PSU to drop the voltage down.

Indeed

As I created this thread I was opening up the MPC, I just finished. The fuse is fine.

does it have a zip drive?

I once found that the end of the zip was touching the power supply causing an arching sound.

bcitral wrote:does it have a zip drive?

I once found that the end of the zip was touching the power supply causing an arching sound.

I have an external zip drive but that was not connected the second time I attempted to turn the MPC on.

Laolu wrote: but when I tried to load my SCSI zip drive it froze so I switched it off.

This can be caused by several things:

Plugging a non-SCSI Zip drive into the MPC
Plugging a SCSI Device into the MPC while the MPC is on
A bad SCSI cable
A bad SCSI drive

Have you tried a separate known working SCSI device in the MPC to see if it solves this issue? What are the switches on the back of the SCSI Zip drive set to?

Laolu wrote:On the second time switching it on I heard a spark and began to smell burning. The screen blinked, then turned off.

If a component was "burning" you should be able to see some sort of evidence with careful inspection.

If you keep hearing the "spark" sound when you turn it on, can you isolate out at least what part of the MPC it is coming from?

I would try to rule out the floppy drive by unplugging the drive from the machine while the MPC is OFF. Then plug in the MPC and see if you hear the "spark." You won't be able to boot the MPC since you can't run the boot disk but you can at least isolate out a potential faulty floppy drive.

Laolu wrote:Approximately a week later I opened up the MPC to manually install 8 outputs, once finished I attempted to turn it on in order to view if the outputs had been installed correctly and what previously happened occurred again.

This is strange. If the MPC was faulty, why would you go ahead and install the 8-outs?

If the 8-outs are installed incorrectly, they will burn a protection resistor on the mainboard which will have to be replaced. This would cause a "spark" and a burning smell.

Thank you for taking your time out in order to help me, I really appreciate it.

MPCHunter wrote:Have you tried a separate known working SCSI device in the MPC to see if it solves this issue? What are the switches on the back of the SCSI Zip drive set to?

I am yet to try that, once the current problem with the MPC is resolved I will attempt to do so.

MPCHunter wrote:If a component was "burning" you should be able to see some sort of evidence with careful inspection.

Yesterday I opened up the the MPC and I saw no evidence of anything burnt.

MPCHunter wrote:
If you keep hearing the "spark" sound when you turn it on, can you isolate out at least what part of the MPC it is coming from?

The following image is not of my MPC, I am only using this image because at this moment in time I am not at home but the region circled in red is where the spark/s came from.

MPCHunter wrote:If the 8-outs are installed incorrectly, they will burn a protection resistor on the mainboard which will have to be replaced. This would cause a "spark" and a burning smell.

I sparks occured prior to me installing the 8-outs.

If the "sparks" are coming from the area you circled, it's possible that you either have an intermittent contact in power switch or the LF coil on that board is failing. Without more information, I would likely assume is the power switch that is the issue.

The safest bet for you is to replace that whole PCB board instead of changing the components. You should be able to get one from eBay or any other place that sells MPC parts.

MPCHunter wrote:If the "sparks" are coming from the area you circled, it's possible that you either have an intermittent contact in power switch or the LF coil on that board is failing. Without more information, I would likely assume is the power switch that is the issue.

The safest bet for you is to replace that whole PCB board instead of changing the components. You should be able to get one from eBay or any other place that sells MPC parts.

http://www.mpcstuff.com/u2000ips.html


Is this what I need?

This was in the area you circled.

http://www.vstservice.com/p-304-akai-mp ... h-pcb.aspx

Changing this may or may not correct the issue as it is difficult to troubleshoot with the limited information you supplied. You really need to use a multimeter to diagnose what the issue with your power might be. Since you are working around AC power, you may want someone with electrical experience to assist you in your diagnosis as any mistakes could prove fatal.

MPCHunter wrote:any mistakes could prove fatal.

can i buy case?