Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
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By Beatdiggerjazzcat Sat Sep 03, 2011 6:43 am
I was doing some work on my 8 outputs and ht the mpc 2000xl in it's side, there was a burning smell and a small amount of smoke.
Now the input level screen when sampling is locked on half level bars on both left and right, no sound from left or right output and the sound coming from the phones output is quiet and very distorted
:(
Have I killed it
Any idea which part I might have cooked?

It's a shame because everything else works fine
By finnegan Sat Sep 03, 2011 3:50 pm
Ok. If you are serious about trying to fix it.

Smoke = bad. Little, lot. Still bad. Think of it as letting the genie out of the bottle. The magic left some part man. I am wondering if it was a transistor or IC.


USE YOUR EYES!
:shock:
USE YOUR EYES!
:shock:
USE YOUR EYES!
:shock:
USE YOUR EYES!
:shock:

Not being a dick. Seriously. I can not stress enough USE YOUR EYES. You can use your nose a bit too. You may be able to smell the burned part, but that's a maybe and you need to know what it smells like roughly.

LOOK AT THE BOARD. The parts. Every one of them. If a transistor went pfft then it will have a visible crack somewhere on the surface. They should be smooth and unblemished. A resistor will have visible signs of browning or blackening, especially under it on the board. It can be hard to see unless you really, really spend some time looking in a well lit room, with a little flashlight. If you wear glasses to help you see things far away, TAKE THEM OFF. Really. Use your naked eyes. Unless your close up vision is poor. You don't need it powered up for this. If a part has gone it may be that things attached to it have gone or been overstressed so you'd want to check that out too.

Next.

Use your finger. Power it up and touch any IC's on the flat black part. Are any of them super hot? Prolly not good then.

Good with a multimeter? Check the power and ground pins of the IC's and transistors. Are they getting power? Do they have ground?

DISCLAIMER

Don't do this without being sure of yourself around a powered up machine. If you arfe not then you could shock yourself. So proceed at your own risk. You have been warned.
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By billynojokes Sat Sep 03, 2011 6:22 pm
just my opinion but if i was mid way thru an album i would go the cheapest / quickest way possible ... if u buy a new mp the work flow is gunna b different and might take some time to learn stalling ur album even more.... if i was you i would probaly replace the board unless u think u can really find the damaged component ... then when this album is done and ur ready to start the next i would go and buy the new mp ... might even give your next album a different feel too!

just an opinion


good luck tho man !
By JVC Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:06 am
I think capacitor(s) in the XL got burnt out. It happens sometimes to old electronics. Replacing the damaged cap would just fix the problem, if there are no other components got damaged then the cap burnt out. I would take it to Mr. Forat, if you really want to really get it fixed.
By finnegan Sun Sep 04, 2011 2:51 pm
Why should capacitors be suspect? I mean I know caps go bad, but usually it is power supply caps that go like that(they see the most abuse) and those can be seen to be bad easily(usually) as they either look like 1) soda cans that were left in the freezer ;2) Guts all over the place and just leads sticking up from the board.

The behaviour of the machine doesn't make me think caps immediately. At least not P.S. caps as the unit would likely not power on if that were the case. Polarized(can) caps that are used in the tone stack usually don't see any real power running through them so those going bad is not likely(drying out maybe yes but even then that is after YEARS and usually years of non use). And if a tone stack cap went it wouldn't do what it is doing to the machine. Tone caps are filters,not power conditioners.

I am not saying no. But it seems caps are a catch all blame part when something goes bad. Is it because they are more nebulous in their function than a resistor?

EDIT

I'm in favor of a short.
By JVC Sun Sep 04, 2011 3:24 pm
finnegan wrote:Why should capacitors be suspect? I mean I know caps go bad, but usually it is power supply caps that go like that(they see the most abuse) and those can be seen to be bad easily(usually) as they either look like 1) soda cans that were left in the freezer ;2) Guts all over the place and just leads sticking up from the board.

The behaviour of the machine doesn't make me think caps immediately. At least not P.S. caps as the unit would likely not power on if that were the case. Polarized(can) caps that are used in the tone stack usually don't see any real power running through them so those going bad is not likely(drying out maybe yes but even then that is after YEARS and usually years of non use). And if a tone stack cap went it wouldn't do what it is doing to the machine. Tone caps are filters,not power conditioners.

I am not saying no. But it seems caps are a catch all blame part when something goes bad. Is it because they are more nebulous in their function than a resistor?

EDIT

I'm in favor of a short.

Well, it is just because caps are usually the weakest links of electric circuit. Plus, MPC-2000XL is old electronics. But you are right, it could be some wire shorting out. Since OP saw some smoke coming out from the XL, I think it wouldn't be hard to find where the smoke came from by just inspect inside the XL at least. There should be burn mark somewhere inside.
User avatar
By locotesmjr Sun Sep 04, 2011 6:30 pm
Did you were working in your MPC when it was turned ON or plugged? then you should thank God you are not the one who got fried, I can't see a reason why this happened if your MPC was turned off or unplugged.
By bcitral Wed Sep 14, 2011 9:49 pm
Ive just bought an XL with the same problem. Let me know if you make any headway and so will I.
Ill take a look at this one when my memory arrives.

I just get eroor 0000:Bff2 but I suspect thats memory related first.

I have no pad activity too.

B
User avatar
By konc3pt Thu Sep 15, 2011 2:49 pm
bcitral wrote:Ive just bought an XL with the same problem. Let me know if you make any headway and so will I.
Ill take a look at this one when my memory arrives.

I just get eroor 0000:Bff2 but I suspect thats memory related first.

I have no pad activity too.

B


reutrn that piece of junk asap if possible!!..
By bcitral Thu Sep 15, 2011 3:04 pm
We'll see, Ive repaired worse. :lol:

Full strip down tonight if I get the chance.

B
By bcitral Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:39 pm
Just an update.

I recieved an 3000XL as a donor machine for memory and 8 out card.

The original error message I was getting was from the zip drive. Now sorted out. all pads are recording.
Fully stripped to check everything out and replace the slider. MPC now nearly working.
All fully fine except distorted outputs. The 8 out card is outputting fine. The distortion on the headphone and stereo outs is more like interferance with a vert quiet singnal level.

Anyone come across this?


Ill give it a good before I buckel and go to my tech.


Cheers B