Tweaking - Two steps forward, one step backward... (one man's continuing saga) - tlenthe

Tweakers' Asylum

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Tweaking - Two steps forward, one step backward... (one man's continuing saga)

This weekend I finally completed my long delayed flexy rack. I made a few modifications worth mentioning... I was concerned about the front/back stability of my 3' high and only 15" deep rack, so I used some heavy aluminum "U" channel as "feet" on each side which the threaded rod bolt through together with the bottom shelf. I used speaker points as feet to stand securely in my carpeted room. I also used thicker 5/8" threaded rod and clamped the nuts/washers firmly onto the three mdf shelves. Based on David Aikins approach of inserting lightweight polyester batting in his aluminum frame, I am using 5/8" ID soft latex rubber tubing over the threaded rod to help suppress resonance. The result is very solid with an audible resonance from tapping somewhere in the 200Hz region. I plan to use some type of cork constrained layer on each shelf to damp and isolate this resonance from the components.
Happily installing my amp and CDP on my new flexy project, I moved the components off a corner shelf unit into the center of the back wall, which I expected to be less sensitive to acoustic vibration (by being out of the corner). Sitting down to listen, the sound was certainly good, although I didn't notice any night-day changes from the previous setup.
My listening was abruptly interrupted by a bright blue flash and a small pop, followed by the unmistakable odor of burnt electronics; even tripped the mains circuit breaker! Unplugging everything, resetting the breaker, and diagnosing, it seems that the power supply of my vintage JVC-1010 CDP is kaput. In the process, I realized that my new rack location is directly in front of an electric base-board heater... I suspect the extra heat finally caused something to give up the ghost. Fortunately, I have the service manual and am hoping there are a manageable number of failed components.
Has anyone else experienced power supply failures of signal level equipment? What do folks think is the likely culprit?
Meantime, I'll have to accelerate getting my vinyl rig re-comissioned and pay more attention to heat registers in the future!
- Ted

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Topic - Tweaking - Two steps forward, one step backward... (one man's continuing saga) - tlenthe 05:51:36 03/07/05 (5)

Lesson - Never overlook the obvious and a safety lesson!! - tlenthe 18:48:38 03/07/05 (1)

Thanks for letting us know! - Al Sekela 09:52:57 03/08/05 (0)

Re: Tweaking - Two steps forward, one step backward... (one man's continuing saga) - tlenthe 13:59:03 03/07/05 (0)

Identical symptom - Chris_F 13:01:34 03/07/05 (0)

Could be a red herring. - Al Sekela 12:12:23 03/07/05 (0)

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