Soundcraft LX7II 32ch Sound Desk Problem, Studio Wiring?

[William Banfield]

Hello,

For the past year and a half now we have had a new drama/acting studio. This was kitted out with the best equipment that we could afford.

We have a Soundcraft LX7ii. Unfortunately, about one month ago when we went to use the desk it was not working. We tried replacing the internal fuse and all that happened was they would blow out one after another. We contacted the company who built the studio who came and collected the desk to have it repaired. Upon receiving the 'repaired' product back today we read the repair report. It said that the desk was faulty due to it getting wet. We can 100% guarantee that there is no possibility that this desk got wet. This is firstly because none of us ever take water into the technical booth and secondly the surrounding equipment would have also been affected! However, we decided just to let it go and re-connect everything into the desk again. Because we have wall panels around the studio, all of the channels are connected into a patch panel. However, once we had re-installed the desk, we attempted to turn it on and found that there was a very big issue! When the power was turned on, the sound desk it-self made a kind of fuzz/squealing sound. Immediately we turned it off at the mains and made sure that everything was connected correctly and that their was no input into any of the channels. Once we had double checked everything over, we turned it back on to be greeted with the same sound. Whilst it was still making the sound, I turned a couple of phantom power switches on which caused the pitch of the squeal to increase. Then, after being turned on for about 10 seconds the internal fuse blew once again and the desk shutdown. Once again, we went through the process of replacing the internal fuse, which only resulted in blowing out more fuses one after another.

I am now beginning to think that maybe there is a problem with the wiring in the studio. Could this be a potential issue? If anyone has any ideas at all, I would really appreciate it if you could let me know because at the moment we have a bit of a major issue!

Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Shane Presley]

Re: Soundcraft LX7II 32ch Sound Desk Problem, Studio Wiring?

Sounds like you could have a cross patch going on maybe... I'd start simple... unpatch everything but a mic, a single xlr, and an output... If you're clean from there, start adding stuff back in, until you stumble across the culprit. As for the water, it could be something as simple as humidity or condensation that might have affected the board to someone "not fessing up" to have broken the rule and spilled a drink it in. "Wasn't me" is rampant when looking for cause and effect.

 

[Brad Weber]

Re: Soundcraft LX7II 32ch Sound Desk Problem, Studio Wiring?

Is there a reason that the company that took out the mixer to have it repaired did not reinstall it and verify that everything was working properly? It may not have been their responsibility to do so, that all depends on the details of their responsibility for any related system warranty, but you are possibly seeing why it may have been recommended.

The unfortunate reality is that it could have been a moisture related issue for which either you were not aware or that possibly happened prior to your taking possession. But it sounds like either the actual culprit for the falure still exists or whatever the problem was it was not addressed by the last repair.

 

[William Banfield]

Re: Soundcraft LX7II 32ch Sound Desk Problem, Studio Wiring?

Thanks for all of your responses.
Unfortunately we were not offered the option on the company re-installing the desk. I think that the desk is going to have to go back for repair again, then we will have to get a qualified specialist in to look at the studio and trace down any possible faults in the wiring.