I was re-mounting an X32 rack for a show, and when I pulled the unit out, I noticed there was a rattle inside. This seemed odd, so I opened it up and found a metal clip floating around inside the unit. After a little investigation, I found that the clip is what holds transistors to the heat sink on the power supply. Normally, you would see a transistor screwed to the heat sink. In this case, it's a metal clip that's just pressed over the transistor to hold it to the heat sink. In an install scenario, it's not a big deal, but for something on the road, in a small case that may not be oriented vertically all the time, the chance of these clips falling off exists.
If the clip falls off, there are 2 problems. First, the clip could short something out. Second, the transistor that the clip fell off from may now overheat and result in complete failure of the unit. The mixer in question is only a couple months old, and hasn't been used much, so this was quite the surprise to find.
If the clip falls off, there are 2 problems. First, the clip could short something out. Second, the transistor that the clip fell off from may now overheat and result in complete failure of the unit. The mixer in question is only a couple months old, and hasn't been used much, so this was quite the surprise to find.