...no sound from Cambridge Audio Azur 640c V2 after storm...

[SilverSport]

I have a pretty good guess as to what happened but I am surprised that
it did...Chicagoland had a pretty nasty thunderstorm the other
night...today when I tried to play a CD on one system protected by a
Panamax MAX 5100 it got some static through the speakers and very little
sound...



...thinking the Outlaw Audio RR2150 receiver had bought it in the storm,
I changed to radio and it sounded fine...next I unplugged everything
and then plugged them back in...still static scratchiness and almost no
sound with the Cambridge Audio azur 640c V2 compact disc player...not
outward signs of trouble...everything else works as it should...



...switched in a spare CD player and the receiver, connections and the alternate CD player work just fine...

...I tried another receiver to check that and still no sound but no longer have static...a look under the hood showed nothing that would lead me to believe there was an electrical failure in here...

...the Cambridge powers on, tray works, loads the CD, "plays" the CD but no sound...number advance on front panel as if it is playing...tried different CDs too...even hooked up with digital cable instead of the analogue...same thing...no sound...

Bill

[Chris A]

Bummer. Lightning strikes can have pretty ferocious rise times and magnitudes that can get inside the protective envelope of most power conditioners (on direct power line strikes). Fortunately, your CD player analog out circuits apparently acted to protect the rest of your rig (...or unfortunately).

I usually actuate the "power off" relay on the power strip to add further insurance during big storms, which we tend to have in this area on a fairly frequent basis during a couple seasons of the year. I've lost my fair share of equipment to line surges myself. In fact, it's given me some opportunities to upgrade...[]

Chris

[billybob]

Are you saying the Azur was

inline through the Panamax?

And the capacitors look fine with no leakage. Maybe some burnt/cracked solder.

[SilverSport]

it may not even have been a spike from the stor, but it's out just after the storm and nothing else seems to have been affected...downstairs some of my U-Verse stuff (on a spike strip) took a hit but the tech that came out said the installer didn't ground it properly at the box outside...

I see nothing out of the ordinary nor any scent of damage under the hood...EVERYTHING works but sound.

Bill

[Chris A]

It's possible that the event didn't enter through the power supply, i.e., near lightning strikes induce spikes can easily fry silicon devices, especially CMOS - and a lot of digital devices are CMOS.

But you would think that the CD metal case would protect the internal circuits via Faraday cage effect...unless a spike entered via inductive coupling with connected RCA cables through the output analog channels (...a likely scenario, BTW).

Chris

[billybob]

It's possible that the event didn't enter through the power supply, i.e., near lightning strikes induce spikes can easily fry silicon devices, especially CMOS - and a lot of digital devices are CMOS.

But you would think that the CD metal case would protect the internal circuits via Faraday cage effect...unless a spike entered via inductive coupling with connected RCA cables through the output analog channels (...a likely scenario, BTW).

Chris

I looked at the owner's manual online for the unit under troubleshooting. Not much help there. Nice looking unit.

Agree that could be likely path.

[SilverSport]

I appreciate that guys...yeah...I hoped the Owner's Manual would offer SOMETHING but not too much...I emailed them when I bought an earlier versionmany years ago but am still awaiting a reply

Bill

[JJkizak]

When lightning strikes the laws of physics get tested a bunch. Grounding or no grounding will mean nothing

on a direct hit as the lightning ball will travel up the ground rod to your electronic whatever and fry it to oblivion. Close hits

put transients on phone lines, electric lines, and anything else it feels like hitting and following. Your dealing with energy levels far beyond comprehension.

When lightning hit our oak tree 20 ft from the house it took out the well pump 88ft down, traveled through the dirt to the sewer pipe then followed the pipe to the house and melted the aluminum siding, fried the security system main board and battery, fried the security system control, tripped the 100 amp power feed to the barn, tripped the garage door breakers in the garage, fried all the security alarm sensors on that side of the house, fried the upstairs phone, fried the upstairs computer modem, and fried the DENON receiver in the living room. I was standing in the kitchen eating a donut when it hit. And I said WOW!

JJK

[Guest " "]

surge protectors have devices called MOV's in them. They are about the size of a nickel and have two wires coming out of them. these devices have a surge absorption rating in joules. you device is rated at 2310 joules. Here's the problem....thats a lifetime rating and is cumulative. So if you have a storm every month, and the device absorbs 600 joules of surges, in the 4th month you have exhausted the MOV. In the 5th month you have no protection. So, just because you have a surge protection box....doesn't mean that the MOV's have any life left in them.

[derrickdj1]

I never knew that about surg protectors

surge protectors have devices called MOV's in them. They are about the size of a nickel and have two wires coming out of them. these devices have a surge absorption rating in joules. you device is rated at 2310 joules. Here's the problem....thats a lifetime rating and is cumulative. So if you have a storm every month, and the device absorbs 600 joules of surges, in the 4th month you have exhausted the MOV. In the 5th month you have no protection. So, just because you have a surge protection box....doesn't mean that the MOV's have any life left in them.

Dose this apply to the Monster and Panamax devices?

[Don Richard]

Some transient protectors use flash tubes and Transorbs. A Transorb is like a heavy duty Zener diode and has an indefinite life as long as it's rating is not exceeded by more than 200% or so. The most effective lightning protection is a properly grounded lightning rod array, coupled with electronic transient protection.

[SilverSport]

it may not even have been the storm...just that there was a storm and next I tried the CD player it wasn't making sound...thanks for the tips everyone...

Bill

[CIGARBUM]

This may sound a little radical but unless I am listening to my systems I keep them all unplugged so far it's worked pretty good best luck guy.

Cigarbum

[T.H.E. Droid]

Your troubleshooting helps isolate where the problem is. Certainly the control logic in the player is working and the laser drive is tracking and reading the bits properly. The signal paths diverge from there and split into the digital outputs with the digital stream also sent to the D/A and analog output section. Since you're not getting any digital outputs either, most like you've got a problem where the digital bit stream is passed from the drive mechanism to the electronics section. Never hurts to see if there is a plug/socket at the drive section output, as this facilitiates assembly and repair. Make sure your are grounded well and unplug/plug the cable several times. If that doesn't work, there is probably a buffer circuit at the drive output (or electronics section input) that died.

I have several Cambridge Audio components and I'm very impressed with their construction standards, so most likely you did get zotzed by the weather.

[SilverSport]

I hooked these up to the other system (that has a digital connection) and have gotten this CD player to work...it STILL won't work using the analogue connections (red and white) but I can use the digital (orange) connection with my Panasonic Digital receiver...anyway...it works fine and makes me believe that I may only have an issue somewhere in the analogue connection now...

Thanks for the support...I wouldn't have given this unit another try before looking for someone tofix this...as of now...I can use it without issues as long as I use the coax connection...

Bill

[SilverSport]

strange to still be dealing with this issue 12 years later but it appears the lightning strike had nothing to do with my units issue and it is a common issue with Cambridge Audio Azure 640C V2 players...some fixes found online but I have zero soldering skills so mine remains Toslink or Coax connected...

 

Bill