Bar 48 No-Power Repair Thread

[SixerFixer]

New to the forums, figured now would be a good opportunity to say hi!  I’m a long-time fan of Klipsch products, having started with a set of fantastic-sounding Promedia 2.1’s I bought about 15 years ago. That system has had its quirks, but I’m quite happy about just how repairable they’ve been. I was in the market to improve the sound quality from my entertainment unit, but given the size of my place and the fact I have a toddler running around, having a dedicated home theatre system wasn’t an option. To address this, I picked up a Bar 48 about a year and 8 months ago as I’m familiar with the quality of Klipsch products and knew it would produce quality sound. And produce quality sound it did… until it died.

 

With the sound bar being 8 months out of warranty, I figured I could get it repaired. Turns out that’s not the case. Per the Klipsch support centre here in Canada, these sound bars aren’t deemed repairable. No parts available, no service manual, no schematics. Nothing. Basically, if it stops working there is literally nothing that the repair centre can do to fix it, and they advise you just buy a new one. Furthermore, the service centre told me that there’s a copious amount of glue used to hold everything together, so even if you feel inspired to take it upon your self to attempt a DIY repair, nothing will be accessible and you will cause more damage trying to fix it. Instead what I was offered was a possible trade-in credit on a new unit. I was told that I could send it in at my expense, and they would offer me a Cinema 600 for $699. To put that into perspective, retail pricing for the Cinema 600 when it goes on sale is $699, so they were offering me literally nothing for the sound bar I paid $700 for less than two years prior. Basically, I was told to pound sand. Again, I can’t stress enough that I’ve been a fan of Klipsch products, but the fact that the company made a failure-prone product unrepairable and is unwilling to try and help me out struck a chord with me. I’ve seen from multiple sources that Bar 48s not powering on is an extremely common failure mode, so hopefully this thread can help some people out by adding a ray of hope to their expensive sound bar that Klipsch says can't be fixed.

 

So for starters, the Bar 48 is totally repairable. By removing the screws around the periphery of the back panel, the main PCB, power supply, and associated wires all slide out as a unit:

 

 

The Canadian service centre mentioned that everything is glued together, and that simply is not the case. Yes, there is some hot glue on the connectors to prevent the connectors from separating if the unit is moved around or bumped, but this is a common sight with consumer electronics and can be easily removed by some careful prying away with a screwdriver.

 

Through my testing, I found that the power supply on my unit had failed. The unit is an LPS-U101D2405L dual switching power supply, made by ETOP electronics in China. The PSU takes a 120VAC source and converts it to two separate 24VDC and 5VDC rails. The 24V rail appears to power the amplifier and speakers, while the 5V rail appears to power all the other electronics, including the control panel, LEDs on the front of the sound bar, and Bluetooth functionality. I found that when unloaded, the rails output 24V and 5V as they should, but once the Bar 48 PCB is connected to the 5V rail, output from the 5V rail drops to 2.7V. This is likely not enough voltage to power the main PCB, thus causing the no-power issue that many have experienced. I have reached out directly to ETOP (as an FYI this is not an easy thing to do!), and have confirmation that the power supply has failed. Per the spec sheet they sent me, operating voltage on the 5V rail should be 5V +/- 0.5V, so the 2.7V reading is well outside of spec, which was further confirmed by their engineering department. I’ve made arrangements to have a replacement power supply sent my way (with which to compare with my failed unit), so in the meantime I was going to try and diagnose exactly which component in the power supply failed. The goal here is to provide the Klipsch community with a low-cost option to fix your dead Bar 48s. As a disclaimer, I am not an electronics savant, but I am pretty handy with electronics and am extremely determined to fix this sound bar due to this awful customer service experience. Additionally, I was going to use this as an opportunity to learn more about power supply and voltage regulator design.

 

So as mentioned earlier, when a load is applied to the 5V rail, output drops to 2.7V. I believe this might be related to a failed component in the 5V rail voltage regulator, which appears to have a couple of components that would be relatively easy to swap out. The first is an A12N65H MOSFET attached to a heatsink on the board. The MOSFET tested fine, but doesn’t appear to provide full continuity between the drain and source pins after the gate has been activated. Again, I’m not an electronics expert, so perhaps this is normal but I ordered a replacement MOSFET to install just in case. The second component I was going to look at was the LD7552BPS pulse-width modulation controller. I believe these are used for controlling voltage, with operating frequency set by a resistor connected to Pin #4. Maybe a resistor failed? I’m not sure! Having a second, replacement power supply handy will help me validate some of these things!

 

The simple solution here would be to have offer a power supply replacement for these units that failed, but since those aren't available it looks like a DIY approach is the only option. Either way, stay tuned with my progress on this, as I will get my Bar 48 working again, despite Klipsch telling me there’s nothing that can be done.

Edited August 28, 2021 by SixerFixer

[SixerFixer]

Can only attach up to 2MB of stuff per post; here's the reading I'm getting from the 5V rail when the Bar 48 PCB is connected, to compare with what the power supply spec sheet lists for the PSU:

Edited August 28, 2021 by SixerFixer

[SixerFixer]

Bit of a snag, the company that made the power supply can't send me a replacement now as they don't do small orders and I'm not an OEM. So... there's a cheap replacement option I've found online that I've ordered to see if it will do the trick! Costs $15, outputs 24V 4A and 5V 1A, and looks to be pretty popular in the DIY world. Fingers crossed this will do the trick if I can't fix the original power supply!

 

Would be nice if Klipsch offered replacement power supplies instead... would have saved me  ton of effort.

[ralphkramden25]

I was going to do this exact same fix and just haven't had the time. 
Just wanted you to know I really appreciate you sharing this. 

After all the usual problems. Won't turn on at all. 
Won't output sound randomly on some inputs but not all. 
 

My current issue is everything works great except Analog in. 
My first thought was the jack itself but it seems to be a bigger issue. 
The unit does power on and off oddly, like it misses the power command 

no matter if I use the remote or the button. 

I also have gone back and forth between the V83 and V30 release but little changes. 

Basically I seem to kill it and revive it but keep reviving with a new random issue. 

This last issue seems pretty repeatable and A power issue would explain some things. 

 

[SixerFixer]

15 hours ago, ralphkramden25 said:

I was going to do this exact same fix and just haven't had the time. 
Just wanted you to know I really appreciate you sharing this. 

After all the usual problems. Won't turn on at all. 
Won't output sound randomly on some inputs but not all. 
 

My current issue is everything works great except Analog in. 
My first thought was the jack itself but it seems to be a bigger issue. 
The unit does power on and off oddly, like it misses the power command 

no matter if I use the remote or the button. 

I also have gone back and forth between the V83 and V30 release but little changes. 

Basically I seem to kill it and revive it but keep reviving with a new random issue. 

This last issue seems pretty repeatable and A power issue would explain some things. 

 

 

These issues definitely sound like they could be related to low voltage on the 5V rail of the power supply!

[Harold]

Hey SixerFixer,

just bought a broken bar 48 as a little project. Thank you for posting this, I figured my power supply was working fine until I saw your thread and tested it under load. I got 2.3V.

 

Don’t bother buying a new power supply or trying to fix it, simply use a usb phone charger. I had plenty sitting around and the first one I picked up was 5v & 1A -perfect.

Just solder 5v and gnd but also use the “STB” pin from the power supply, otherwise you won’t get audio. 
 

I have mine working now and was an incredibly simple & cheap fix. Cheers for your help and best of luck with yours.

Harry

[ralphkramden25]

Harold this sounds genius! I can certainly solder this up but...

A little confused on the pulling the STB (Standby??) High or low? 

I assume you pull it high.

Interesting choice to fix this although it means an extra power cord for life. 

Ralph

[SixerFixer]

Success; got it working!

 

So my AliExpress 24V4A/5V1A power supply has done the trick. Hooked up the 120V inputs, 24V output, and 5V output with standby pulled from +5V (NOT ground), and the Bar48 powered up right away (please ignore my messy workspace!):

 

 

[SixerFixer]

Have the Bar48 hooked up to my TV again, and it works just like it did before. So, we have successfully fixed the sound bar. Another misc note that I did miss from my previous reply is that I drilled and countersunk a new hole in the Bar48's backplate to mount the new power supply due to its smaller size. Beyond an extra hole in the back, you really can't tell that anything is out of the ordinary.

 

So... in summary, the lesson learned here is that the ETOP power supply used by Klipsch in the Bar48 is the weak link in an otherwise stellar product. The truly tragic bit here is that Klipsch considers these products unrepairable and does not offer any path for repair shop or user repair. Thankfully, some electronics knowledge and a $15 replacement PSU from AliExpress has saved the day. Hopefully this thread comes in handy helping other Bar48 users with their no-power issue.

 

On 9/22/2021 at 9:36 PM, Harold said:

Hey SixerFixer,

just bought a broken bar 48 as a little project. Thank you for posting this, I figured my power supply was working fine until I saw your thread and tested it under load. I got 2.3V.

 

Don’t bother buying a new power supply or trying to fix it, simply use a usb phone charger. I had plenty sitting around and the first one I picked up was 5v & 1A -perfect.

Just solder 5v and gnd but also use the “STB” pin from the power supply, otherwise you won’t get audio. 
 

I have mine working now and was an incredibly simple & cheap fix. Cheers for your help and best of luck with yours.

Harry

 

I do need to credit the creativity in this repair path! Glad you got yours working!!

Edited October 16, 2021 by SixerFixer

[EEPaul]

Also available on Amazon:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WKH5RZV/ref=srdp?keywords=noyito+ac+to+dc+power+supply+24v+5v&srpt=POWER_CONVERTER&sres=B07WKH5RZV%2CB07T9PJ9D7%2CB07BDL176B%2CB07JV7CN1T%2CB07C1JHBB3%2CB07CNTHTSP%2CB07FNFJTHH%2CB0816B34FR%2CB07CML2GXN%2CB081RGVJGD%2CB06XJVYDDW%2CB07BLTTX1W%2CB07C8R5PJD%2CB07HWP4TSX%2CB07G6J3PK1%2CB07BLQKW37&qsid=135-3283479-4546535

[captainbeefheart]

Before you get ahead of yourself I would take the "broken" power supply and run it on a resistive load.

 

Take the 24vdc section and load it with a 220 ohm resistor. This is about 2.5 watts of power. See if the voltage stays at 24v with this load.

 

Next test the 5v section. Load it down with a 10 ohm resistor, again this is around 2.5 watts of power.

 

If the power supply cannot regulate the voltage under these loads then I would surmise it is officially toast.

[Mika12]

Le 16/10/2021 à 6h09, SixerFixer a déclaré :

Success; got it working!

 

So my AliExpress 24V4A/5V1A power supply has done the trick. Hooked up the 120V inputs, 24V output, and 5V output with standby pulled from +5V (NOT ground), and the Bar48 powered up right away (please ignore my messy workspace!):

 

 

hello, can tell me where to plug the GND, VDD and STB connectors on the new power supply ordered on aliexpress or amazon thank you

Edited November 3, 2021 by Mika12

[SixerFixer]

On 11/3/2021 at 5:57 AM, Mika12 said:

hello, can tell me where to plug the GND, VDD and STB connectors on the new power supply ordered on aliexpress or amazon thank you

Use a multimeter to validate which are the 5V and 24V outputs, then I connected GND to the 5V -, and VDD and STB together to 5V +.

[SixerFixer]

On 11/2/2021 at 9:37 AM, captainbeefheart said:

Before you get ahead of yourself I would take the "broken" power supply and run it on a resistive load.

 

Take the 24vdc section and load it with a 220 ohm resistor. This is about 2.5 watts of power. See if the voltage stays at 24v with this load.

 

Next test the 5v section. Load it down with a 10 ohm resistor, again this is around 2.5 watts of power.

 

If the power supply cannot regulate the voltage under these loads then I would surmise it is officially toast.

The manufacturer of the power supply (ETOP) literally told me that the power supply is broken. No point wasting time trying to troubleshoot/repair it when a replacement unit costs $15.

[captainbeefheart]

1 hour ago, SixerFixer said:

The manufacturer of the power supply (ETOP) literally told me that the power supply is broken. No point wasting time trying to troubleshoot/repair it when a replacement unit costs $15.

 

I must have missed that part where you mentioned that.

 

There have been times where I though a switching supply for a woofer was bad but when I tested them under my own loads they were fine and had to move on to the amp circuit that was faulty. Just giving people advice to check power supplies under resistive loads as a troubleshooting step.

[KlipschFix]

On 10/16/2021 at 12:09 AM, SixerFixer said:

Success; got it working!

 

So my AliExpress 24V4A/5V1A power supply has done the trick. Hooked up the 120V inputs, 24V output, and 5V output with standby pulled from +5V (NOT ground), and the Bar48 powered up right away (please ignore my messy workspace!):

 

 

Guys my Klipsch bar has been dead for months this is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I just ordered power supply. Can someone please clarify for me what you mean by GND, VDD, and STB together. Referencing the image I can figure out where to put the wires but can you clarify what the two white wires going into the same screw down is for ?

[KlipschFix]

you guys are awesome. Fixed my sound bar and ive got music again. Happy new year all!

[OO1]

58 minutes ago, KlipschFix said:

you guys are awesome. Fixed my sound bar and ive got music again. Happy new year all!

GREAT JOB -

[Had1964]

Hi all,

The power supply on our Klipsch Cinema 600 sound bar just failed. 2 weeks out of warranty…. The amazon link furnished above doesn’t seem to be the appropriate voltage. Can someone verify that this is the correct power supply for replacement of ETOP LPS-U101D2405L? Or is there another that works (preferably from amazon)? Thank you in advance!

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WKH5RZV/ref=srdp?keywords=noyito+ac+to+dc+power+supply+24v+5v&srpt=POWER_CONVERTER&sres=B07WKH5RZV%2CB07T9PJ9D7%2CB07BDL176B%2CB07JV7CN1T%2CB07C1JHBB3%2CB07CNTHTSP%2CB07FNFJTHH%2CB0816B34FR%2CB07CML2GXN%2CB081RGVJGD%2CB06XJVYDDW%2CB07BLTTX1W%2CB07C8R5PJD%2CB07HWP4TSX%2CB07G6J3PK1%2CB07BLQKW37&qsid=135-3283479-4546535

[SixerFixer]

On 12/25/2021 at 7:06 PM, KlipschFix said:

Guys my Klipsch bar has been dead for months this is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I just ordered power supply. Can someone please clarify for me what you mean by GND, VDD, and STB together. Referencing the image I can figure out where to put the wires but can you clarify what the two white wires going into the same screw down is for ?

GND is your ground, VDD is your +5V voltage, and STB is your standby line (as labelled from the original power supply removed from the Bar48). Because the STB line also happens to be a +5V channel, you can simply twist the VDD and STB wires together and plug them into the +5V out line of the power supply, and the soundbar should work. Make sure you verify which side of the new power supply is 5V and which side is 24V! Very important to not plug the VDD and STB wires into the +24V output by accident or you will likely fry your Bar48's mainboard.