MutherFer..fried my Axe, well at least the MFC Cat 5 out..USB in the MFC jack

jazzgtrl4

jazzgtrl4

Experienced
Hi, i was half asleep and plugged my USB into the cat 5 jack on the Axefx..turned it on, started to smell something burning. Fuck. it was on about 10 sec or less. Plug in my MFC, sure enough it wont power my MFC !!! Ive heard of this happening. Hey Cliff, anything i can fix myself or does it have to go back to FAS? unreal i have a gig tomorrow too..jeeezz...thanks
 
Did this once myself , unfortunately has to go back for repair , IIRC I used midi (which still worked) till I could send it in :(
 
Bummer...You can always use a Midi Cable and the Power Supply....that's what I use for my B Rig with the MFC, I've been using it for years.
 
WTF is this common or something, how on earth does this happen? is there a major bug with the axe fx to allow this to happen? love more info, seriously
 
Ya i thought the same thing, just use my midi cable..BUT i fried the wall wart to the MFC months ago! long story.....unreal.

Its all good i think, im just going to use my Liquid Foot Jr+. Is my mini rig but i wasn't finished programing it, building a board...i think i should be alright for tomorrow, just a cram session getting it straight for its maiden voyage tomorrow.

Ya i figured it has to go back to FAS....damnmit
 
Ya being half asleep from a late night gig last night, plugging it in in a somewhat dark room..I always read about this happening and thinking,,naaa never happen to me..ya rightttt.
 
Rain said:
Bummer...You can always use a Midi Cable and the Power Supply....that's what I use for my B Rig with the MFC, I've been using it for years.
Click to expand...
A USB plug will fit into an RJ-45 jack in the same way that a drill bit will fit into your ear. In both cases, you can do it, but it's not the intended use.

When you put a USB plug into an RJ-45, the plug's case makes contact with all eight pins of the jack, shorting them together -- including the power and ground pins. This usually fries the circuit that delivers power to the MFC, but the rest of the jack continues to work for data transfer, which is its main job anyway.

I cover my Axe's RJ-45 jack with tape to prevent this. There are also other tricks you can use.
 
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Rex said:
A USB plug will fit into an RJ-45 jack in the same way that a drill bit will fit into your ear. In both cases, you can do it, but it's not the intended use.

When you put a USB plug into an RJ-45, the plug's case makes contact with all eight pins of the jack, shorting them together -- including the power and ground pins. This usually fries the circuit that delivers power tot the MFC, but the rest of the jack continues to workfor data transfer, which is its main job anyway.

I cover my Axe's RJ-45 jack with tape to prevent this. There are also other tricks you can use.
Click to expand...

So if i can power up my MFC, the RJ-45 will still send info, but not power since its fried is that what you are saying?
 
I've done this as well. It cost me more to ship it to Fractal than they charged for the repair. So it's not that expensive of a fix. The turnaround was very fast as well. I used a midi cable until I had a hole in the gig schedule to send it in.
 
I was one of the original boneheads to do this. Same story...groggy one morning with the Axe and I stuck the screwdriver in the ear. I would say though that the support and repair business, and team, at Fractal is amazing. I've also since unintentionally "troubleshot" my friends music room sub-floor for a bad ground issue. That killed the some measure of outputs on not one but two Axe IIs. Under $100 to repair/resolder resistors and such and only a 2 day turn in the shop. Neither one required a full board replace. Anyhow, just open a ticket and send it in. The hardest part will be not having it available to you. In the meantime, you can order these up.

5 Pcs Black RJ45 Jack Dust Caps Port Cover and Protector Boot CAT5 Cat6 Switch | eBay
 
Reading the first posts on this years ago is what prompted buying a Vafam panel for my rack... I can see every connection so no letting the smoke out of the circuitry. Still using it, highly recommended if you rack your gear.
 
i did the same thing, been using a 7 pin midi cable with the power adapter to power the MFC.....too busy to send my Axe in for any amount of time and the 7 pin works just fine.
 
Exact same thing happened to me last week... moment of panic when I noticed the MFC no longer turned on.
Contacted G66, the European distributor, they told me I have to send it over for repair.
Meanwhile I'm also using a MIDI cable until I can send it to G66.
 
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