My axe fx just blew up.

jzacharia said:
...I might have done this accidentally...I remember trying to plug in USB and the screen tweaked out a little bit. Should I be worried? :?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't, unless I smelled smoke, etc.

After seeing this thread I WILL make a point to avoid the "reach around" technique though. ;)
 
zander said:
I wouldn't, unless I smelled smoke, etc.

After seeing this thread I WILL make a point to avoid the "reach around" technique though. ;)
Click to expand...

My unit freaked at the time and I just rebooted it. I didnt know I had a problem until the next practice when the MFC wouldnt work-man I had a crappy night. The next day I tried midi to see if that would work-nope. Tried a couple other rocktron controllers I had around. The little one would work for a few presses and then lock up the axe solid. Worked great otherwise. I didnt smell anything. I opened the cover and didnt see anything overly toasty either.
 
shemihazazel said:
Since the Axe-II's release, 99% of these kinds of problems seem to come from units shipped outside the US. Makes you wonder what the hell's happening to them in transit.
Click to expand...
I'd speculate it's more to do with higher voltage supplies - EU is 220/230V @50Hz - not sure about Aus/HK/Sg but would hazard a guess they are similar. Might be a bit of an issue with those transformers at the higher voltage?

Just a little pessimism to brighten your European/Antipodean/South Asian day! :razz
 
carydad said:
My unit freaked at the time and I just rebooted it. I didnt know I had a problem until the next practice when the MFC wouldnt work-man I had a crappy night. The next day I tried midi to see if that would work-nope. Tried a couple other rocktron controllers I had around. The little one would work for a few presses and then lock up the axe solid. Worked great otherwise. I didnt smell anything. I opened the cover and didnt see anything overly toasty either.
Click to expand...

Damn, I don't use an MFC so I have no way of testing to see if my MIDI port is still functioning...

My OCD is kicking in. :|

Edit: Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure my mistake is what fried my Motherboard on my previous tower. I was trying to plug in the USB into the Axe-FX while the USB was connected on the PC end, cable went into the MIDI port and the screen began tweaking out. Nothing exploded/smoked though, but my PC was pretty much done a few days later.

Any way I can test my RJ45 port without owning an MFC?
 
Last edited:
zander said:
At the risk of stirring anything up, does this re-enforce the use of a power conditioner for the AXE-FX or is this simply a case of a defective power supply in this unit?
Click to expand...

Just my opinion, but might be worth FAS looking at sourcing different Power supplies?
Seems to be the common source of tech issues.
Otherwise this thing is bullet proof.
I do not know the norm for PS failures on units of this type, but it seems to be the thing that gives people trouble.
Or it gets talked about a lot here. :)
 
Last edited:
@JimmyD

LPT42 Emerson / Astec Power | Mouser

this is the link i got from the guys at fractal. I replied asking if the power supply is covered under warranty since my unit is under a year old.

@maxdown, we're using 230v here! haha.

I still love this product and very much want it to get back to working great again, but I must admit that this shook me up a little.. Considering that it hasn't seen much gig use, spend most of its life in a rack case on my table..

OT: My brother said "told ya to get a POD" after he heard what happened (jokingly of course).. He doesn't know what he's missing out on :lol
 
No, no step down transformer is required. The unit is supposed to be able to handle both US voltage (110V) and elsewhere at 220-230V.
 
@j_m_s It would be disappointing (but not unexpected) if Davis (the new dealer in Singapore) didn't try to offer any help - as you pointed out, they did only just start carrying Fractal and there are several of us in your shoes who bought direct before they were around...
You might also want to talk to David at Ebenex about shipping back to USA on a carnet for repair. This darn Homeland Security crap makes sending things into the USA ridiculously expensive if you don't work around it. David has a freight forwarder set up and I think he can help you with the carnet. It's worth a conversation.

Last resort - NAMM is coming up in January so you could get someone to mule the thing back (I've hand-carried mine on planes before).

FWIW - Singapore power is a very consistent 230v ac and I've never measured anything but that coming out of the wall, but still I use a Furman PLC-8E in front of all my gear. I had a couple of pieces of gear in my studio that popped switchmode power supplies in the past, and all that went away when I deployed decent isolated power conditioning.
 
Over the years of fixing TV's and other electrnic stuff I've noticed that the capacitors have really went down hill in quality, a lot of the newer TV's have popped caps in the power supplies.. Not sure whats going on with the Axe power supplies yet because I haven't had a chance to dig into a burnt out one yet but with the bad cap track record, I'd bet thats the first thing thats going on them..

Here's a link to blown caps, you might have to hit the image tab to see them but you'll get an idea anyways..
https://www.google.com/search?q=blo...LC2QWK-4GoDQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAA&biw=1536&bih=745

If you replace the caps MAKE sure you watch the polarity on the cap so it goes in the same way and MAKE sure you use the same value other wise you will see more smoke.. I won't take any responsability if you toast your equipment.. Just to cover my butt..
 
I don't think that the voltage difference outside of North America is the root cause for the power supply failure but the voltage stability itself.

Improper ground, voltage spikes & dips and other things along those lines could be what is causing the power transformer to fail.

 
Garbagetruckdriver said:
FWIW - Singapore power is a very consistent 230v ac and I've never measured anything but that coming out of the wall, but still I use a Furman PLC-8E in front of all my gear. I had a couple of pieces of gear in my studio that popped switchmode power supplies in the past, and all that went away when I deployed decent isolated power conditioning.
Click to expand...

I would say that voltage spikes can be so fast that they are impossible to measure with a standard DMM. But long enough to have time to harm electronics.

I curious about a power conditioner. Im not using one right now. Never has. Never had a problem without one.
But maybe the AF2 is a more sensitive unit?
 
@Garbagetruckdriver, thanks for the response and suggestions! I'm gonna try the power supply out first before I do anything else. Waiting on support to reply if they can send me one under warranty.

I do know David from Ebenex, will definitely pop him a call or a visit to his shop (haven't been there in a really long while because of my exams! ha) if I do need to ship the unit back..

Thanks everyone, will check out the caps tomorrow first while waiting for support to reply..
 
turns out support can't help me unless I send my unit in..

and that warranty only covers in-house repairs and doesn't cover parts like the power supply (Which I will try to order if the local dealer cannot help me with my unit)

Will try to see if I can get the new local dealer to help me, if not I guess I'm going to be stuck with using my entire fractal rig as a paperweight for quite awhile..

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!
 
Just a happy update! Contacted Radix Lacti, who was more than happy to send me his spare power supply! Turned out to be cheaper to buy one new from Mouser (He even helped me check and let me know!!) instead so I went with that option.

FINALLY have my Axe Fx back up and working!!! Now, time to load up FW 9.0. Really appreciate all the help rendered to me by fellow fractal users! Props to CyberFerret as well for outlining the steps to replacing the power supply in the Axe Fx.
 
glad you're back in the game!
now we have one more person to look to should there be someone with a similar encounter (hopefully not though)
 
I'm glad you have the Axe back.

I am in Bangkok, and the supply here has monkeys, snakes, squirrels, gremlins, and floods. I am going to buy a Power Conditioner, just in case... :?

Monkey_cables.JPG


Thailand-Powerlines.jpg


Thailand-Powerlines%202.jpg
 
Very nice.

Looks like we got more than a couple of Singaporeans on this board, perhaps we should do an AxeFest Singapore (or SEA :D) :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom