DM 3200 Intermittent sound, LEDs flickering, faders jumping. Help

StrongWarrior

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I plugged in my DM 3200 after almost 7 years in my garage. For the first 45 minutes after I connected it to my MOTU 2408, to my Mac via USB and playing a few tracks in Logic, I heard a popping sound and all hell broke loose. All faders started moving up and down, all STATUS LEDs flickering an a constant intermittent popping sound like a machine gun. I reset to factory, did all diagnostic checks, and the thing that didn’t pass was the clock settings.

I can still move the faders with DAW control, but can’t get passed that state. Is it a board issue ?
I can upload a video if it helps.

please help, anybody.
 
Hi StrongWarrior, and welcome! What you describe doesn't sound good at all - but it's not clear to me what the current state is. You said 'all hell broke loose' and after that you did some things.

So what does the mixer do now, after switching it on? Is there any dialog with a message? What does and does not work? Depending on what does and does not work, I'd recommend to first disconnect any and all peripherals and do a simple test with one audio source and a pair of headphones.
 
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I disconnected everything from the mixer and left the Power cord only. When I turn it on, there are no messages on the screen, just that the project is loading, sometimes it gives a message that the clock is INTERNAL, and that there is no clock, “please press ENTER to continue”, then it shows INTERNAL CLOCK at 48...while all this is happening, the faders are already jumping up and down, and if I connect the monitors I can hear the machine gun.
 
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Here is a video of what's happening.

Any help will be appreciated.
 
Wow! Well, that's certainly something for a qualified repair shop I would think. You could maybe open up the board and check whether something is loose or looks burnt. Since it wasn't used for 7 years and you heard a popping sound at the start of this - maybe a component failed and you can find out which one.
 
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@StrongWarrior Is it possible that the unit was exposed to extreme humidity / moisture? As @Arjan P suggested you may want o open up the unit. Look for some corrosion while you are at it. Best of luck!
 
In these cases, it's very likely an electrolytic capacitor that has dried out and then failed under load.
 
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It could be any of the foregoing; and following MJK's lead as to something that could result from age, have you replaced the clock battery? I don't know what it might maintain besides the clock, but if the desk is 7 years old, it's likely the desk needs a new battery.

Watching the lights and faders, it acts as if the OS could be corrupted. Have you tried reloading the firmware?

In my opinion, the order of likelihood is this:

1. Battery has died;

2. Software is corrupt;

3. A component has failed. It could be a dried out cap, but 7 years is not that long for today's capacitors. Though that doesn't mean a defective cap wasn't installed, but that can also be said for a resistor, diode, or any other component or chip.

Regardless, the first two possibilities are the easiest to try first. And though failed hardware can also look like a software problem depending on what failed, I'd be more comfortable with having a competent repair shop look into it rather than tackling the job myself. Though, if you're comfortable opening the desk just to look around, you may be able to see a burned component, disconnected connector or wire, or some other obvious cause.

Whatever it is, I wish you the best of luck. Please let us know what you find out.
 
Gentlemen, thank you much for your insights. I did the following in the chronological order:
1. Unplug all peripherals
2. I reset to factory defaults.
2. Updated firmware, I don’t know if there is an option for “fresh re-load”
3. I ran diagnostics, and everything passed (except the clock settings)
4. I opened up the unit to check inside and replaced the battery.

I will now open it up again to check on components. Stay tuned if I start selling parts!! Lol. (j/k).

To be honest the cost of a “competent repair shop” might be too high. I’ll try on my own, so pray for me or wish me luck, whatever you prefer. But more ideas would be appreciated.
 
I think I mentioned this before, but in DIAGNOSTICS the SET MIXER CLOCK gives this “it failed the setting of mixer clock”.

COMMUNICATION TEST all give me “TIMEOUT!”
 
113995922070
Tonight I opened the unit, and I heard a faint tick, tick, tick...coming from the Power Unit. It was coming from one of the Transformers, one of the two on the right side of the large capacitor. The one closer to the sliders.
 
I think I mentioned this before, but in DIAGNOSTICS the SET MIXER CLOCK gives this “it failed the setting of mixer clock”.

This is why a first check should be to replace the clock battery with a fresh one. It's not a guarantee that is the problem, but it's a reasonable place to start.
 
113995922070
Tonight I opened the unit, and I heard a faint tick, tick, tick...coming from the Power Unit. It was coming from one of the Transformers, one of the two on the right side of the large capacitor. The one closer to the sliders.
Some older (or lesser quality) transformers do this while still functioning fine, it wouldn't be of direct concern to me. I still think, with the popping sound at first start, that a component has failed - very likely an electrolytic capacitor like @-mjk- suggested.

Battery status is shown on the Utility screen, System tab, but a quick test to check the CMOS battery is to see whether the desk has a date and time registered (on the same tab) - and that it still does the next day, having been without power (though there could also be a capacitor inthere to keep charge on). Replacing the battery ofcourse will never hurt - but it's not the easiest one to replace, IIRC..
 
I replaced the battery before I started this post and still the same thing.
 
I still think, with the popping sound at first start, that a component has failed - very likely an electrolytic capacitor like @@-mjk- suggested.

I used to wait until my Dad had his head deep inside the TV set (at the repair shop where he worked) and then I would do a quick, sharp little hand clap that sounded exactly like a cap discharging. Yes, I know it was mean but it demonstrates the point that caps do sometimes make audible sounds when things are going wrong. The worst thing that a recording engineer can hear on startup is a cap snap.

The first thing I would do is at least give the unit a complete visual inspection. If it were mine, I would make a list of all the electrolytic caps and I would replace all of them. Once the unit is open and the PCB boards are out, you do not want to have to do that again anytime soon.
 
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In retrospective, I might have mislead you by saying “I heard a popping sound”. In fact, it was NOT that single popping sound - it was the moment where I started hearing the “machine gun”. That means, there wasn’t a single POP and then the intermittent sound started...it was the point where the music stopped and the intermittent sound started.

I’m checking all the capacitors tonight and see what’s going on. I’ll remove the power supply and take it to work next week, so our electrical engineer can check it.

still, if anyone has any other ideas, out of the box thinking, you’re more than welcome to pitch in.
 
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Well, I was going to follow mjk advise and replace all the capacitors on the power board to start with. So I removed the power unit to take some readings on the capacitors and information on their values. I placed it back in its original place but did NOT use any screws, and I plugged all the wire harnesses and power. I turned the mixer ON and same thing....faders jumping and noise...the whole enchilada. As I was about to turn it OFF I accidentally bumped my foot on the table and Zap...the power source moved from the small columns where it rests and since it was with power, it shorted an it went dead. I got really nervous and I switched the unit OFF. I froze for a minute, and I remember that expensive items like this one, should have a fuse. Short story long...(hahaha...) i unscrew the board where the fuse is and when I measure conductivity, indeed if had blown off, as expected. I ordered a few from Amazon and received them today. During my wait, I was already filing my cart in Digikey to order the capacitors. When the fuse arrived, I thought of installing the power supply just to test nothing wrong with it because if the short 2 days before.

So you all know, I’m a man of faith, and since this mixer is used for our youth group at church, I got a group of kids an my family praying so we can find a fix. When I replaced the fuse and installed the power supply, I turned the mixer ON and to mi amazement NO MORE JUMPING FADERS, no LEDs flickering, and no machine gun!!

Since I had done factory reset, I loaded a project from the card, tweaked some routing, and for the past 8 hours the mixer has been working FLAWLESS!!!

Was it a faulty fuse that was about to go out? Did the shirt reset some thing in the electronics? Was it a miracle? That’s what I’m thinking. Thank you Jesus!

Thanks to all who pitched in an gave their $0.02.
 
Likely, the reseating of the connectors reestablished contact. You should use some contact cleaner on the connectors before you install the console.

You were very fortunate indeed. Glad it all worked out in the end!
 
Good news! Glad you're up and running again @StrongWarrior. I agree with @-mjk- about the probable cause, bad connector contacts after having been stored for so long. Time for some music making!
 
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Well, I was going to follow mjk advise and replace all the capacitors on the power board to start with. So I removed the power unit to take some readings on the capacitors and information on their values. I placed it back in its original place but did NOT use any screws, and I plugged all the wire harnesses and power. I turned the mixer ON and same thing....faders jumping and noise...the whole enchilada. As I was about to turn it OFF I accidentally bumped my foot on the table and Zap...the power source moved from the small columns where it rests and since it was with power, it shorted an it went dead. I got really nervous and I switched the unit OFF. I froze for a minute, and I remember that expensive items like this one, should have a fuse. Short story long...(hahaha...) i unscrew the board where the fuse is and when I measure conductivity, indeed if had blown off, as expected. I ordered a few from Amazon and received them today. During my wait, I was already filing my cart in Digikey to order the capacitors. When the fuse arrived, I thought of installing the power supply just to test nothing wrong with it because if the short 2 days before.

So you all know, I’m a man of faith, and since this mixer is used for our youth group at church, I got a group of kids an my family praying so we can find a fix. When I replaced the fuse and installed the power supply, I turned the mixer ON and to mi amazement NO MORE JUMPING FADERS, no LEDs flickering, and no machine gun!!

Since I had done factory reset, I loaded a project from the card, tweaked some routing, and for the past 8 hours the mixer has been working FLAWLESS!!!

Was it a faulty fuse that was about to go out? Did the shirt reset some thing in the electronics? Was it a miracle? That’s what I’m thinking. Thank you Jesus!

Thanks to all who pitched in an gave their $0.02.
Praise the Lord! I had an incident with a car like that once lol
 

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