A weird problem (Audio + Power)

Thread Starter

Ladraz

Joined Mar 9, 2023
9
The problem: I have 3 Adams A5X studio monitors and 1 z5500 system. Let us call the Monitors A, B and C. Sometime last year (2022) Monitor (A) started to randomly cut in and out, the power button is ON however, the sound cuts off and then, at random times turns back on again (If no sound is playing you could hear a single click on the speaker). If I were to manually take off the switch and turn it back on it would play for like 10 seconds. I thought something was going wrong with monitor (A) so I decided to buy another monitor (C) so when I send monitor (A) to fix it I would not have any downtime. (I do music production etc..)

The Monitor A saga. I sent monitor A to an electronic specialist, two different guys, and they both said nothing is wrong with Monitor (A). I listened to it play the whole day and it never failed at their locations. When I brought monitor (A) back home the problem continued. I plug it straight into the outlet and it plays for 10 seconds then cuts off. I carried monitor (A) to another house and it played perfectly. Now I am thinking the problem is with my house's electricity supply.

Monitor (B) started recently acting the same way. Monitor (C) remains unaffected.

If I plug monitor A or B when they are giving trouble into my UPS and then let it run off battery power it works fine (obviously not a sustainable solution lol) So now I am 100% sure it is related to my house's electricity supply.

House electricity supply saga. I had 2 different certified electricians come to take a look, they checked the outlets, then the panel box switched breakers, and checked polarity, grounding, voltage and more. They both came to the same conclusion: nothing is wrong with the house's electricity supply.

Z5500 saga. As of recently my Z5500 pod randomly shuts off and stays off SOMETIMES. Then randomly the red light would come back on then it can work.

Please note I have checked every single audio cable and power cable

This problem is bothering all of my audio equipment that needs A.C power and is not battery operated. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.
 

LowQCab

Joined Nov 6, 2012
4,023
Has anybody checked for Electrical "Noise" or "Spikes" in your House-Wiring ?

Sometimes various home Appliances can create
all sorts of "Trash" ( Noise ) throughout all the Wiring in the entire House.

It may be an intermittent problem,
that may cause some equipment to do a "safety-shut-down",
the equipment may keep it's self "locked-out" until it is powered Off, then back On again.
.
.
.
 

Thread Starter

Ladraz

Joined Mar 9, 2023
9
Has anybody checked for Electrical "Noise" or "Spikes" in your House-Wiring ?

Sometimes various home Appliances can create
all sorts of "Trash" ( Noise ) throughout all the Wiring in the entire House.

It may be an intermittent problem,
that may cause some equipment to do a "safety-shut-down",
the equipment may keep it's self "locked-out" until it is powered Off, then back On again.
.
.
.
never thought of that, I would disconnect all other appliances and let the speaker be the only thing pulling a current load. Then turn each one on bit by bit.
 

Ian0

Joined Aug 7, 2020
9,667
Not many power supplies will lock out on interference, but most will lock out on under voltage, some on overvoltage.
I think it would be wise to put a voltmeter on your supply and keep watching it over a period of time, making sure it doesn’t go under the minimum or maximum voltage for your part of the world. (216V/253V here)
 

Thread Starter

Ladraz

Joined Mar 9, 2023
9
Not many power supplies will lock out on interference, but most will lock out on under voltage, some on overvoltage.
I think it would be wise to put a voltmeter on your supply and keep watching it over a period of time, making sure it doesn’t go under the minimum or maximum voltage for your part of the world. (216V/253V here)
so I am in a country using 110-120v for standard stuff. We also have access to 220-240v. Under or overvoltage is not the problem because when It gives trouble the voltage is the same. ~110v my monitors are rated for 100-120v... Also, if it ever dips under 105v my ups kicks in.
 

Tonyr1084

Joined Sep 24, 2015
7,852
First, I see nobody has said "Welcome to AAC." So welcome to AAC. It's something someone almost always gets around to saying. I just happen to be the first here.

One way to tell if the problem is coming from the electrical outlet is to plug a lamp into the outlet. If it's going out at the same time the amp shuts down then you KNOW it's a house wiring issue.

Many years ago I had an issue at a rental. Half my service would drop out randomly. But when I turned the electric oven on (240VAC) all power came back on and would stay on for a while. Hours, days, etc. I called the landlord who sent an electrician who found no issues. This kept happening repeatedly over the course of months. Finally one electrician took the time to open up the power meter box and discovered a loose connection at the meter which accounted for half the power dropping out. Turning the oven on drew so much current that the loose connection would temporarily weld together and conduct. The weld was so weak that the difference in ambient temperature from day to night or night to day could cause the weld to break. It was finally fixed.

Sometimes an electrician will fail to find an intermittent problem. Especially if they're not committed to finding the true nature of the issue. In my case, one evening the power went half out and I did nothing. Called the landlord who sent his electrician to experience the issue first hand. Once he saw for himself that it WAS happening they stopped thinking I was on drugs and dug into the issue to find the loose connection. BTW: I don't do drugs. I just hate it when some dumb expert comes along and thinks I'm the stupid one. Had a tech telling me all kinds of BS until I straightened him out on my level of knowledge and understanding about electronic components. All new attitude suddenly, and my problem was fixed (not the electrical issue afore mentioned).
 

Thread Starter

Ladraz

Joined Mar 9, 2023
9
First, I see nobody has said "Welcome to AAC." So welcome to AAC. It's something someone almost always gets around to saying. I just happen to be the first here.

One way to tell if the problem is coming from the electrical outlet is to plug a lamp into the outlet. If it's going out at the same time the amp shuts down then you KNOW it's a house wiring issue.

Many years ago I had an issue at a rental. Half my service would drop out randomly. But when I turned the electric oven on (240VAC) all power came back on and would stay on for a while. Hours, days, etc. I called the landlord who sent an electrician who found no issues. This kept happening repeatedly over the course of months. Finally one electrician took the time to open up the power meter box and discovered a loose connection at the meter which accounted for half the power dropping out. Turning the oven on drew so much current that the loose connection would temporarily weld together and conduct. The weld was so weak that the difference in ambient temperature from day to night or night to day could cause the weld to break. It was finally fixed.

Sometimes an electrician will fail to find an intermittent problem. Especially if they're not committed to finding the true nature of the issue. In my case, one evening the power went half out and I did nothing. Called the landlord who sent his electrician to experience the issue first hand. Once he saw for himself that it WAS happening they stopped thinking I was on drugs and dug into the issue to find the loose connection. BTW: I don't do drugs. I just hate it when some dumb expert comes along and thinks I'm the stupid one. Had a tech telling me all kinds of BS until I straightened him out on my level of knowledge and understanding about electronic components. All new attitude suddenly, and my problem was fixed (not the electrical issue afore mentioned).
No lamp/light goes out when the speaker cuts off. My UPS can switch to battery for low or high voltage but this problem happens with a stable (multimeter tested voltage). When the electricians came, the first thing they did was shake each wire in all the panels and tighten everything. They even checked the meter base and ground.
Thank you for the welcome.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,167
Perhaps the problem is not in the power portion of the circuit. I have had intermittent connection issues in audio cables that would cut out and back in with a very slight touch, and then work well for quite a while. and it may be at any point in the cable, usually at a connector or a splice. And once in the manufacture of a 1/4 inch plug for a guitar. That could tell you a lot.
So next time it cuts out, wiggle and slap connections.
I am guessing that the monitor does not have a Power On indicator light.
Just because "a professional" checks it does not mean it has no problem.
 

Thread Starter

Ladraz

Joined Mar 9, 2023
9
Perhaps the problem is not in the power portion of the circuit. I have had intermittent connection issues in audio cables that would cut out and back in with a very slight touch, and then work well for quite a while. and it may be at any point in the cable, usually at a connector or a splice. And once in the manufacture of a 1/4 inch plug for a guitar. That could tell you a lot.
So next time it cuts out, wiggle and slap connections.
I am guessing that the monitor does not have a Power On indicator light.
Just because "a professional" checks it does not mean it has no problem.
I made a short video, the reason I think it is power because not just 1 of my monitors does this. Also my z5500 is affected.

 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,167
OK, I went back to post #1, and "the Red Light goes out. is a symptom. So now a question about the circuit: Is that Red Light powered by the monitor's power supply? Or is it powered by mains AC just downstream from the power switch?? We can learn a lot about where the problem may or not be located based on that information.And possibly arrive at answers.
 

Thread Starter

Ladraz

Joined Mar 9, 2023
9
OK, I went back to post #1, and "the Red Light goes out. is a symptom. So now a question about the circuit: Is that Red Light powered by the monitor's power supply? Or is it powered by mains AC just downstream from the power switch?? We can learn a lot about where the problem may or not be located based on that information.And possibly arrive at answers.
the red light goes out is a symptom only on the z5500 which gets it power form the sub supply. The video posted is off one of my Adam A5X monitors. On the Adams the power led never goes out.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,167
OK, and now, once again, the question of the power for the pilot light is asked. The reason being that if the mains power does not fail but the power supply output does fail, then either the supply has a fault or the nature of the mains power changes, such as power spikes or glitches, or loss of common .
What I do not recall is if all three monitors fail at the same time.
 

Thread Starter

Ladraz

Joined Mar 9, 2023
9
OK, and now, once again, the question of the power for the pilot light is asked. The reason being that if the mains power does not fail but the power supply output does fail, then either the supply has a fault or the nature of the mains power changes, such as power spikes or glitches, or loss of common .
What I do not recall is if all three monitors fail at the same time.
All 3 does not fail at the same time. I am working on another solution I would give an update if it is fixed. (Talking to my power company) The street light also dims at the same time, low enough voltage for it to affect my monitor but not low enough for my UPS to think it is a problem.
 

Dataman

Joined Oct 2, 2018
5
All 3 does not fail at the same time. I am working on another solution I would give an update if it is fixed. (Talking to my power company) The street light also dims at the same time, low enough voltage for it to affect my monitor but not low enough for my UPS to think it is a problem.
You are describing a Neutral Bus Loss issue. If the Neutral Connection in your Service Panel is not connected, then you have a runaway voltage issue... A high load on one side of the split power mains will cause the other side to dim. Which is described when you mention the Street Lamp. So your missing Neutral connection just may be on the Power Pole (ie Power Transformer for yours and your neighbors)... This is an issue for the electric company.
..
Now.. your Powered monitors... There may very well be nothing wrong with your monitors... If you have an isolated Neutral at the Power Service Transformer (the one on the pole out side) the the resultant over voltage just may be shutting down the Voltage regulator in your Powered Monitors. This is known as over voltage protection.
..
I would suggest you attach a VOM across the mains and what what happens when your speaker/monitors shuts off.
..
Incidently in the late 60's at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals Alabama, we had this same scenario after the utility replaced a blown transformer on the pole out side. At that time a shop across the street had a high current welder (3-Phase Welder). when they were welding with it, our powered monitors would shut down. One evening we noticed that the street light would dim for no reason, and our powered monitors would shut down. Then we noticed the light in the shop across the street where they were welding Dump Truck frames.
..
Put a Volt meter across the 120V outlet and noticed that it went to 217V when they were welding. And the street lamp which we later found out was wired to the other side of the split mains was dimming. Looked at the other side of the service box at the 120VAC was at about 67VAC.. called the electric company who came out the next day and installed a neutral bar on the transformer, the old one was burned but not replaced by the crew that replaced the transformer.
..
After that everything went back to normal and the sound tracks we laid down were a hit.
..
Just suggesting that the Neutral issue may not be on your Service panle, but may very well be on the pole outside.
 
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