A VIEWER sent me this FAULTY B&W Z2 Speaker | Can I FIX It?

[@Mymatevince]

Hey Steve, I bought one of these Z2 speakers faulty last year from eBay...annoyingly when it arrived it worked. If you want to borrow it for testing/swapping chips/wifi boards let me know and I'll post it up to you😎

[@luckywetland]

Always My Mate Vince... the savior haha

[@Okurka.]

Good thing it worked or it would be really broken by now.

[@acidhelm]

I think the multimeter was charging the caps, so it saw current flowing and beeped. Once a cap was fully charged, no more current flowed, so it stopped beeping.

[@StezStixFix]

Ah, yes. That makes sense! Thank you!

[@wesleybilly8097]

@@StezStixFix follow up video then?

[@sam3317]

@@wesleybilly8097 you do realise videos require recording and editing and this current video was only released an hour ago, don't you?

[@narsakucanada154]

A few years ago I repented to God then Prayed for help, "I was until then an Atheist." I then had a dream of Jesus coming before God and he spoke of the Tabernacle in Perfect context, "A word I didn't know existed.", and what I felt from Jesus when I Held him was unlike Anything I've Ever felt before - A Lifetime of Love Every Second - It brought me to Sobbing and it changed my life, Forever. I've had Many experiences since, "Several witnessed". A voice Spoke Clearly into my ear, "Go Visit Your Father Today.", hours before he passed. When I prayed if I could leave this world my body spoke a word Without My Permission I Never Heard Before, "Malarkey". Hours before a major surgery a Bright orb of light Passed across my face. God and Jesus ARE real! Truly Love God & Everyone! I believe Prayer, Following God's laws & Love is the answer, and through that, Truly becoming Humble, Merciful, Welcoming, Giving, Gentle, Respectful, Compassionate, Patient, Kind and Forgiving, To All.

[@FirdausAlam-c2w]

@@Recessio he will definitely put thevideo when he will fix it.. Then why ask? 😂

[@KB1UIF]

Hi Steve, I mentioned before, when you check capacitors for shorts, you have to allow for capacitors to charge, giving the impression of shorts. You need to allow for caps to charge while you check for continuity. The meter is applying voltage, which will charge caps up to the applied voltage from the meter. Just give it a little more time when you think you find a short. Thanks.

[@joshlira13]

If you don't mind my asking because I'm curious for myself as well, typically how long should you wait for "the multimeter to charge a capacitor"?.. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@KB1UIF]

@joshlira13 Hi, It depends on the size of capacitors involved. The larger the capacitor, the longer you need to wait. If you get a beep from a capacitor, you suspect is shorted, wait up to say 5 to 10 seconds. That should be plenty of time. If it's a very large value, it could still be charging, but after 10 secs it's pretty sure it's faulty, or there is another component across the capacitor like a coil making it appear to be shorted.

[@joshlira13]

@KB1UIF Thank you for replying. I see - that's very good to know, I will keep that in mind when testing (I'm a compete beginner). Thanks again for explaining!

[@dazzypops]

Does this then indicate that there's no voltage getting past the IC, coil and/or diode? It looks like there's something blocking voltage going anywhere else to the board.

[@KB1UIF]

@dazzypops1 Hi, I'm not sure what you are asking. My comment was about the meter beeping as it charges the capacitors. This happens when in continuity mode when looking for shorts on a board. It gives the impression there is a short and you hear a beep while the capacitor charges. If you wait long enough, the beep will stop once the capacitor is charged.

[@shammon1]

Honest guy who asks for help to show we are all human and learn wish others great !

[@markhearsey4294]

Steve, Steve… Just got back from the pub, watched half your vid earlier thought I would get back to you fixing this… You gotta follow this one up… You Can Do It…!!!

[@pfff]

There's a reset sequence you never did. Hold play/pause and plug in the power, hold for 10s and see if the light changes colour. I'm not saying it'll work, I'm just saying that's what B&W say do.

[@Del11k]

From the B&W site. To perform a factory reset: Ensure the speaker is connected to power and turned on by pressing the power button. Press and hold the Reset button (located at the rear of the speaker) using a straightened paper clip, for up to 10 seconds. The indicator light will temporarily either flash red (A5, A7, Z2 and Zeppelin Air users) or flash white (Zeppelin Wireless users), indicating that a reset has been successfully performed. Following a reset, the Wireless Music System will enter a wireless setup mode enabling you to repeat the Network setup process.

[@dazzypops]

Trouble is, it won't turn on in it's current state (pun intended).

[@Keinapappa]

Whopeee!! Managed to fix my faulty resin UV curing station today. Thank you for inspiring us.

[@charlesnefdt7783]

🤥

[@davidholt7577]

Thanks for looking at it Steve. Shame you weren't more successful. Hope you enjoyed the sweets 😁

[@ikkezegtie]

thanks for sending it in, it gave us content

[@creativesamurai8372]

m8, great name. im david holt too. and im into electronics.

[@Okurka.]

Why on earth did you replace a 50V cap with a 16V one?

[@davidholt7577]

@@Okurka. Because it's what I had and it's got a 16v power supply. Worth trying and did it make a difference - no. Once the true fault is found the original 50v can go back in

[@Okurka.]

@@davidholt7577 Then 25V is the least you could go.

[@niftykeentypedog]

*First rule of troubleshooting - measure voltages!* Around 6 minutes in you measured a medium SMD electrolytic with 3.3VDC on it. That's for all the logic-level chips and I think it comes from the DC-DC converter you checked out. Confirm this by seeing If the positive pin of that capacitor has continuity with the PH pin of the converter chip (via an inductor.) There may also be a step-*up* converter to produce a few tens of volts for the power amp stage. Manufacturers would NEVER put a 50V cap where a 25V would do, so stick the old one back in because I suspect that's where this voltage should be. Trace back from the positive pin to find the other DC-DC converter. If it has a shorted output transistor then it's possible the 16V is just passing from input to output via the short. Doesn't make sense for those caps with different voltage specs to all just have 16V on them.

[@mikecro1111]

I see it all the time where the capacitors installed can be uniform despite different voltages on the PCB as it is can be cheaper in the manufacturing process, both for time and ease, and purchasing components in bulk.

[@niftykeentypedog]

@@mikecro1111 But this is the opposite - a bunch of different caps with the same voltage on them.

[@michaelgroob3760]

When you said that IC was a thermal protection circuit, I thought that might be the trouble and since it was heating. I learn so much from all that you do! Thanks for the videos!

[@mikecro1111]

it was only a couple of degrees hotter than the stuff around it. Unlikely to be the cause.

[@ScottMadeAThing]

I really hope someone explains to Steve what's going on when the capacitors are shorting and then not shorting and then appearing to short elsewhere on the board... 50% to help Steve and selfishly, 50% because I too keep suffering that short, emotional rollercoaster of 'OH I FOUND A SHORT!' which leads to 'I CAN FIX IT!' which then goes to 'OH, NOT ANYMORE' which leads to 'I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE' :D

[@StezStixFix]

😂 "I don't want to do this anymore" sums it up perfectly!

[@Ea-Nasir_Copper_Co]

Have you tried new multimeter probes?

[@Peter_A1466]

Basic stuff really: testing for to short a period every time. The empty capacitors charge up while measuring for continuity and the dmm will beep. Once they are charged the current flow stops and the 'short' disappears. So, not a short but a temporary flow of electricity while they charge... I probably have to post this in the main discussion...

[@vegsalad]

Large capacitors in parallel will take some time to charge up so may indicate a short until they do. Also, he swapped the leads around on the second test which may have given a different result.

[@jackburton8352]

I have fixed many electrical items with the throw at wall technique you'd be surprised how many times it's worked for me.

[@ferarrisman]

i recently bought two of these from ebay one working one with pulsing red light after checking for shorts etc i swopped the wifi boards around to see if that was the issue and i was so if you have a dodgy wifi board you get pulsing red light also wont work without wifi board

[@alberttogl]

The pulsing red light might be a generic fault indicator for multiple faults. Your solution is worth trying if one has spares.

[@309electronics5]

Probably corrupted firmware. I had the same on a acrylic up2stream which is a wifi streaming amplifier. It also has a wifi module. It was blinking white which means its booting but it stayed blinking white forever. I flashed the backup firmware on it and it worked. Often the coprocessor that is on the main board waits for a "i am alive" signal from the module which it sends via serial uart. If the coprocessor does not receive it it basically waits forever and keeps blinking the light

[@andyspoo2]

@@alberttogl Like the old computer days when every error was a 'Syntax Error'.

[@ravenclause]

the explanation you requested: for very small breaks in a conductor, there is a minimum current (albeit very small) for one to detect, so you can encounter small breaks that will conduct, and you can encounter small breaks that do not conduct. that is determined by whether it is beyond a given threshold, similar in respect to "spark gap". This explains well why you think you imagine a short that is not there, because it really can be the case. one way of looking at this is the surface area of the electrical connection in the area of the break determines whether it meets the threshold of the meter for detection. in other words a signal strength is needed slightly more than "0 resistance" for a short to be found by the meter. I spent a lot of time investigating this matter

[@sishabadab6570]

Bloody bewildered.. Struggle to put batteries in a walkman.. Great channel, keep up the good work.

[@dazzypops]

Looking at what Steve does, the proper procedure is to chuck the batteries at the battery compartment, give it a second (maybe blink?) and then they're in there perfectly.

[@strike0885]

Looking on their site, some of their products can take 2 minutes connected to a power source for the capacitors to charge before the device is ready to be connected to an audio source.

[@teamtimetone]

Hey there. Love the channel. My daughter's Nintendo 3DS is broken.... Something you'd fancy getting your hands on. I've researched the probable fault and apparently it's a right pain to do.. haha!

[@AssistenciaRetro]

Regarding the short circuit, when you invert the test leads, you invert the polarity of the circuit for a fraction of the time.

[@chilledoutpaul]

On a lot of things there is a secret service mode (not on everything!!) like hold the power button before applying power but keeping the power button pressed for a couple of seconds longer! also on some cars hols a button down as you turn (not start) the ignition, it may be an "OK" or ENTER" button, on some cars you can reset the service lights turn on the ignition (not start) then press and hold the brake and accelerator together (I know a few trade secrets 😁) ALWAYS BE CORTIOUS THOUGH

[@zKaltern]

Flashing Red LED at night.. No delight. Flashing Red LED in the morning.. Steve's dire warning.

[@StezStixFix]

🤣

[@nige4287]

🤣🤣🤣

[@michaelstanley5215]

Flashing Red LED in the afternoon.. Video was over too soon.

[@whollymindless]

Steve's new nightmare... red leds.

[@d18c7db]

Steve, from the manual of the speaker it states "Connect Z2 to a mains outlet socket using the power supply. When first connected to mains power Z2 will automatically power up with its indicator pulsing red." Basically I don't think the slowly pulsing light indicates an error, you probably failed to even turn it on correctly. Holding the Standby button down for 4 seconds switches the speaker to Stnadby mode (LED goes off). See manual table 1 page 7 for all the LED colors and modes.

[@laserhawk64]

I get the impression board flex may be playing a role here, as well as a fault in that heating-up power supply circuit. Look for loose, lifted, or broken traces in the vicinity of the area where you saw the shorts, as well as cold/cracked solder joints. I once had a quartet of motherboards that were faulty after capacitor rework... found one trace near the edge of one of the boards that was lifted slightly up off the board... fixing that was a major contributor to stability (boards were, unfortunately, toast -- the caps had, sadly, nuked the chipset -- but fixing that one trace, helped noticeably).

[@TheBaldeagle001]

At 12:45 you can see part of the pad for the capacitor is lifted from the board next to tp51. Verify that you have continuity from tp51 to the leg of the cap.

[@StewartWaddell]

What’s the song at the end called Steve ? “There’s a problem with my speaker ”

[@ruudb72]

David, you have the power supply part. If the chip is having the enable pin ok en de output voltage needs to be checked. From there is needs to go to the mosfet. that is the next component to check. Normally in the info about that chip there is mostly also a typical application diagram that will be close to what you have on this board. So you can continue from there. The voltage will have to go somewhere....dont give up now, you have a very good starting point.

[@pjhb_microsoldering_portugal]

You are charging the big capacitors, if they are flat you will have a short while they are charging... Love you videos, thanks for them 😉👍

[@spacemidget9416]

I've been suffering this too, but can you explain something. I thought it would be the other way around? While charging, electrons aren't flowing through the the cap, so why would you get a continuity beep?

[@pjhb_microsoldering_portugal]

@@spacemidget9416 hi, when charging, depending o the value, you will have a bit of time while current willl go trough, thats a way to do an initial reset on an ic if needed for example

[@OffordDarcy]

Such a brilliant channel 👏 🙌

[@taterzsalad9252]

ive run out of faulty junk to fix i miss the old days of flea markets

[@chilledoutpaul]

Steve your just charging up capacitors with your meter and when it stops bleeping the capacitor is charged then if you wait 30 secs they will discharge through other parts of the circuit. The wall supply will feed the amps internal psu, you will find the fault lays in the amps own psu (I think the amp will have a dc to dc converter could be buck or boost in the psu) thats what the pc coil/choke is used for.

[@spacemidget9416]

I've been suffering this too, but can you explain something. I thought it would be the other way around? While charging, electrons aren't flowing through the the cap, so why would you get a continuity beep?

[@maico4902]

Hello Mr stez or Mr fix hope you fit and well The very little I know about caps is the 470nf Connot be changed but the voltage can be biggerer 50v up but not smaller 16v so you could put 100v or 60v but not 16v could be part of the problem 🎉😂😂😂😂 Have a lovely day Mr fix

[@rwilcox_71]

I love a good mystery! Keep 'em coming! Love your content!

[@JM-wt3dc]

Okay so I've always wondered. Do you make your own beats? because this one slaps!!!!🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@spaideri]

Just a hint. To test a capacitor without removing, just measuring a known voltage usually is a good indicator (power supply's output voltage, 5V, 3V etc.) of a OK cap. Also if you measure the voltage in AC mode, you can sort of get an idea of capacitors capacitance in means that if there is a lot of voltage variance, the cap might have lowered capacitance ie. ability to smooth out the voltage ripple.

[@stephenc6648]

I have no magical insights. My first thought would have been to attempt a factory reset and see if the B&W app detects the speaker as part of the setup procedure. I have one of these and it's suffering a catastrophic breakdown of the rubbery surface of the top and rear. Such is its deterioration that I'd convinced myself that the casing is made entirely of some sticky gelatinous rubber. Seeing one dismantled reassures me that this is not the case so thanks for that!

[@davidholt7577]

The rubber went on this one too, though back only. A good scrub with IPA will take it off

[@stephenc6648]

@@davidholt7577 thanks. I'll try that when I get the chance.

[@derekeveleigh3298]

Hi, I've had the same problem with the rubber coating going sticky (it was on an electric carving knife).. I found that IPA was the answer to removing this sticky goo. You will most likely have to go over it two or three times but eventually you will be left with nice smooth surface. Give it a try, it worked great for me. Good luck

[@stephenc6648]

@@derekeveleigh3298 thanks for the info. I know that's the standard solution. The goo on the back of my speaker is so thick that I wondered if there'd be anything left beneath it!

[@stephenc6648]

@@davidholt7577 belated thanks again for the advice. I found that the sticky coating was a lot easier to remove than expected. Maybe I'll start using the speaker again. I kind of regretted buying it anyway because it's so Apple-specific. I didn't envisage not owning an iPod Touch. At least it has an aux input which can have a Chromecast Audio or Bluetooth receiver plugged in.

[@hugegamer5988]

Always test the supply by putting a load on it similar to what the device uses. If you don’t have a fancy electronic programmable load, you can just approximate it with some power resistors you hook up in series and parallel.

[@stuartofblyth]

Yep, like batteries - always test under load.

[@JVerschueren]

True, but it didn't work with the, known good, bench supply either.

[@hugegamer5988]

@@JVerschueren true. But the best way to test it is under load, and with a scope to see if the power is clean. But at least a load if you don’t own a scope.

[@BriBCG]

Testing with a known good supply is a perfectly fine alternative, not really any need to do both.

[@hugegamer5988]

@@BriBCG never underestimate the ability of more than one problem to exist simultaneously.

[@rastafari14]

A while ago I get a speaker philips bt3600b with red light. It was something like a "show mode". If you press the Bluetooth button for 20 seconds the speaker exit that mode and enter in normal mode. Can you try something like that?

[@mrt6744]

Atleast your hoover is working fine. My Bowers and Wilkins MT50s did a great job with the hoover background noise 😂

[@danielross868]

Steve, the first I would do is get yourself an ESR meter ( cheap ones available). ESR can tell you a lot of things, as well as slightly heating capacitors to see if they change behaviour. However for this job you should have referenced the Z2 manual (available online) first instead of all the fluffing about changing caps without really understanding the circuit in any way. The manual states the pulsing RED is normal for "power up" then will change to relevant colour depending on input. It seems there may be issue with last input chosen ( can be Airplay, line Ethernet, etc). This can cause confusion in the unit. At the back of unit there is a small reset button. Manual states to hold this in for around 2 seconds. Try this first... You can also update firmware in these or at least refresh FW. Of course I cant inspect unit, but my thoughts are on software related, not electrically related.

[@TootEmCarMan]

Might be worth removing the amplifier ic to see if the behaviour changes.

[@electronash]

So many things to talk about here. lol As some others mentioned in the comments, you can't always test capacitors in-circuit, and expect a sane measurement. Sometimes, a cap might be in parallel with an inductor, as part of an RF or filtering circuit, so the cap could show very low Ohms on the meter, as if it's a "short". Watching other repair vids might give the impression that almost all electrolytic and ceramic caps on a board are for power decoupling, but it's of course not always the case. Modern stuff will often have a lot of small decoupling caps near the chips etc., though. It sounded like David ruled out a fault with the original PSU, by powering the speaker with a bench PSU? After that, the first thing to determine, is whether you think the LED is blinking (or "breathing") under firmware control, or due to the power cutting out. It definitely looks to me like the LED is being controlled by the MCU chip that lives below the wifi module slot. It's possible the wifi/BT module had a corrupted firmware update, and that the main MCU is stuck waiting for the wifi module to boot up. A lot of those wifi/BT modules have a few UART pins on, and will show Linux boot info when hooked up to a PC. It's usually fairly easy to determine which pin is the TX pin on the module, then you'd only need a Ground pin. It's not guaranteed that all modules will output boot / debug messages via UART either, but it's worth a try. And of course, is the firmware on the module really is corrupted that badly, it probably won't output any serial messages anyway.

[@electronash]

Going back to diagnosing the main board, my next suspect would be that one of the Class D amp chips has failed, or an amp chip has detected a short or something on some other component, usually on the speaker output(s). Many Class-D amp chips will have a FAULT_N pin, which gets pulled Low (well, usually) when there is a fault. The main MCU detects that, and it could be what is causing the red LED to "breathe". So, assuming the wifi/BT module *might* be OK, the power supply is likely OK, the obvious electrolytic caps are probably OK, I would always recommend this next step... DOWNLOAD THE DATASHEETS !! lol Honestly, just knowing the pinout for some of the main chips can tell you a lot of info at once. Pin 17 on the SSM3302 amp chip is the THERM pin, which is an output that says when the chip has detected an Overtemperature or Overcurrent warning. This sentence from the datasheet is a bit confusing, though... "A temperature warning signal is available on the THERM pin. If the die temperature rises above 120°C, a logic high is output on this pin." Since the pin is technically labelled as an Open-Collector output, which means the chip itself can only ever pull that pin LOW. But, the chip will have an internal pull-up resistor, so OK, similar result. lol I would have a look to see what pin 17 is doing on the SSM3302 chip(s) when you first apply power. The thing is, the chip also has shutdown inputs on pins 9 (/SHDL) and 22 (/SHDR), so ideally you'd need to see what those are doing as well. (The main control MCU on the board might not even be enabling the SSM amp chips until the wifi module has booted.) Basically, if pin 9 and pin 22 are both High on the SSM chip, then pin 17 should get pulled LOW when the amp chip is working normally.

[@electronash]

Oh, and when you thought you found a "short" on those caps the first time, you had the Red meter probe on Ground. (or what at least what probably is ground/neg, on the big cap, since most of those electro caps do seem to just be bulk capacitance for the 16V input, and possibly no negative supply rails are needed). As somebody else said, you will often get different results when using the Multimeter continuity/beep test to check power rails and caps, depending on the polarity of the probes. It all depends on what is in-circuit with the stuff you're measuring. Sometimes the only way to get a true measurement of a component is to remove it from the board. Or, if it's a 2-pin device, carefully lift one side of it. With most SMD stuff, it's obviously not that easy. lol I couldn't really tell what the other smaller QFN chip was on the board (next to the SSM3302), but probably the audio DAC? The camera is quite far away from the board, so it's hard to read any part numbers. The smaller 10-pin chip next to the DAC looks to be the headphone amp. The black block (HN0013CG?) will just be the isolation transformer / pulse transformer for the Ethernet jack.

[@electronash]

I just found quite a neat image, which labels all of the main chips etc. The chip next to the SSM3302 is actually an ADAU1761, which complicates things quite a bit. lol... The ADAU is a DAC/ADC, combined with quite an advanced DSP. The ADAU needs it's own firmware usually, or I think it can be configured from an external MCU. The main MCU is the Microchip PIC24F thingy, which is indeed the larger chip under the wifi socket. The ADAU is likely handling things like volume control, but also presumably EQ, via an app? ADAU chips can be configured via the Analog's SigmaStudio software, and are very neat. Somebody on reddit said that their Zepplin speaker also had the same problem, but they were able to test it with the "Audio In" mode, by pressing both "Volume Up" and "Power" buttons. But they also said it still needed "several restarts", whatever that means? lol (sounds like theirs was also detecting a fault with the WiFi/BT module or its firmware, so it took a few attempts to get the timing right for pressing Volume Up and Power, to get into Audio In mode, before it started doing the red LED thing again.)

[@electronash]

The more I think about this, the more I think it could be a corrupted firmware update on the WiFi/BT module. The firmware on the main PIC24 MCU probably isn't doing anything overly fancy. Just controlling the LED, amp power Enables, handling the iPhone dock protocol, controlling the DAC/volume/EQ stuff, and obviously selecting which input is being used. The firmware in the PIC is likely never meant to be changed/updated, so probably quite robust. But the WiFi/BT module probably receives updates automatically when connected to the Interwebz, or from the app. If you can't connect to the speaker at all from a phone, then it's probably corrupted firmware. OK, so the manual for the Z2 has a list of all the different LED colours / sequences, and what they mean. The only one that seems to match what yours is doing, is... "Pulsing Red = Powering up" It seems to be an RGB LED, and can show Red, Blue, Orange, Yellow, Purple, and White. lol "Powering Up" can only really mean that the PIC24 is simply waiting for the WiFi/BT module to boot. The PIC24 very likely communicates with the Wifi module via UART or I2C, on a few pins. So unless there's a separate fault with a low or missing power rail on the main board that feeds the wifi module, my money is on the wifi module having corrupted firmware.

[@davidholt7577]

@@electronash firmware updates are manual via the app. And there haven't been any for years

[@m111kca4]

Did you check the diode, they go on the sony gtk-xb7. If its anything like that you change the diode and if that don't fix it change the little chip next to it. The sony has a power issue too

[@LOrealHardly]

I agree with @acidhelm, Those Electrolytics are charging up then draining down...

[@grointastic4242]

You are legend and that’s all that matters.

[@Adam-lt4fx]

in continuity mode it gives a beep at a fairly high resistance, not sub 1 ohm.. so if you are testing for the short its best to just switch it to resistance mode after and double check..

[@tebbi67]

Try to check all the zero ohm resistors!...thx for the vid!

[@herschel1969]

the moving shorts are actually capacitors randomly charging and discharging all over the board when the multimeter is plugged randomly. i.e there should be a single ic/mosfet or a diode controlling all the 3/4 capacitor lanes collectively which you have tested, might be shorted or just be an inductor doing its witchcraft. i had a similar issue while repairing a sony dvd, with a shorted voltage regulator which i was only able to locate using its service manual. i hope this might help :)

[@joelkist6493]

Check the diode that was warm if that's ok I'd replace the IC. You could also force the chip on and off by pulling the voltage up or down on at the chip.

[@MrRandomposter]

I’ve worked on this exact model with the same fault. Unfortunately I ended up doing the same as you and gave up also. It’s probably a faulty IC.

[@ko2marios]

Thanks for the vid Steve! Now, I may be way out of my league here. But, could it be that there is a 0 ohm resistor that needs replacing?

[@JamesJazzz]

So, it's stuck in "Powering Up" mode, according to its instructions. I'd recheck the 0ohm resistors just be sure, they gave me trouble with a lamp which seemed to be boot looping. Also, I see people posting general info on how to reset a B&W device by holding the button for 10s, but the instructions for this device say to hold it only for 2s. Although I doubt it'd do anything, as B&W says it just wipes network settings.

[@wannabemgtow2540]

Wow I just feel like I woke up in an alternative universe, I rarely see you not fix something.

[@Robinmuk]

Love your videos, I think you should have a go at cleaning the tips of the multimeter leads, they look quite contaminated and it's very small amounts of current they are sending across components for continuity. Have a go again with shiny bright ones :-)

[@tonyupham354]

I think the multimeter or the probes are starting to mess up... we get that in work with the temperature probes.

[@murraymadness4674]

The coil at J2 has an inductor reactance that pulses the detection phase and ensure smooth capacitance inflow. When the regulator comparator senses a fault it throttles back the pwm rate to let the sun shine in. This is what the AI chat said is the problem. I have no idea, but sometimes static charge will erase the flash in some chips.

[@Peter_A1466]

Basic stuff really: testing for too short a period every time. The empty capacitors charge up while measuring for continuity and the dmm will beep. Once they are charged the current flow stops and the 'short' disappears. So, not a short but a temporary flow of electricity while they charge...

[@paulsengupta971]

Yep, try reversing the polarity on the probes and it'll beep again briefly while it charges in the other direction.

[@Tink-GB]

​@@AzuraeLyonheart This is not a comment about how Steve makes his clips...its the gap in knowledge asked for... If Steve did an evening class in electronics he would know the basics of keeping com(black) on ground.

[@spacemidget9416]

I've been suffering this too, but can you explain something. I thought it would be the other way around? While charging, electrons aren't flowing through the the cap, so why would you get a continuity beep?

[@paulsengupta971]

@@spacemidget9416 They flow until the capacitor charges up. It's best to see it in ohms, especially on an analogue meter.

[@Peter_A1466]

@@spacemidget9416 The electrons are not really flowing through the capacitor (that is why Steve is looking for shorts, because a conducting capacitor is a broken capacitor). Charging is more like filling up. Imagine a capacitor as two balloons in one case. If one balloon fils up with electrons, any electrons in the other balloon are pushed out. In reality the voltage 'pushes' the electrons on the surface of one electrode in the capacitor (which is isolated from the other electrode) and the charge of these electrons will push away electrons from the other electrode, untill it is at it's maximum capacity.

[@LowVoltageCarlisle]

Love it mate first time I have caught a video close to release haha. Keep it up mate smashing it

[@ronlevin2339]

you should check short with a power supply, inject about 1.2-1.5V there with limited current of 300-500ma, Sometimes a cap or chip is only partial shorted and cannot be checked with a multimeter.

[@TheRepeatloader]

an older video, but when you change from ground on the positive to ground on the ground, with your meter, you will have charged capacitors, then reversing them will give a false positive for a short on the bord briefly. (you may have realized this by now but thougth i would toss it in there) (aka-- what acidhelm was saying lol)

[@ShadowcasterZero]

I'm inclined to thinking it's the diode. Since the intermittent shorts might be the capacitors charging up, if the diode is faulty it won't stop the flow going backwards anymore. Also it's the easier thing to replace than the other two chips

[@77Nerrad77]

Reading someone had this with the flashing light and opened the power supply that had an issue with 2 capacitors replaced them and it was fine for a while. Its an old post..not sure if i can post links in comments

[@nikkopt]

The fact that you have a breathing led rules out lots of suff. You have a micro controller that is making the led breathe like that. The fact that the mcu is wotking means it's probably not a problem with the power input circuit. Also, they are not programmed to show error codes for such faults. More like problems with the software/firmware or connection with the wifi chip. The amp ic is probably also not the problem because it doesnt communicate with the mcu. I mean, it can get damaged but the mcu won't know about it.

[@sparkyprojects]

For a 16V supply, the caps should have some headroom, so 35 or 50V is preferred The meter is charging the caps, try this, connect across a capacitor, then reverse connection. you can see what's happening if you set the meter to ohms, the display gradually changes.

[@timothystevenhoward]

Hey Steve I just noticed some posts indicate there is a factory reset on some B&W speakers. Yours has a small paperclip style reset button on the back. Have you tried holding the reset and power cycling it. It might be "stuck" in protect mode until the factory reset is pushed. It also interfaces with an ipod. so there must be firmware on it somewhere.

[@309electronics5]

It 100% has firmware on it. Otherwise the wifi module would not be a wifi/ethernet module

[@davidholt7577]

I did try resetting it several times before sending it to Steve

[@technoman9000]

Wow 150k! Congrats!

[@Yorkshireguycooks]

It’s the giggling pin Steve it’s not connected to the laughing shaft 👍 hope this helps.

[@Nobe_Oddy]

I'm thinking it's that SAME TRANSISTOR that you've had to replace on MULTIPLE DEVICES.... which you didn't even seem to notice.... I was yelling at the screen to replace it LOL

[@fraenkiboii]

wow the bass reflex thingy outlet looks like a turbo charger of a car :D

[@drawnSHORT]

On checking for shorts, should an ohm check be used as well? Stupid question probably as I am wet behind the ears on all of this stuff (but trying). I Love this channel. "Could it be the Caps Sigma 4?"... going to use that line of questioning in work at our next problem management meeting. Tidy.

[@DisectUK]

Can you force enable the chip to come on via the enable leg on the IC?

[@RandomAudioGuys]

Looking at the video I would consider removing the SSM3302 which is the Class D amplifier as the capacitors that were showing shorts and moving all link to the amplifier chip. Just an idea as you tested so much on the board. Also pulling the schematic on it may allow you to test voltages on it and see if you have anythign coming through to it or shorted between the ground and hot of the chip. Amplifier repair seems like a whole different thing than electronics repair. I have a few here but with the class D SMD chips it tends to be a driver chip going to it or the amp chips themselves when I work on Full bridge amplifiers.

[@ralphj4012]

At first glance I recommend plugging all the boards back in and then connecting an audio source via the auxiliary jack. This speaker, and many others today, are ludicrously complicated to get working and require a connection via Airplay etc and sometimes a configuration app to sort mess out. See the instruction manual from hell. As previously mentioned, do not attempt continuity measurements if the power adaptor is connected or powered up or capacitors are charged. Also, the open / terminal voltage of DVMs (in resistance and diode modes) is sufficient to partially power up some micros etc, leading to false readings.

[@MikeB_UK]

You did a good first look at this. I think your shorts were simply capacitors charging. To tell you should leave the meter probes on them and wait and if it is this the beeping will stop. You checked the main rail for short which is a good first strp and it wasn't so I'd say no major shorts. Using your FLIR cam was good as that shows nothing obviously using excessive current. So then you are on to the real boring grunt work if you want to fix this. First think what may have caused this fail. With a lot of devices it is dropping them or maybe liquid/humidity damage unless the item is over 5 years old when capacitors, etc fail with age. I'd double check both sides of the board again under microscope for any hairline fractures in traces, etc., or any weird looking solder joints - touching up suspect solder joints is a quick easy step. After that it becomes painful... 1. check all fusible resistors. 2. check all diiodes. 3. check all transistors. 4. check any mosfets. After that, presuming all caps have been checked for shorts, you are left with checking any chips on the board. If you have a second working one, this becomes feasible, otherwise that's usually the end as too costly. Hope this helps. Keep up the good work - your videos are good fun to watch.

[@martinhoschel7321]

Wow, song was aweseom!!

[@pacotaco333]

Bro the song is 🔥🔥🔥

[@denatra3868]

Is that a torn pad/trace on one of the caps you changed? look at 14:00 top right.

[@zakneutron]

Could it be the software layer? A firmware update delivered by LAN or BT?

[@309electronics5]

100% can. I had the same problem on another speaker. The wifi board runs linux and uses some applications/daemons to communicate with the mcu on the mainboard via uart and often the main mcu on the board waits for the module to send the messages that its alive, if the mcu cant get those it loops the blinking led until it gets that "i am alive" message

[@sebastian19745]

Have you see the manual? There are the LED color codes. Indicator Colour Meaning Input Selected Off Standby N/A Dim Red Sleep N/A Pulsing Red Powering up N/A Flash Red twice Reset started N/A Orange On Aux Fast flashing Orange Volume adjustment Aux Fast flashing Red Invalid operation Any Slow flashing Yellow Wireless setup mode N/A White Firmware update N/A Flashing white Firmware error N/A Have you considered that the unit might be working and only not outputting sound? Maybe the output amp fried? Because at the beginning, the LED was solid orange, also might be the AUX input selected and it do not output anything since there is no input connected.

[@henriquegrizotti6390]

Your multimeter is charging the capacitors, that's all. Congratulations on the channel

[@RealGengarTV]

4:15 wow that's an interesting bassport design :)

[@GYTCommnts]

Could it be a firmware issue? Is possible to reflash the firmware?

[@coryengel]

Outro music is awesome.

[@adamgrimsley2900]

Nice

[@shm5547]

The LED works, so maybe trace back from that to see what chip is controlling the LED? Then what inputs to that chip might be causing it.

[@309electronics5]

Its the main pic mcu. It could also be that its a firmware issue causing the wifi/bt module which might be/is linux based to not boot up properly or to not communicate with the main mcu and then the main mcu gives an error because it expects an "i am alive/booting and i am ready" message from the wifi/bt module. Idk but it could be

[@shm5547]

​@@309electronics5 yep, could be a corrupt firmware issue

[@Hammarsand]

Thank you David!

[@Peter_A1466]

On bigger amplifiers commonly the system checks the outputs for shorts (defective final amplification transistor) and dc voltage (defective capacitor) before switching on the outputs to protect the speakers. Where you able to identify the individual functional parts that make up this system? I.e. power supply section, amplifier, control section, etc...

[@whitenorthstar]

Hi Peter...yes...it's called "Post" Power on self test...I doubt this speaker would have something like this in built but...,

[@Peter_A1466]

@@whitenorthstar Given the pulsing LED, there is some kind of POST going on 😃

[@gamemaster2022]

You always make my day with your videos :))

[@jamesw5584]

Id be looking at the class d chip first, the idea being to focus on components under the most stress. Im not familiar with that IC but most have a short circuit protection on them and will pull a pin down on the buck converter and prevent the power supply from "booting" up if there is an internal fault.

[@keithmarlow143]

Next on the shopping list - an ESR meter... Would have made fault finding a bit easier.

[@streetDAOC]

Meter loading. No short. Was the multimeter charging the capacitors

[@uniqueangel]

For the information always put same voltage cap and for the value.. you can go slightly over but not to much just nearest

[@UberMicroRepairs]

Look into reinstalling the firmware. Might be in a type of DFU mode.

[@joeypaisano9235]

Biggest fan here. Have ur poster next to my bed. Its great seeing you when i ho to sleep and wake up

[@P5YcHoKiLLa]

The fk?!

[@Knappen82]

That Baby Reindeer-series comes to mind from this comment 😅

[@TheTriviumFreak]

love the fresh new devices thank you!

[@robindis6274]

Best intro song to date 🤣❤

[@bart.k]

12:25 Any chance your tools (rhs) shorted something on the board? But the idea from other comments of your meter charging caps sounds legit

[@gunnargarcia901]

I've got one the same.... flashing red light is 'protect mode'. Hold the reset button, then plug power in.... should get a white light now. This means you can run a software reboot via the ethernet connection.... except B&W have ended support for this model so no software available... mines on ebay now....

[@Smithy225]

My initial instinct with the pulsing red light was Bluetooth pairing mode. Silly question but did you actually test the speaker? The pulsing red light might be normal?

[@andyspoo2]

Don't forget the original owner knows how his speaker works. He's on here.

[@Smithy225]

@@andyspoo2 yep fair point

[@RandomAudioGuys]

UTI260B , Ive watched your channel for over a year and I think this thermal image camera with the Macro lens would help a ton. I noticed when you were looking at the chips the heat map was low resolution. WIth the UTI260B and Macro Lens I can see shorts inside of chips. Its amazing for the money and really good resolution. Its just a good recommended upgrade for your tools. Keep up the good work bubba.

[@P03Z]

Nice DC shirt

[@oliverer3]

So to me the slow blinking LED imploes that whatever microcontroller is running the show is getting all it's required voltages and booting up just fine. Therefore I'd assume it's failing to communicate with something else on the board, so main suspects would be the wireless board or the amplifier IC depending on if the amplifier is digital or not.

[@muersel08]

Good Video