I bought a green AVT-8710 to go with my Pinnacle 710 USB card (which is still in transit). I used a DVD recorder as the stand in capture card in order to test the TBC. The reason for wanting to do this test quick is because I paid for it via PayPal, and half the money was held up by PayPal until I verify that the unit was delivered. I didn't want the seller to have PayPal hold the money (I know how frustrating this is).
Anyway, this haste turned out to be a mistake. The unit came with the SP41-150600 power supply which is a US plug. I knew this would be an issue, so I got a US to UK power plug adapter. Plugged it on, light came on, and then I smelled plasticky smoke. The AC Adapter was quite hot.
The seller has since told me I actually need a step down converter to convert 240v to 120v.
Obviously I will buy something, and on Monday I plan to take this to a professional who can troubleshoot what damage I've done.
I have opened the unit and took photos of both sides of the PCB. It actually looks fine, no melting or burnt traces but I know this doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.
My question is, am I wasting my time? Is this BEYOND repair, or could this be a simple case that either a capacitor is gone or the AC adapter is bad?
This is going to be on my mind all weekend, I have learned an expensive lesson but I just hope not all is lost.
The only way to be sure what damage may have been done is to have it competently tested. Did you not know that UK mains voltage is about twice US? The US style plug is a warning sign not to be ignored.
Hard to say what's bad based on that information. I'd say first step would be to test the AC adapter while not plugged into anything to see what voltage is produced and if it's DC or AC. Would also open up the AVT-8710 and see if anything appears burnt inside. The fact that the AC adapter was hot may mean something internally there got fried and hopefully not the more expensive AVT-8710. An easy test would be a 12VDC adapter that works on 240v to try with the AVT-8710 and see if it works on that. I believe from some other posts that the center pin is actually negative which is reverse of most standard AC adapters, so you'd want to keep that in mind if you try that. - would look at that original adapter to verify. Sounds like that original adapter was not a switching power supply, otherwise it likely could have been used with either 120 or 240v.
This is why you must be careful who you buy TBCs, VCRs, etc from.
As an example, I would never send a 100-120V plug outside of North America, especially not the heavy temperamental brick that was OEM with the green AVT-8710. There were two OEM supplies from AVToolbox (TVOne), both of them 100-120V input, 12V- or 15V- output. One was a heavy brick, the other less so.
For these specific TBCs, I must use a very specific APD 12V+, with a very specific polarity reversal cable (so now 12V-), and a very specific on/off inline power switch. You cannot use any random power supply for these units, they are cranky!
Anytime I send overseas, I also pay attention to the country. For example, to UK, I will either provided the UK mains version of the APD, or europlug version, or the proper main/europlug adapter. (The exact choices varies on factors at the time.)
You never want step converters for anything, if avoidable. Those add noise. All TBCs can be powered by native power (proper adapter needed, of course!), and almost all VCRs can as well (specifically referring to JVC S-VHS VCRs here, even many that state "220-240" work perfectly in 100-240V worldwide). Some powered capture cards are the same.
The AVT-8710 is/was a plastic TBC, on a small form factor board. This has consequences to longevity and repairability. The chips on this specific board (and the 1T variant) are not protected, and sometimes get nuked. Certain chips (DAC, ADC) are stock, and can "easily" (not really) be swapped. But others are bitlocked, and you're screwed.
Power issues like this can easily cascade, and this is likely a total loss to you. I hope not, but I don't want to give you false hope here. I've had far too many failed AVT-8710s over the years, including my own units. It's always a sad day to the community (and especially the owner) when we lose TBCs like this.
It probably will be an expensive lesson in being detailed-oriented with video gear, I'm unhappy to say.
But do as timtape says, and have it vetted by somebody that has that skillset.
- Maybe timtape volunteers?
- This isn't something I can do anymore, the MS is affecting my fine motor control too much for tiny boards.
- Perhaps contact Diopter_Doctor, but noting he's unfamiliar with these (having mostly done just TBC-1000s)
...Sounds like that original adapter was not a switching power supply, otherwise it likely could have been used with either 120 or 240v.
Yes quite possible. I have a probably later blue unit ( Ambery TBC 1). Annoyingly the TBC-1's power input socket has no markings for polarity, voltage, minimum current or whether AC or DC is required. The User Instructions do state that 12volts power is required but nothing more. At least that's some information.
Attached is the label on my Ambery TBC 1's supplied switch mode power supply. The plug appears to be 5mm with a largish centre hole. Note that mine is not an AVT 8710 so I cant be sure the AVT 8710 requires the same power supply unit and plug. Can someone else here clarify please?
Confirming also that as per the small diagram at the bottom of the label on the power supply, the TBC-1 unit requires a negative polarity centre terminal.
Thanks for replies. It is 5am where I am and thinking about this waste of money has had me up most of the night. Forgive my brief reply as I do want to try and get some sleep. I will reply further later.
I have opened the unit, nothing appears physically wrong. I have attached pics and a video. Again, I know this may not actually matter as any damage could be hidden.
The unit came from Spain. I did actually think about this beforehand and assumed (obviously wrongly) that as Spain is more or less identical to the UK in terms of electricity, then an adapter would be ok.
If the consensus is to simply get the proper adapter for UK, I'd rather do that.
Is anyone selling one or know the exact model I need to get? I know it won't fix the issue, but if the issue does get fixed, at least I have the adapter ready.
Nah, pfft, don't get that thing. I have an adapter here, let me send you one of these. Rather than guess at this, I can plug it into my own AVT-8710, to verify it works perfectly. PM me. You've taken enough chances already.
I remember once i use a brand new step down converter for my us jvc svhs vcr and it smelled like crap. Didn't got further, I changed it immediately for another. The mistake i did, i think was to not connect the vcr to it immediately so it could pump some juice out.
If you saw the light on chances are the TBC is fine, Don't use a voltage converter, they tend to get very hot, Instead find the right adapter designed for 220V/50Hz mains, If you can't, look for one with the exact voltage, polarity, barrel size and amperage.
Most importantly, never get a switched power supply, those would create noise and put a toll on the capacitors, The way they work is by switching on and off the current very rapidly for a certain amount of time (duty cycle) to obtain the right voltage, Turning on and off current shorten capacitors life, These power supplies work for the devices they are designed for but they can never be a replacement for continuous duty power supplies and devices.
If you saw the light on chances are the TBC is fine, Don't use a voltage converter, they tend to get very hot, Instead find the right adapter designed for 220V/50Hz mains, If you can't, look for one with the exact voltage, polarity, barrel size and amperage.
Most importantly, never get a switched power supply, those would create noise and put a toll on the capacitors, The way they work is by switching on and off the current very rapidly for a certain amount of time (duty cycle) to obtain the right voltage, Turning on and off current shorten capacitors life, These power supplies work for the devices they are designed for but they can never be a replacement for continuous duty power supplies and devices.
Thanks. I hope you're right about it being fine. The unit still smells a bit funky too. Maybe the board is fried but I hope you're right.
As it happens, another cheaper TBC was delivered today and it works ok - it came with this adapter and numerous barrel fittings. Two of the barrels fit the AVT-8710.
I've attached a pic. It seems on this one you can change ether polarity.
Shall I risk trying it, or is this too powerful? (I am not up on how electric currents/ampage/volts work so forgive the newbie question).
If it is worth trying, what settings should I choose? I guess from what you're saying, you would recommend not trying it.
I don't know, you have to find the voltage and current rating from either the TBC manual or from an original trusted power supply that was shipped with, You will be looking at two things, output voltage, say 12V DC, and output current, say 500mA (0.5 Amp), or 1000mA (1 amp), Once you match that, next thing is the polarity, make sure the polarity is right, although most devices are protected against reverse polarity using a diode circuit but don't rely on it. The last thing, make sure it's not a switched power supply, Usually switched power supplies are very small and light, non-switched ones are bulky and heavy and use large isolated power transformers, The one in the picture appears to be a non switched power supply as it looks old.
Note that amp rating is not critical like voltage, So if the TBC is rated for 500mA, you can run it with 800mA, but you cannot go under 500mA or above 1000mA.
Here are the specs from my original AVT-8710 power supply.
Output: 15VDC 600mA Negative tip, positive ring!
The unit is a rather inefficient linear transformer. Input is rated for 120VAC 60Hz, 14W!
Note, if you are looking for a somewhat modern solution, you could use a USB Type C Power Delivery "trigger cable" rated for 15V output with the correctly wired barrel plug on the end. That way you could use any USB-C PD charger you might have laying around.
Thanks. That info may help my repair guy tomorrow. I'm going to be giving it to him with speculation as to what is wrong, and no technical info other than the stuff posted here.
USB would be nice but to be honest it's the nightmare I've had, I just want to use the guaranteed correct plug which is why I've just bought the UK plug from LordSmurf.
It may not fix the issue, I may have been done permanent damage, but if I do get it fixed then I have the proper plug going forward, no step down converter needed, no added noise.
I've learned a very harsh and expensive lesson here. Never plug in expensive and rare stuff someone sends you. Check its safe to plug in first.
I would advice against a USB-C charger for two reasons, One it is a switched power supply type, Two, it cannot communicate the right voltage with the charger, so the charger may not know what voltage it should deliver, To be safe, stay away.
I was was hoping that was it (and mentioned it to you either here in the thread or PM). There was a slim chance that the PSU kamikaze'd itself, and the unit remained protected.
That said, the 20-year-old AVT-8710s can be touchy. Just watch it, baby it. Never use for mor than 6 hours without a power off rest. Never accidentally leave it on overnight. The quick mod with the Pi heatsinks may help, or not, but it can't hurt. Just don't rely on it.
