Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 861v4 startup issue

Hi guys, I just got a 861v4 with a blown XP PSU. Being an electronic engineer it was not too hard to source & replace the PSU with 5V calibrated to 5.2V. Watchdog modification confirmed already done.

Powerup is fine, shows the "Meridian 861" on the front panel and then a relay clicks it into what I presume is either standby or protection - not having worked with an 861 before does complicate it somewhat as I don't know normal behaviour..

Some front panel buttons work, I can change the TYPE as well as calibration (speaker distances, levels etc.) but nothing seems to keep it on i.e. showing a source on the display - the Source button does nothing.

Oddly, on the capacitor module between the PSU and the mainboard are two 3pin plugs. From what I gather the plugs are the input and output of a LM317 regulator circuit with the regulator being adjusted by what possibly could be a thermistor. Oddly though, the mainboard only has one matching cable, which is plugged into the socket that goes to the output of this circuit but with nothing plugged into the input (and no cable in the unit to plug into it) it will never work. Operation is, as expected, identical with this plugged in or out and maybe it's just a legacy thing from the various PSU configs the 861 has had.

Before wasting more time with either digging on the electrical level or null modem connections, can anyone please confirm if this is expected behaviour or if I'm missing something obvious? Debugging the respective cards in situ will be nearly impossible without a degree of effort that I'm not sure will be worth the value of the unit..

Depending on the cards installed, this could be normal. If you have analogue output cards, that could be the muting relay kicking in.

Does the rest of the 861 operate normally? The buttons could be sticky or the switch contacts need cleaning - do you have an MSR remote you can try to change the source with.
It is worth downloading the Meridian Configuration program as that will allow you to properly set the unit up.

The extra grey 3-pin socket goes off to a fan in some 800-series units, I'm not sure it was ever implemented in the 861...

Look on the PSU capacitor board for the three lights (Red, Yellow, and Blue) - if they're all lit, then the +5v, +/-12v rails are all good.

Check for bulging capacitors on other cards - they can shorten the life of the new PSU.

Good luck,

Steve

Hi,

FYI< on my 861V4 recently (magnificently repaired by swpnt) The source button does indeed change the source after powering on.

/Marcus