Re: [xl7] Digest Number 1587
2005-10-28 by daxe
On this volume knob powerdown thing, just open the machine up and look inside!! It's not rocket science! I'm not an electronic tech, either, but the FIRST thing I do when something malfunctions is LOOK at it to see if I can find the problem. More often than not it's something very simple and obvious. Even a cracked circuit board (in case the unit was dropped on that knob or something) can usually be fixed by jumpering the traces externally. To me, it sounds like the volume pot might be rotating slightly and the contacts may be touching part of the soft button. At the very least, the humming just says 'bad ground.' Maybe there's a ground wire from the vol pot that's waving around in there and touching the momentary switch for the soft button or something, but you aren't going to know until you just LOOK inside! The XX-7s are designed to be opened by users to insert new ROMs, so it's not going to go sproinging a bunch of springs and electrical components everywhere when you open it. I had mine open a few times to repair stuff inside and if you are careful, there's not many problems to be had. One thing to be aware of: If you need to take out a board that has LEDs on it..and has those little clear domes that protrude through the front panel and light up...do it very caefully. The domes are separate little plastic pieces which are not attached to anything..they just get sandwiched between the front panel and the circuit board to hold them in place. to replace the circuit board you have to stand them all up and line them up VERY carefully and then gently set the board down without knocking any of them over. You won't break anything if you knock them over, but it is a pretty delicate operation. Other than that, the insides of the XX-7 are pretty simplistic..just a few circuit boards screwed to the casing and joined with ribbon cables. If you are worried about putting it back together the right way after you take it apart..take some digital pictures or draw a picture of the inside before you disassemble it. The ribbon cables tend to stay bent the way they have been anyway, so if you are gentle with them (only remove one end) they will kind of lay back the way they should go anyhow. I bet you see sometihng clearly mechanically loose or broken when you get in there. You might be able to fix it with some needlenose pliers or quickly soldering a connection back together. Good luck! ~snakefooot --------------------------------- Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]