Soundcraft Venue II - problems

[ehasting]

Hello,

Since everybody on this forum is mixing inside scope with virtual faders and knobs i guess this is a long shot

However. I have purchased an old Soundcraft Venue II and didt payed much. however when i came home and powered it up, the PFL/AFL light in master section is always on. However it seems like operational wise it will affect only the monitor output channel and headphone output (and the master led-meter), so its not like i cant use it.

Anyway is there any one here with some experience with similar problem? I have tried to use contact spray on all PFL and AFL buttons, and nothing changes. it seems like the problem are in the master section.. Any obvious or not so obvious things i can test out.

Rgs
Egil Hasting

[garyb]

check the card for cracked solder with a lot of light and a magnifier.

did you get the schematic? it's probably available on the Soundcraft website. anyone who can read the schematic should be able to find the problem. is the power supply working correctly? i think it has several fuses and rails...

[ehasting]

Thanks for quick replay.
The PSU is working correctly. all status lamps light up. However i could get an voltmeter and measure the actual output.

I dont have the schematics, but it should be possible to get. Seems like i need to buy my self a soldering iron, its been a while since i have been doing that kind of stuff.. but the soundcraft is probably the best place to start for my rusty skills since its 90% through-hole mounted devices.

[ehasting]

Btw.. i payed around 650 USD for the board (32 channels, 6 aux, 8 group) everything else seems to be working great.
is it a good price, or am i fooled? its going to be used for mixing the scope output. So basilcy i will route groups back to scope for group compression i.e. and aux are connected to scope as send effects same with the eventide eclipse i have.

The noise level is acceptable from what i have heard when testing, and i find the eq sound good and accessible for my use. I mix today it all in scope, but i just want to have sliders again, its just a workflow thing .

However i cant find THAT much information about the board, and its a live board i guess (even thought i can set all the Aux to post-fader by change jumper on each of the channel cards.. phew). So any knowledge about the board is welcome.

[garyb]

yes, it's a live board, but a very good one.

the price is ok i think. even if you do some repairs, the board is worth the money for the fairly good mic pres alone.

definitely get the schematic and manual. without at least the schematic, it may be hard to get it fixed, at least at a reasonable price.

[dante]

However i cant find THAT much information about the board, and its a live board i guess (even thought i can set all the Aux to post-fader by change jumper on each of the channel cards.. phew). So any knowledge about the board is welcome.

You got the user manual with the block diagrams didnt you ? from the same site you sent nunziata, or they not detailed enough ?

http://www.soundcraft.com/downloads/user_guides.aspx

[dawman]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... mOyinxWtqg

Just in case, this guy has way more than he advertises.
I actually got the schematics for all of my ancient gear in case it fails, I have a decent repairman here in town who also does restorations.
But email Mark as his lists never seem to be updated often.

I got schematics for the DMX-8, QX-1, JL Cooper stuff, really old mid '80s stuff.

FWIW they made gear last back then. Each piece above mentioned has worked forever and has always worked w/o repairs.
I had to replcae the QX-1s Mains Power cable once as it just was rolled up once too many a night.

[Bud Weiser]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... mOyinxWtqg

Just in case, this guy has way more than he advertises.
I actually got the schematics for all of my ancient gear in case it fails, I have a decent repairman here in town who also does restorations.
But email Mark as his lists never seem to be updated often.

I got schematics for the DMX-8, QX-1, JL Cooper stuff, really old mid '80s stuff.

FWIW they made gear last back then. Each piece above mentioned has worked forever and has always worked w/o repairs.
I had to replcae the QX-1s Mains Power cable once as it just was rolled up once too many a night.

Thx for the link !
I have over 3GB of owners- and service-manuals and schematics collected for a lot of pieces of gear I owned.
So, sometimes there´s a chance I have something for free, but most is related to keyboards, MIDI modules, samplers and related.
Some FX too.

Bud

[dawman]

[fateepat]

Good day,

I happened to run across your post and here is what I found on a Venue 2 theater console with a ghosting pfl.

The problem with this desk was the power supply CPS-750B, the +17volt rail was sagging down to 11 volts under load. The LT1083 was dammaged and could not maintain proper regulation under load. This imbalance caused the pfl light to ghost and partially activate the circuit. I re-built the entire +/- 17 volt rail supply, re-cap, new regulators, tr5 & 6 etc... this supply is hard working and it was just plain tired or, the +17 volt rail was subjected to a short circuit and damaged the regulator. The Sound Co who owned the desk tried to work on it to fix it's little bugs but they do not have a service tech to do it properly.....enough on that.

I have $45.00 dollars of parts in it and it is up to spec., now the rail drops .15 volt under load. The current draw on each rail is 3.2 amps at idle. The new owner of this desk has used it on a club rental for the last few months and has run without any issues.

I do not know weather you still have the desk since your post is a couple of years old but I hope this helps. The desk is not a bad one, it does sound good and I have mixed a few shows on this one when it belonged to the local Sound Co. It's just big, bulky and heavy but not hard to work on should it develop a bug......watch those insert jacks and keep the normal's clean!

Pat "fateepat" Conway

[borg]

You know? PlanetZ is not just a not just a forum I go to to exchange info, and although I don't post very often anymore, most of you have become acquaintances,even friends, and met in real life as well.

And as in real life, sometimes a complete stranger joins the club, have an interesting, enjoyable tile, to never hear of him again... And you think: 'Who was that guy, and what was he doing here?" Thanks Pat! Nice post!

At work we still have one of these as well, although never used anymore... I never worked on it anyway... All venues in our theatre have Digico's now, and the big analogue stuff only gets used on special request (Midas XL3) or for monitors (Soundcraft MH3). It's way more attractive to look at an analogue desk, but damn, it's so much easier to just pull a BNC couple, or ethernet, to the stage, have your vintage snob rack at FOH for the few things that really need that extra colour, and off you go... And then I haven't even touched templates/presets/configuration (very easy, even hardware wise).

Anyway, Thanks again, and I'll discuss it with our chief of sound!

[ehasting]

Hey,

I took the Venue 2 to a repair-shop and had it fixed - and he described the problem like you did to me.
Thanks for that .

[fateepat]

Good Morning

Glad to share my input on tech issues....no matter how wrong I am...lol. I was looking for a answer to the pfl problem with the Venue and stumbled across this site. It pay's sometimes to have a second or third pair of eye's on a problem. That's what these forums are about. Love being in the trenches with everyone else, that's what makes it all work.

Anyway glad to shed some light on the issue with the old Soundcraft.....I agree it's much easier to unplug a Cat cable than a 40 ch. multi. Can't wait to see what is coming 10 years down the road in this business.

Fateepat was a nick name given to me by the late George Jones, still weigh 135 lbs sopp'n wet. It will all catch up to me some day!

I enjoy this forum and love to see what others are up too.......73

fateepat