QAccoustics BT3 speakers no power

mrochester · 7 Jul 2020 at 17:49

Hi all.

My QAccoustics BT3 speakers have no power. Theres no power LED lit and the button to switch input source does nothing.

I’ve tried swapping the cable for my TV which uses the same connection with no joy (the TV works with either power cable).

I’m not sure what else to try since they are an integrated unit.

Anyone got any ideas?

Many thanks.

M.

mrochester · 7 Jul 2020 at 17:50

And the second I post this they have started working again with no further input from me!

Marsman · 8 Jul 2020 at 02:09

Strange things are afoot at the circle K!

mrochester · 8 Jul 2020 at 07:04

And this morning they have lost power again!

Marsman · 8 Jul 2020 at 15:56

Hmm.. Got to be an intermittent fault. Maybe there is a bad connection somewhere.

Might be worth taking them apart and having a look at solder joints. Perhaps post some pictures of the electronics, see if any of the forum members who are good with electronics can spot anything obvious, if you can't see anything that could be causing a problem.

mrochester · 8 Jul 2020 at 16:00

Marsman said:
Hmm.. Got to be an intermittent fault. Maybe there is a bad connection somewhere.

Might be worth taking them apart and having a look at solder joints. Perhaps post some pictures of the electronics, see if any of the forum members who are good with electronics can spot anything obvious, if you can't see anything that could be causing a problem.

Thanks for the reply. I've just sent an email to Q Acoustics to see if they can shed any light. The speakers were bought in December 2016 so sadly out of warranty.

mrochester · 10 Jul 2020 at 11:01

Q Acoustics replied and basically said it sounds like I’d ruled out any easy-to-solve issue and invited me to get in touch with their UK repair service (Sontec) for possible inspection and repair.

Given they are based in Norwich it would seem impractical for them to be able to inspect the speakers.

Any ideas what to try next? I’m happy to get the screwdriver to the back of the powered unit to see what’s inside!

Many thanks.

M.

mrochester · 10 Jul 2020 at 13:06

And I’ve just plugged the speakers in again after having them unplugged for a while and suddenly it’s working again!!!

Man this is annoying.

Marsman · 10 Jul 2020 at 13:17

I think you'll just have to take them apart and post some pictures showing enough detail for some of the forum members with electronics experience to cast their eyes over. Even then, it may be an issue that cannot be discerned by looking at pictures alone.

It's probably worth trying that first though; because otherwise, you'd just have to post them to the repair centre, which may not be cheap, and the repair cost may not end up being justifiable anyway. I suppose they'd give you a quote first, but you'd likely have to pay two way postage, if you want the speakers back.

Local person who is good at repairing electronic devices, is another option.

DoneADougalOnSofa · 10 Jul 2020 at 13:24

If it's an IEC socket (kettle lead style), it's fairly common for solder joints to go on the pins. Sounds like a loose connection.
Could be two minutes with a soldering iron provided access to the innards is possible.

mrochester · 10 Jul 2020 at 13:25

DoneADougalOnSofa said:
If it's an IEC socket (kettle lead style), it's fairly common for solder joints to go on the pins. Sounds like a loose connection.
Could be two minutes with a soldering iron provided access to the innards is possible.

It’s the smaller 2 pin radio style.

mrochester · 10 Jul 2020 at 17:36

Interestingly if I cut all power to the speakers for a while when I next plug them in or switch them on they seem to come on fine (tried this twice and both times it worked).

Marsman · 10 Jul 2020 at 17:56

Have they ever cut out when you've been using them?

mrochester · 10 Jul 2020 at 18:02

Marsman said:
Have they ever cut out when you've been using them?

no not yet.

Marsman · 10 Jul 2020 at 19:28

I would have thought if it were a poor solder joint connection with the power socket on the powered speaker, I'd expect there to be loss of power when using them. No power because of a poor solder joint only when turning them on seems pretty remote.

mrochester said:
Interestingly if I cut all power to the speakers for a while when I next plug them in or switch them on they seem to come on fine (tried this twice and both times it worked).

So they work if you leave them off for a certain amount of time?

I wonder if it could be a heat issue and the speakers only work again after being allowed to cool down. How likely that is I don't know, given that they don't cut out when in use, when heat will be at the maximum. :confused:

mrochester · 10 Jul 2020 at 19:33

Marsman said:
I would have thought if it were a poor solder joint connection with the power socket on the powered speaker, I'd expect there to be loss of power when using them. No power because of a poor solder joint only when turning them on seems pretty remote.

So they work if you leave them off for a certain amount of time?

I wonder if it could be a heat issue and the speakers only work again after being allowed to cool down. How likely that is I don't know, given that they don't cut out when in use, when heat will be at the maximum.

Yeah a poor solder joint would cause erratic behaviour but they seem to work pretty reliably until they sort of don’t. It’s only when they’ve not been used for a while that they appear to stop working. Ordinarily when not used for a while they power down themselves but the red LED remains lit to indicate there is power. This issue means they have no power at all.

mrochester · 18 Aug 2020 at 15:39

So I’ve finally cracked these speakers open because they will no longer power on at all.

I’ve had a look at the internals and nothing from my very limited understanding looks to be a problem.

there is a small fuse on the power supply board which is labelled T1.6AL250V.

could this be anything to do with the intermittent and now total loss of power? I always think of uses as either something that does or doesn’t work rather than something in between! Other than the metal end caps the middle bit of the fuse looks like it is made of cardboard.

Is it worth replacing the fuse?

Many thanks.

m.

adrichardson81 · 19 Aug 2020 at 21:04

In my experience, a fuse is unlikely to give intermittent issues. I would seriously consider sending them in, but make sure they're very well protected when you post them (I sold mine a while back and Parcelforce murdered them in transit). Q Acoustic can be a pain to get support from, so definitely strike while the iron's tepid.

mrochester · 20 Aug 2020 at 10:47

adrichardson81 said:
In my experience, a fuse is unlikely to give intermittent issues. I would seriously consider sending them in, but make sure they're very well protected when you post them (I sold mine a while back and Parcelforce murdered them in transit). Q Acoustic can be a pain to get support from, so definitely strike while the iron's tepid.

Sadly it made no difference. It’s almost not worth sending it in for inspection because it’s £45 fee for them to inspect AND the cost of shipping it to them.

adrichardson81 · 23 Aug 2020 at 20:17

mrochester said:
Sadly it made no difference. It’s almost not worth sending it in for inspection because it’s £45 fee for them to inspect AND the cost of shipping it to them.

Ouch - that's pretty steep. Postage would be a good £20. Can they give you a price for a new board? Might help you figure whether it's viable or not.