White Smoke After Voltage Fluctuation on the Yamaha DRB 15 speaker

[LugaoPaladino]

Hey there!

I'm from Brazil. Here we have voltages of 127v and 220v, despite 127v being more common.
After I checked the voltage in the wall socket with a simple voltage checker key, it lit up one light showing the voltage was 127v.
The place I was have an energy generator, I dont know what happened, but as soon as I turned the Yamaha DBR 15 speaker on, it didnt light up, and I saw a white smoke coming out of it. I turned it off, and unpluged the energy cable of it. Then I checked again and the voltage on the socket wall and it lit up 2 lights, so the voltage was 220v. After some seconds I tested again and it went to 127 again.
The external font of my Roland TD3 burned, but either the TD3 or the Yamaha DBR are ok, they are still working fine as always!

Also, some months ago, the Yamaha turned off, and after sometime, like secods it turned on (mutilple times), I saw this "white smoke" coming out, but just a little bit. And then, it never happened again. I also think it was a voltage fluctuation problem of the place I was in.
My Yamaha has a key selector for 127v or 220v.

Questions:
1 - What might be this "white smoke" from the Yamaha DRB 15 speaker?
2 - What kind of energy equipament can I use to prevent problems like voltage fluctuation from happening?

Thanks for any help!

[g1]

I think an electrolytic cap might give off a whitish mist when venting before it blows up. If that's what it was, it could be that it was shut down before it completely blew. Or perhaps it did blow and the unit is still working.
I would look for any bulging electrolytic caps, or signs of electrolyte spillage on the circuit board.

[LugaoPaladino]

I think an electrolytic cap might give off a whitish mist when venting before it blows up. If that's what it was, it could be that it was shut down before it completely blew. Or perhaps it did blow and the unit is still working.
I would look for any bulging electrolytic caps, or signs of electrolyte spillage on the circuit board.

Thank you very much! It still is on warranty so I'm gonna send it so someone can take a look.

Do u recomend any kind of equipament that can protect the speaker from these voltage fluctuation? Again, thank you!

[x-pro]

It's simple. Please refer to the instruction manual.
It is not permissible to power the device from an undefined voltage source.
The device is self-sufficient. Improvements to protect internal components developed by a group of Yamaha engineers are not the work of a master.

[LugaoPaladino]

It's simple. Please refer to the instruction manual.
It is not permissible to power the device from an undefined voltage source.
The device is self-sufficient. Improvements to protect internal components developed by a group of Yamaha engineers are not the work of a master.

Thank you. I understand it. But I'm talking about using for example a "power conditioner" to avoid these voltage fluctuations.
I don't know it is the best solution or there are even cheaper solutions.

[Pixel]

The problem is with your "energy generator". I don't think there is a consumer grade power conditioner that is going to help you. You aren't getting power spikes that a surge protector could help you with. You also are not getting power outages that a UPS could help you with. A UPS would probably suffer the same fate as your speaker.

[J M Fahey]

After I checked the voltage in the wall socket with a simple voltage checker key, it lit up one light showing the voltage was 127v

I checked again and the voltage on the socket wall and it lit up 2 lights, so the voltage was 220v. After some seconds I tested again and it went to 127 again..

Absolutely unreliable.

Use a VOLTMETER.

As of the equipment: if it works, it works, you were VERY lucky (although you burnt a power supply); if it does not work, you killed it.

A $10 multimeter could have avoided all of this.

[LugaoPaladino]

Absolutely unreliable.

Use a VOLTMETER.

As of the equipment: if it works, it works, you were VERY lucky (although you burnt a power supply); if it does not work, you killed it.

A $10 multimeter could have avoided all of this.

Not really. As I stated, I wasnt at the time with my voltmeter and also I already have played somedays before in the place, so I KNEW it was 127v and that day everything went fine. So, the problem (which mainly was due to their generator kicking in) would have happened either I had my voltmeter or not...

What I'm politly asking is:

Is there some reliable and relativily cheap protection against this specific energy problem?
Even if the protections burns, but saves the speaker.

I've read that some equipaments and sometimes they are not cheap doesnt help, are scams, and so on.

[Greg Robinson]

A surge protector power strip rated at 127VAC. These contain MOV's that will clamp overvoltage and blow a thermal breaker rather than pass continuous excess voltage onto any appliances connected to it. They will not eliminate ALL risk to your gear, but will provide a degree of protection. I don't know how available they are in your country, but are common here in Australia (though rated for 240VAC here) and in North America. I don't know about other regions of the world.

[LugaoPaladino]

A surge protector power strip rated at 127VAC. These contain MOV's that will clamp overvoltage and blow a thermal breaker rather than pass continuous excess voltage onto any appliances connected to it. They will not eliminate ALL risk to your gear, but will provide a degree of protection. I don't know how available they are in your country, but are common here in Australia (though rated for 240VAC here) and in North America. I don't know about other regions of the world.

Thank you very much for the help! I have found and already bought one! It has microprocessor and some other protections (it only allows the energy flow when the tension is right). The input is 127v or 220v but there is a button to select the output voltage, so in the worst scenario, it will burn it, but not the equipament.

[Greg Robinson]

Well that's not exactly what I was suggesting - I'd be concerned that such a device has added points of failure with questionable utility. The type I envisioned was about as simple and robust as possible - power in, fuse, MOV's, power out. I'd recommend testing this device using a variac or similar before trusting it in service. I hope it works out for you!