User Error?

[Ronsonic]

This is a new one for me. Customer reports that his assistant DJ / Flunkie was plugging things in when all the lights came on and they smelled smoke.

[LPDude]

OMG! Well there goes that training session!

[Jazz P Bass]

Now hudda thunk that the Vac plug would fit the xlr.
You know, there are safety engineers out there that get paid to find stupid stuff like this.

[Ronsonic]

Now hudda thunk that the Vac plug would fit the xlr.
You know, there are safety engineers out there that get paid to find stupid stuff like this.

That's the one I've been asking myself, if I had designed it would I have noticed this possible problem.

As it is, it is actually easier to plug the power cord into the XLR than the inlet jack. The inlet jack is tight and indexed.

[Enzo]

Wow, I am actually laughing out loud at that.

[Chuck H]

That's crazy. I blame the designer for having the two connections so close to each other. The unit was probably in place when someone reached around the back to plug it in. Then again, you would expect that embarrassing mistake to have been corrected before bringing the unit in by anyone aware of it.

[g1]

WoW! Isn't that a somewhat common AC cord? Never realized the pin spacing was the same as an xlr. Perhaps you could send Denon a copy of the pic captioned "what's wrong with this picture". Not to pick on Denon though, I'm sure there is other gear with that type of cord and xlr's, I'm surprised no one else has "tried" this before (or maybe they have).
Agree with Chuck, someone who knows this unit and is used to reaching around (and plugging it in blindly or in the dark) just missed by a bit this time.

[pdf64]

They could avoid the situation by using an IEC connection for the line power input, even if the ground is not needed.

[Enzo]

Or a hard wired cord. Or a wall wart.

[Ronsonic]

They could avoid the situation by using an IEC connection for the line power input, even if the ground is not needed.

There is a two wire version of the IEC connector that immediately came to mind when I saw this. Well, immediately after I got over the

[Enzo]

Oh yes, the two wire one Roland used to use on a bunch of keyboards. The one that required the special power cord to fit. And the three wire cord would not fit.

We solved that problem by replacing it with the common three pin IEC. Now ANY common power cord will power up the darn thing.

[R.G.]

Reminds me of the time when I was working for Major Computer Company and we had to scramble engineers onto airplanes to fix a piece of word processing gear in a legal office. This was well before the personal computer, back when word processing cost some money.

Seems the equipment in question had failed, been repaired by the Highly Trained Company Service Technician, and then when powered on had smoked the place up and set off the fire alarms, nearly setting the building on fire. When get had engineers on the ground, the first one in looked at the hulk of the equipment and found that the DC power supply connector had been plugged in reversed.

Only the connector in question was a keyed, non-reversable Mate-N-Lok 12 position (hence substantial) connector, not pluggable in reverse.

When asked could possibly be, the Highly Trained Company Service Technician replied that he had thought that something was a little odd when he plugged those together. He said he'd had to use a big pair of pliers to get the connector to seat properly.

[R.G.]

Reminds me of the time when I was working for Major Computer Company and we had to scramble engineers onto airplanes to fix a piece of word processing gear in a legal office. This was well before the personal computer, back when word processing cost some money.

Seems the equipment in question had failed, been repaired by the Highly Trained Company Service Technician, and then when powered on had smoked the place up and set off the fire alarms, nearly setting the building on fire. When get had engineers on the ground, the first one in looked at the hulk of the equipment and found that the DC power supply connector had been plugged in reversed.

Only the connector in question was a keyed, non-reversable Mate-N-Lok 12 position (hence substantial) connector, not pluggable in reverse.

When asked could possibly be, the Highly Trained Company Service Technician replied that he had thought that something was a little odd when he plugged those together. He said he'd had to use a big pair of pliers to get the connector to seat properly.

[Enzo]

QUick, grab him before he posts it again....


I worked for a company many years ago, and in the main office they had a computer. And with this computer they had bought a brand new hard drive for it. This was in the day when a hard drive filled a desk drawer. Imagine a couple full size VCRs stacked maybe. Computer company guys installed it, and it wouldn;t work. In fact, it would get hot and start to smell like it. They sent over a field tech to assist the install guys. They had manuals spread out, volt meters swinging, and they were conferring mightily. NO success.

After several HOURS of this, our book keeper wandered in there to see how it was going, after all it was SHE who would be using the hard drive. She looked down into the works of the thing they were gathered around and asked, "Does that big bolt with the large red "REMOVE THIS SCREW BEFORE USING" tag around it matter?"

Yes, they had neglected to remove the transport shipping bolt. Prevented the motor from turning.

[J M Fahey]

The way you tell it, I guess they used a 1/2 HP three phase motor to turn that GIANT 5Mb drive, .... and I'm only half kidding.