Synergy VH4 Issue (resolved) - MID pot faulty confirmed

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JKD

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Short poll here guys. please only comment if you own or have owned the Synergy VH4:

1. Have you had any issue with your module? Yes/No

2. If yes, what configuration are you playing it with?

I have an intermittent issue, seemingly random, with mine and trying to find commonality / troubleshooting.

To be clear, there's no complaint here *at all*...was just trying to see how many more there were out there to gather data on symptoms.

I honestly wouldn't have expected anything else on an intermittent failure, the CS team has been nothing but flawless experience.
 
Here's my post:

1. YES

2. Intermittent issue where Blue Channel will suddenly become much louder than Red Channel and Tone controls have no effect (like they are bypassed/running wide open) and only GAIN / VOLUME works

Has happened in SYN2/4CM in loop of MOD50, directly in Egnater MOD 50 and in Randall RM100 (two channel kit)

I have ruled out Tube failures, swapped PCM ribbon cables and unit has been on the bench at Synergy - No Fault Found / Can Not Duplicate :-/
 
my guess is if you have changed both tubes in the module .
you must have something loose or a cold solder joint somewhere

I think if they can't find it ,they should just send you a new one and test it first .

FYI, another user Jason said the same on TGP yesterdays that his VH4 stopped working , so maybe its something in the actual PCB in that batch that didn't seat right

good luck
 
I've not noticed this happening either running in my Mod50 or in my SYN2 in the loop of my VH4.

Hope you get it sorted!

Ross
 
withmittens said:
is there trouble getting warranty service?

Nope, it's been in for service and they cannot find the problem.

There is nothing physically on the board that would indicate a poor or cold solder joint (I used to be a QA guy on this stuff) but I agree the symptoms are like that or a failing component...juts chances are I will plug it in today and it will be fine for a few days :-/

Jason contacted me over at RT too, so we'll see what becomes of his module.

I am trying to see how widespread it is..since I've heard of two other cases so far.
 
JKD said:
withmittens said:
is there trouble getting warranty service?

Nope, it's been in for service and they cannot find the problem.

There is nothing physically on the board that would indicate a poor or cold solder joint (I used to be a QA guy on this stuff) but I agree the symptoms are like that or a failing component...juts chances are I will plug it in today and it will be fine for a few days :-/

Jason contacted me over at RT too, so we'll see what becomes of his module.

I am trying to see how widespread it is..since I've heard of two other cases so far.

wait, you have a new module that is covered under warranty and they elected to send it back rather than replace it? leaving you to figure it out? what am I missing? Sorry, I don't understand
 
withmittens said:
JKD said:
withmittens said:
is there trouble getting warranty service?

Nope, it's been in for service and they cannot find the problem.

There is nothing physically on the board that would indicate a poor or cold solder joint (I used to be a QA guy on this stuff) but I agree the symptoms are like that or a failing component...juts chances are I will plug it in today and it will be fine for a few days :-/

Jason contacted me over at RT too, so we'll see what becomes of his module.

I am trying to see how widespread it is..since I've heard of two other cases so far.

wait, you have a new module that is covered under warranty and they elected to send it back rather than replace it? leaving you to figure it out? what am I missing? Sorry, I don't understand

It's not unusual for a manufacturer to send the same unit back if it's No Fault Found or Can Not Duplicate the error....since there's no guarantee it's not user error. Up to their policy but was their call on whether to either send a new unit or the same one back, since either way cannot be guaranteed to solve the problem.

In this case, if I cannot resolve..it will surely have to go back again....I am hoping to collect data to pin it down further.
 
tschrama said:
Gnd connection og the middel pot failing?

That would explain your symptoms.

I would have thought it might be the treble pot....interesting.

Pots usually have three connections right - wiper and either end of track right?

Plus a case/chassis ground?

In any case, the mid pot on the affected channel is behaving completely differently to the other channel, whereas Ch A is showing a good sweep of resistance as I turn the pot....Ch B seems to be stubbornly staying a high resistance (0.4-0.5MOhm) whatever position the pot is in.....is actually .473MOhm
 
Not to hijack...but definitely keep Synergy on their toes. My 'customer service' experience with Synergy was pretty terrible.
 
Bleedback said:
Not to hijack...but definitely keep Synergy on their toes. My 'customer service' experience with Synergy was pretty terrible.

I sent them an email with info gathered in this thread and request for exchange plus best wishes for New Year of course :)

I am reasonably confident they will provide a satisfactory solution based on experiences to date.

I've some electronics experience but not in tube amps plus used to work in QA/Reliability testing and in a startup....life can get on top of you sometimes. :)
 
JKD said:
tschrama said:
Gnd connection og the middel pot failing?

That would explain your symptoms.

I would have thought it might be the treble pot....interesting.

Pots usually have three connections right - wiper and either end of track right?

Plus a case/chassis ground?

In any case, the mid pot on the affected channel is behaving completely differently to the other channel, whereas Ch A is showing a good sweep of resistance as I turn the pot....Ch B seems to be stubbornly staying a high resistance (0.4-0.5MOhm) whatever position the pot is in.....is actually .473MOhm

More reason to believe that the GND lug of the middle pot isnt making contact with GND.. When the wiper of the middle pot is set to zero, it should make contact with GND. Either e cracked pot or a failing GND connection.. Would explain your measurement and symptoms.

Eitherway easy fix if you give any tech this information.
 
I've been considering getting into the synergy stuff this upcoming year, but if this is how they handle their customers, I'll just stick with what I have.
 
warmachine67 said:
I've been considering getting into the synergy stuff this upcoming year, but if this is how they handle their customers, I'll just stick with what I have.

To be clear, there's no complaint here *at all*...was just trying to see how many more there were out there to gather data on symptoms.

I honestly wouldn't have expected anything else on an intermittent failure, the CS team has been nothing but flawless experience.

Synergy are exchanging my module, they agreed with tschrama that the MID pot was faulty as I sent them the measurement result.
 
tschrama said:
JKD said:
tschrama said:
Gnd connection og the middel pot failing?

That would explain your symptoms.

I would have thought it might be the treble pot....interesting.

Pots usually have three connections right - wiper and either end of track right?

Plus a case/chassis ground?

In any case, the mid pot on the affected channel is behaving completely differently to the other channel, whereas Ch A is showing a good sweep of resistance as I turn the pot....Ch B seems to be stubbornly staying a high resistance (0.4-0.5MOhm) whatever position the pot is in.....is actually .473MOhm

More reason to believe that the GND lug of the middle pot isnt making contact with GND.. When the wiper of the middle pot is set to zero, it should make contact with GND. Either e cracked pot or a failing GND connection.. Would explain your measurement and symptoms.

Eitherway easy fix if you give any tech this information.

Yes, thank you very much...this helped me pinpoint the problem as all the other pots behave.

Tech at Synergy agreed and they are replacing my module.

Thanks again!
 
JKD said:
warmachine67 said:
I've been considering getting into the synergy stuff this upcoming year, but if this is how they handle their customers, I'll just stick with what I have.

To be clear, there's no complaint here *at all*...was just trying to see how many more there were out there to gather data on symptoms.

I honestly wouldn't have expected anything else on an intermittent failure, the CS team has been nothing but flawless experience.

Synergy are exchanging my module, they agreed with tschrama that the MID pot was faulty as I sent them the measurement result.

No worries. Glad you were able to get it sorted. My interjection only sought to offer a bit of objective perspective as a 'heads up' to keep on Synergy in actually resolving the issue (based upon a very negative experience I had). :)
 
I have same issue I had it for 2 weeks it worked fine then blue channel suddenly got louder and the tone controls stopped working.

They have it but haven't looked at it yet.
 
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