Alexander Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Okay...I turned on my stereo to listen to a little music a few minutes ago. I pop in the disc and it starts playing, but no sound is coming out. I check the volume, which is fine. I'm just about to check the speaker connections, when I notice a smell of burning plastic. I look at the receiver (a Sony (STR-AV 220)that I got used on Ebay two or three years ago) and notice SMOKE coming out of the vent. I look through the vent and see a little glowing piece inside. I immediately turn it off and the glow stops, the smoke stops, etc. I give it a few minutes and then turn it on again. It turns on normally (there's a "click" that occurs a few seconds after you push the power button). I decide to test it with a disc. The disc plays and I get normal sound. WTF is going on here? Is my receiver dead? Should I just throw in the towel? Or could it be a chance malfunction that is unlikely to happen again? I'm reluctant to use it now, for obvious reasons. The thing is that I am REALLY poor right now and can't afford to replace the receiver. But I can't imagine having to go without using my stereo for God knows how many months... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Smoke is a bad sign, dude. It's a fire about to happen. If anybody has any contrary knowledge, let's hear it, but electronic gear that starts smoking...I don't see any way that can be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted January 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Smoke is a bad sign, dude. It's a fire about to happen. If anybody has any contrary knowledge, let's hear it, but electronic gear that starts smoking...I don't see any way that can be good. No I agree. It's bad. I'm just hoping against hope that it isn't fatal. But it probably is. Which means that I have to find another receiver. I've been looking on eBay and I've found some receivers that are used and pretty cheap (in the $25 range). Obviously, it's not ideal and even that small amount is really more than I can afford to spend. But I could make $25 work, if I eat at my mom's house every night... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spontooneous Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Have a geeky friend check it for short circuits. But this is important: Check your cables and other connections for shorts that might kill your next receiver too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 I wouldn't even keep the thing plugged into the wall if it has started smoking. Maybe you could give it to a high school shop class and see if those geniuses can fix it. (Do they still have shop classes in high schools? Probably not.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 It's time you sat down with your receiver and had a serious talk. It may be going through a rebellious stage and watching too many French films. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 It's time you sat down with your receiver and had a serious talk. It may be going through a rebellious stage and watching too many French films. The fact that it has begun smoking almost ensures that this is the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Yeah, what did it smoke? Red Libanon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 You don't want the thing to cause a fire Alexander. I'd follow the above advice and pull the plug. How about taking it to some sort of repair shop (if those still exist and it's not prohibitively expensive). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Definitely get it checked out ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 You don't want the thing to cause a fire Alexander. I'd follow the above advice and pull the plug. How about taking it to some sort of repair shop (if those still exist and it's not prohibitively expensive). I would imagine minimum charge would be $50 -- and $100 or more is a lot more likely. Sad truth is that for most electronics, particularly computers, it isn't cost effective to repair them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 (edited) We have an excellent stereo repair facility here in Portland called Inner Sound. I've used them extensively. They nick you $50.00 for just putting your head in the door. They apply this fee to offset the cost of diagnostics. You can ask them to call you with a final estimate or authorize them to go no higher than a specified amount without contacting you first. Obviously, if you can replace your unit for less than $50, that's the way to go. Getting stereo equipment repaired is probably not cost effective, but I've found over the course of time that you tend to develop something of a relationship with your gear that makes the cost secondary to keeping it in good health. Edited January 20, 2011 by Dave James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 (edited) Let me understand this... it was smoking and not working. You shut it off, let it cool down and now it *is* working? If this is the case you got very lucky. Most times, smoke=fried component and no amount of time will fix that. If it is now working, it may not for long. All that said, what may have happened is that you got a lot of dust/dirt/gunk in that vent and some of it decided to conduct and created a short-term short. Unplug the amp and open it up. Carefully vacuum the major dust/junk you see. Next, go to your local RatShack and pick up a can of compressed air. Blast the whole thing as best as you can. After, if any more dust clumps show their ugly faces, vacuum them up too. Kevin Edited January 20, 2011 by Kevin Bresnahan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
six string Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 If you can't afford to have it looked at and repaired then you might as well keep using it as long as you can. I wouldn't leave it on unless I was in the house/room though. You'd hate to lose everything to a house fire because you went to the store with the stereo on and have it repeat the performance only this time it starts a fire. I had a roommate in the 70s that "smoked" my amplifier by hooking up two sets of large speakers to it and most likely played it really loud. I wasn't home at the time but he told me the sound stopped and then smoke started pouring out of it. I took it to a shop and they replaced the power supply I think. Anyway that was around 1976 or '77 and though it's my secondary amp, I still use it weekly and I bought it new in 1972. I paid $170 for it new (Acoustic Research) and I paid about $65 to have it repaired. Yep, I've got my money's worth I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Maybe it just had sex. Otherwise forget it. This is where dead voices gather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Let me understand this... it was smoking and not working. You shut it off, let it cool down and now it *is* working? If this is the case you got very lucky. Most times, smoke=fried component and no amount of time will fix that. If it is now working, it may not for long. All that said, what may have happened is that you got a lot of dust/dirt/gunk in that vent and some of it decided to conduct and created a short-term short. Unplug the amp and open it up. Carefully vacuum the major dust/junk you see. Next, go to your local RatShack and pick up a can of compressed air. Blast the whole thing as best as you can. After, if any more dust clumps show their ugly faces, vacuum them up too. Kevin I definitely second that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Johnson Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Maybe it just had sex. Otherwise forget it. This is where dead voices gather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 (edited) "Do you smoke after sex?" "I don't know; I never looked" Edited January 21, 2011 by AllenLowe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted January 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 (edited) Thanks for all of the very good advice and very funny rejoinders. Touché, sirs! Here's where we are as of today: I've left it unplugged for the last couple of days. Today, I plugged it in a turned it on. So far so good. I listened to the rest of "Sign O The Times" (which I had been listening to yesterday on headphones) and then the first disc of the "Costello/Nieve" live set. No smoke. No problems whatsoever. Sounded fine. When the second disc was finished, I powered down and looked closely. The top of the receiver (right over the power source) was warm to the touch, but no more so than usual. After I took a look, I unplugged it. So it played a disc and a half without incident. Hmmmmm.... One thing that had occurred to me was that there might have been some dirt or debris that had conducted some electricity and created a minor short. I've looked, and there's nothing there now (whatever was there might have burned away already). The other thing that I have considered is the fact that when I turned it on the first time (the night it was smoking), I had turned it on while the TV was still on. I've recently moved into a new apartment, and the TV is plugged into the same outlet as the stereo. In addition, the TV is hooked up to my DVD player and the DVD player is hooked up to the receiver. Since this is the first time that I have had the TV, DVD player (which I also used for CDs) and the receiver on at the same time since moving into this apartment, it occurs to me that what might have happened is that the receiver overloaded. I have not tried to use the TV, DVD player and the receiver at the same time since. I also acknowledge that it is possible that the receiver might not have much life left in it. I'm supposed to get paid for a modeling gig I did in December (I played Ben Franklin. I also recently sent an e-mail bugging them about payment), and I plan on using some of that money to buy a new (used) receiver. Edited January 22, 2011 by Alexander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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