Little-Miss Posted September 13, 2010 Posted September 13, 2010 Hi, One of my promethean boards has no power to it. To make things slightly more difficult we have these boxes on the walls referred to as "Becta" boxes, im not sure if that's their official name. It's basically a big "switch" on the wall which swaps the source from PC to laptop, Video cable and sound is also attached. When this happened to me last time, i opened the box to find that it just had an Activboard power block in there. Also tried different power lead and socket just to make sure it wasnt fuses etc... Is there anything else i can check before i spend 30 odd pound on another?
witch Posted September 13, 2010 Posted September 13, 2010 We've got those Becta boxes as well - they are a pain! Can't think of anything else you could try except changing the power leads. I must admit I have had this already since we came back - I think some of these old boards don't like being switched on again after a 5 week break 1
Little-Miss Posted September 13, 2010 Author Posted September 13, 2010 Oh so glad its not just me!!!! Awful things! Actually cause more problems then they help!! Grrr £34 for one of those power supplies....think im just going to have to risk buying one and see if it helps. If not suppose its always good to have a spare..
Hightower Posted September 13, 2010 Posted September 13, 2010 Have you more than one of these? If so, the obvious thing would be pull the PSU from another board and test it on the 'faulty' board. You'll know then whether it's your board or the PSU that's the problem. 1
cmssbrie Posted September 13, 2010 Posted September 13, 2010 Hi, The quickest way to determine if the PSU has gone is to try another one. The PSU's do live inside the Beta boxes - so if they are easily accessible, it might be worth borrowing one from another system and trying it before buying a new one. Not much help, I know, but if you've tried another IEC lead to the Becta box, and it's not working, the next thing would be to try another board PSU inside the Becta box. Good luck! 1
Little-Miss Posted September 13, 2010 Author Posted September 13, 2010 Good point! They are just evil to get out lol!! Not thinking straight with pushy teachers!! Plus got to find a willing victim! Thanks
Hightower Posted September 13, 2010 Posted September 13, 2010 Should only take a few minutes to whip one out after the bell - good luck!
Little-Miss Posted September 16, 2010 Author Posted September 16, 2010 Ok, took PSU from working board, didnt help Is there anything else that can go in these boxes? It's just that if the board itself had died, wouldnt the SVideo and sound still work?!
witch Posted September 17, 2010 Posted September 17, 2010 So...there is no power to the board and you have tried another psu with no success? Does the board have power to it when it is NOT connected to anything else? (I have known dodgy laptops/computers take the power away from a board - even if it isnt powered via USB) Isn't there a Promethean support guy on here somewhere? Could you find him and ask the question?
webman Posted September 17, 2010 Posted September 17, 2010 When we've had faulty PSUs in the past, a quick check with a multimeter has always given a 0 volt reading - that saves a lot of messing around swapping. Also, when the IWBs that are connected to Becta boxes fail, we've just bypassed it and ran new separate cables. Does that board work in another room?
cmssbrie Posted September 20, 2010 Posted September 20, 2010 Ok, took PSU from working board, didnt help Is there anything else that can go in these boxes? It's just that if the board itself had died, wouldnt the SVideo and sound still work?! Only the PSU's can go in here - the other stuff (SVideo / VGA / COM) are just a "link through" cables. Webman's suggestion of trying a direct cable to the back of the board is probably your best bet - but if all your installs have the BECTA boxes, you might not have any. Basically, there is a serial cable that goes in the back of the board (which has a startack connector) - at present, this will be going directly to your BECTA box - if you have one from another "same model" board, you could try another serial cable (the PSU piggy backs into it to provide power), and try that - this would deffinitely tell you if the board has died. Another option, might be to give the Tech Support guys a call from inside the room, so they could help you to troubleshoot (0844 855 2201). To be honest, it is extremely rare that the boards will completely die - normally, if you've no power at all, it is the PSU, so if you aren't getting any power, might be worth having a look at the back of the board (top left hand corner), and seeing if the connector(s) are still plugged in. Hope you manage to get it sorted! 1
dbrown Posted October 4, 2010 Posted October 4, 2010 (1)It's just that if the board itself had died, wouldnt the SVideo and sound still work?! (Little Miss) (2)Only the PSU's can go in here - the other stuff (SVideo / VGA / COM) are just a "link through" cables. ... ...it is extremely rare that the boards will completely die - normally, if you've no power at all, it is the PSU,(CmssBrie) No doubt it is rare, but if power is getting to the sound (from the PSU) surely it can't be the PSU at fault? Although the projector stays on come what may, the red/green light on the sound switch goes on & off as you connect / disconnect the PSU, but the board and the flame of learning stays stubbornly off. I think the projector is totally irrelevant - it has mains power, but no extra low Voltage DC. I think the sound is the key: if all USB / serial cables are removed (or connected only to the PSU), then power to the sound is only coming from the PSU. Therefore the problem is either the board or the connection from the sound to the board. What would be useful, would be a wiring diagram, so that one could check that all the cables are in the correct places. The flexes (and any cables) are so inaccessible that it seems unlikely anyone would move them, but on one of our height adjustable boards, as the board moves up and down, it pulls it's own plug out. The first time I spotted this, I just had a dangling lead and it was pure trial and error finding which of the empty sockets it went into.
Little-Miss Posted October 5, 2010 Author Posted October 5, 2010 ARGH!! Right, i really think there is something not right in that Becta box. I have now actually physically swapped the board itself. That now has power but i still dont seem to have anything else! The board knows when the pen is touching it, but when i try to connect the board to the computer using the Settings it just says not connected. I didnt test this thouroughly as the class returned but i dont think there was any sound either! Help!!!
Little-Miss Posted October 5, 2010 Author Posted October 5, 2010 bump as being made to look incompetent....
LeMarchand Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 Has the computer got up to date Promethean drivers? Used to get the "not connected" thing a lot with the older drivers (and there was a non-standard way to register them) but the newer ones seem OK.
ICT_GUY Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 Cheap multi voltage psu's from wilkinsons work well, Or you can buy 12V supplies from Maplin that are better built and will last. Great for trouble shooting too.
Little-Miss Posted October 5, 2010 Author Posted October 5, 2010 Tis serial. I only reinstalled the drivers. Will try newer drivers, but it would be odd as it is the same driver used throughout the school with no issues. But nothing suprises me anymore.
plexer Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 Ok when you swapped the board do you mean the complete interactive whiteboard itself? did you use the serial/power lead from the non working board with this second board or did you use the serial/power lead that was attached to the second board? If you haven't then try swapping over the serial/power lead that clips into the electronics housing by depressing the latch on it. If you identify that it is the cable at fault does it look like this TDS Promethean - Serial cable - DB-9... - CAB-SER-1 at Insight UK Ben
Little-Miss Posted October 5, 2010 Author Posted October 5, 2010 Swapped the IWB. The cables are all trunked in so will have to see if i have a spare lying somewhere.....
plexer Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 Ok well if it looks like the one in the picture and you don't have a spare PM your postal address and one will be winging it's way to you. Ben
Little-Miss Posted October 5, 2010 Author Posted October 5, 2010 Right, I found a really short one...so stuck the one end into the Becta box and the other end into the back of the board (so lucky to have a friend who takes time out from her things to help me). PC still didnt pick up there was anything there... I checked to make sure everything is ok in device manager which it is. Out of pure frustrastion i stuck the Serial into the back of the pc to try and bypass the box....not sure if that was the right thing to do as i dont know if there was something special about this serial, but there was no explosion but still nothing... I give up. I've looked at this from all different angles im getting myself confused....
plexer Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 Anychance of some pictures of the board and connectors etc...??? Ben
Little-Miss Posted October 5, 2010 Author Posted October 5, 2010 I can get you one of the inside of the Becta box after school. See what i can do about the board. I need to check the sound system too as if there is no sound there is something wrong inside the Becta box.
cmssbrie Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 Hi, Sorry I went "off line" last week - I wasn't in, so have just seen that you are still having problems!. Okay, just to clarify one thing - the only thing that is given power inside the BECTA box is the board. There is one PSU - which is a board PSU - this does not provide anything else power - i.e any audio - it is purely for the board - all audio on these systems was provided by an external powered amplifier (if they were Promethean installs that is!). Anyway, I managed to get hold of an old Becta box we had lying around - these are the ones we supplied - anyway, I took a photo of whats inside (you may have more cables inside yours - ours has been butchered! :-) ) http://uk.prometheankb.com/pf/7723/webfiles/becta%20box.jpg So, if you have no power going to your board, it is likely that the Board PSU has failed. The only thing you can do is... a) ensure the figure 8 lead is going into the Board PSU (top left of box in the picture) b) Ensure that the small DC (from the PSU) lead is plugged into the Serial cable inside the Becat box (centre of box in picture, with the blue and red "lines" going into it) c) Ensure the "Board Connector" (outside of box in picture at the top) is plugged into the board. Failing that, you could, if you have or can get hold of one easily to test - take a known working PSU, plug that externally into the mains, and plug that DC end (red "line" in picture) into the internal serial cable inside the Becta box (centre of picture) - Your board should then power up. This will tell you if it is the PSU that has failed inside the Becta box. Hope this makes it eaiser to diagnose!
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