2 x PowerNode with no speaker output

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16 comments

  • Official comment
    Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    Hi Martin

    Just to clarify - Bluesound discontinued the POWERNODE N150 in early 2015 in favour of the POWERNODE 2 (N180). We do regret to hear this happened but unfortunately due to the age of the product, and the cost of the DDFA, we no longer are able to provide parts for it. Servicing it would be more costly than updating to newer models. I realise this is not ideal in today's concerns about environmental initiatives but is unfortunately the case. 

  • Martin Benavidez

    I have a similar problem. There is no output to the loudspeakers, the unit has a red blinking light that means "amplifier in protected mode". Bluesound recommends to contact the local dealer but it's unclear if this would fall as "warranty". 

    Pulse 2 Red Blinking Light – The Bluesound Support Crew

     

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  • Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    Hi Martin, The PULSE 2 was discontinued in late 2017 and uses a similar DDFA design. Since The PULSE 2i we have used a newer up to date design so my answer regrettably is the same as it is to Martin.

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  • Paul Dowdall

    Hey Tony, Are you serious? Powernode N150 was discontinued in 2015? I appear to have the same issue, no speaker output & have only had the unit for 4 years. Are you telling me it was well obsolete before I got it?

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  • Martin Benavidez

    Tony, there is no reason for an amplifer to break just like this. The quote I got from the dealer to repair is 600euro, which is a no option. Could you please provide a workable option? 

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  • Martin Olsson

    From looking inside my Pulse and PowerNode units (haven't had the need (yet) to look inside my Node or Vault units), I can say that the BlueSound brand is quality sound for the ear and has a higher price tag than most other streaming solutions on the market, BUT, the quality on the inside is for sure questionable at minimum, electrolytic capacitors used from budget Chinese manufacturer(s) that you never heard of, that fact and that schematics aren't available is a big let down I think. I have other equipment from other manufacturers that are like 3-4 times older without any issues and that is because the components used on the inside is quality (and to get detailed service manuals for them is no problem). I don't know about other streaming manufacturers but I'm very disappointed over my discovery for choosing (at the time at least) the premium manufacturer on the market and I think it was like 50% more expensive than the market competition (like Sonos etc.). Since my own discovery of the poor quality components used I've learned that even newer generation(s) than mine have the similar/same poor capacitors so BlueSound didn't just use budget capacitors on the 1st generation at least.

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  • Bruce Miranda

    I have exactly the same issue. I had 2 x Gen 1 Powernodes that were working perfectly. Then all of a sudden both have stopped outputting any sound. Both have the latest firmware. Both seem to be responding to the app and the buttons on the units update the app too. But absolutely no sound is coming through on them..

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  • Sebastian Appel

    Same here... 

    Despite the N150 being an outdated piece of equipment I don't see any reason for stopping to use it.
    Mine appears in the app and shows as if it was playing music, but not signal on the speaker terminals. 

    I went ahead and opend the unit to check for obvious things, such as missing voltages. 
    Everything looks within sepec, with maybe a little offset on the speaker power, which should be +/- 29V, but is acltually only -27 on the ngative rail. Feeding it form an extrnal supply with exactly +/- 29V did not produce any changes, nor did changing the caps in the power supply. 

    Next thing I checkd is the signal form the WiFi part to the power amp. It's I^2C or something, but when you connect a headphone to the pins you can actually hear the sound. So the receiving part seems to be working, too

    Next check was the relay at the output, that connects the amlpifier output to the speaker terminals and expects some sort of signal to do so. This signal is not being provided, likely due to some protection kicking in. The question is, what protection?

     

    Any thoughts on this?

     

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  • Martin Olsson

    Very interesting findings, Sebastian! Are you a member of the FB group "Bluesound Fans"? Would be great to discuss in more detail and possibly help each other out with measurements etc.

    It would of course be nice if Bluesound would help out with information/schematics etc. especially since Bluesound says they have discontinued the product early 2015 (that's 10 years now) and don't supply parts for it any longer.

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  • Bruce Miranda

    I have a Teamviewer session with the Bluesound support team on Monday to figure why and how both my N150 Gen 1 Powernodes are not outputting any sound. They respond as they should on the app and there is no Red light either steady or blinking.

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  • Bruce Miranda

    I've had a Gen 1 Powernode suffer from the blinking Red light issue before. I replaced capacitor C59 on the DDFA board and it cured that problem temporarily, until the issue returned. So I gave up on that Powernode. But these two were working perfectly, were disconnected, stored for a few weeks, reconnected again and both were dead. In classic Bluesound support fashion I was guided through the reset and firmware upgrade process, which I have done and still I have two dead powernodes.

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  • Bruce Miranda

    Concluded my Teamviewer session yesterday with the Bluesound support team. They too cannot explain why all of a sudden I have 2 x Powernodes that output no sound. How can I have 2 hardware failures simultaneously!! I've been left with no option but to send the hardware in for a service. Madness.

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  • Martin Olsson

    Again, schematics would be helpful. The resellers/distributors must have information/service manual from Bluesound to be able to repair these units.

    Any idea of the background regarding C59? Is that a surface mount electrolytic capacitor?

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  • Bruce Miranda

    C59 is a normal "cheap" through hole capacitor. It looked a bit distressed and without a schematic diagram, I was just guessing. I replaced it and it solved the Red blinking issue with the Powernode.
    But the 2 other Powernodes not outputting any sound is a real head scratcher.

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  • Bruce Miranda

    OK some progress to report. Given I had nothing to lose, I opened one of my dumb Gen 1 Powernodes that had no sound output. I then simply bypassed the relay board by plugging the speaker outputs directly to the amp board (the plugs are the same) and the powernode plays music. This means that the powernode is fine and it's the signal to the relay board that is not being sent.
    My guess is the relay board is there to switch on the speakers when the audio signal is ready to be played. But whatever software logic or electronic circuit being used to switch on the relay board, has a problem.

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  • Martin Olsson

    Replaced all small electrolytic capacitors on the DDFA board (7-8 of them were completely off the charts in capacitance and ESR) but sadly no progress. Checked a few of the capacitors on the PSU board but they measured OK (not in any way perfect though but good enough). Think the PSU delivered around 28.5VDC to the DDFA board when I measured it and I think I saw a marking of 29V so I guess that should be sufficient?

    I really don't see the point of Bluesound/NAD not releasing the schematics for this old unit. There are other schematics from NAD around so why not for this old obsolete model?

    I also want to shout out to Bruce and Sebastian to join the FB group "Bluesound Fans" and contact me there, it would be easier to exchange findings etc. there and through direct messaging and be able to exchange pictures etc.

    Haven't worked on the 2nd Powernode yet but I might take a look at it and do measurements there too. I've also bought a set of the small capacitors for that DDFA board.

     

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