ADVC 100 Power supply replacement

[Monzie]

My advc 100 was working fine. The following day,however, when i was switching it on, there was no power. Then i hear a faint high pitch sound coming from the power adapter.

Is my adapter a 'goner'? Is it repairable? If not is there a replacement for it? If so, where can i get one? Does GrassValley have a distributor her in the Philippines or South east Asia

[GrassValley_KH]

There are distributors in your area, which you should be able to eventually reach by contacting technical support via our Web site. Follow the link in my signature.

[Monzie]

There are distributors in your area, which you should be able to eventually reach by contacting technical support via our Web site. Follow the link in my signature.

Thanks. I'll do that.

[rann]

Monzie, I had the same experience: my ADVC 100 power supply had the high-pitched whine and died after a couple years. I bought a replacement from Rose Productions in Canada, who intermittently has them on E-bay.
Here is the model number & specs; perhaps you can find the power supply elsewhere as well:
ENG (brand name) switch-mode power supply, model EPA-121DA-05. This power supply will accept 100 to 240 volts AC, and puts out 5v DC, 2.5a. I'm not sure if this unit automatically comes with the correct connector for the ADVC 100; you may need to check that. I got mine through Rose Productions on E-bay, and it was correct.
FWIW, the ADVC 110's power supply is almost identical except that the connector is slightly bigger around; the 100 power supply connector works for both the 100 and the 110, but my 110 power supply connector will not fit in the 100.

[Monzie]

Monzie, I had the same experience: my ADVC 100 power supply had the high-pitched whine and died after a couple years. I bought a replacement from Rose Productions in Canada, who intermittently has them on E-bay.
Here is the model number & specs; perhaps you can find the power supply elsewhere as well:
ENG (brand name) switch-mode power supply, model EPA-121DA-05. This power supply will accept 100 to 240 volts AC, and puts out 5v DC, 2.5a. I'm not sure if this unit automatically comes with the correct connector for the ADVC 100; you may need to check that. I got mine through Rose Productions on E-bay, and it was correct.
FWIW, the ADVC 110's power supply is almost identical except that the connector is slightly bigger around; the 100 power supply connector works for both the 100 and the 110, but my 110 power supply connector will not fit in the 100.

Rann, Thanks for the info.
The ENG brand is the originally supplied unit. I was able to contact the local distributor here in the Philippines and inquired if they had a replacement power adapter. They said yes and so i ordered one. What they supplied was the ADVC -PSU5V. branded UNIFIVE.

While the input/output voltages are the same, there are slight differences in the input/output amps rating of the two units. (.1 amps higher on the input and .5 amps higher on the output on the PSU5V}. Would that make a difference?

As I was surfing about this matter, i came across some info which says that the ADVC-PSU5V is NOT A REPLACEMENT POWER SUPPLY FOR THE ADVC 100". However, the manual that came with the unit i ordered merely states "not to be used in units OTHER THAN ADVC SERIES WITH 5V POWER SUPPLY".

Was wondering then: Can the PSU5V be used with the ADVC 100 without damaging it? Anyone can clarify this please? I don't want to use the adapter on my unit yet.

BTW: The connector of the PSU5V i got fits into my ADVC 100.

[GrassValley_BH]

As long as the plug polarity is the same, the voltage is the same and the replacement power supply provides the same or more amps as the original supply, and they are both DC, then it should work.

[rann]

The power supply that came with my ADVC 110 is a Unifive model UI318-05. Like yours, it puts out 5v DC and 3a. My ADVC 100 ENG power supply (5v, 2.5a) seems to power the 110 fine, although I haven't left it on for hours & hours. But my 110 Unifive power supply's connector is constructed differently than my 100 ENG's connector, in that it has about 2 mm of yellow plastic at the tip that the ENG 100's connector does not have. The bottom line is that that yellow-tipped connector works fine in the 110, but will not completely seat in the 100. So, between the (or at least MY) two power supplies, the ENG unit will fit and power both the 100 and the 110; but the Unifive (with the yellow plastic tip) would presumably power either the 100 or 110, but will only fit in the 110.
If your Unifive connector fits in & powers the 100, I would guess you'll be fine.

[GrassValley_BH]

Spec-ed power consumption is 4.5W for ADVC110, so at 5V, that'd be 0.9A
It's 5.5W for ADVC100, so at 5V, that's 1.1A

Either PSU is more than adequate. PSUs often are a bit over-speced, partly because of supply/demand.

[Monzie]

The power supply that came with my ADVC 110 is a Unifive model UI318-05. Like yours, it puts out 5v DC and 3a. My ADVC 100 ENG power supply (5v, 2.5a) seems to power the 110 fine, although I haven't left it on for hours & hours. But my 110 Unifive power supply's connector is constructed differently than my 100 ENG's connector, in that it has about 2 mm of yellow plastic at the tip that the ENG 100's connector does not have. The bottom line is that that yellow-tipped connector works fine in the 110, but will not completely seat in the 100. So, between the (or at least MY) two power supplies, the ENG unit will fit and power both the 100 and the 110; but the Unifive (with the yellow plastic tip) would presumably power either the 100 or 110, but will only fit in the 110.
If your Unifive connector fits in & powers the 100, I would guess you'll be fine.

Yes Rann, I noticed that yellow plastic on the Unifive i got. I tried fitting it into the advc100 (WITHOUT power yet) and it looks ok. Just dunno if it provides proper contact.

Now that Grass Valley_BH has confirmed that it would be ok to use on my advc 100, I'll try powering it up today.

Thanks, guys for all the feedbacks/inputs. Very helpful.

[Monzie]

Yes Rann, I noticed that yellow plastic on the Unifive i got. I tried fitting it into the advc100 (WITHOUT power yet) and it looks ok. Just dunno if it provides proper contact.

Now that Grass Valley_BH has confirmed that it would be ok to use on my advc 100, I'll try powering it up today.

Thanks, guys for all the feedbacks/inputs. Very helpful.

Just tried powering up my advc 100 with the PSU5V AC adapter. It works OK..

But Rann's correct, the connector to the unit does not sit well because of that yellow plastic. It does not seem to 'lock' in place unlike the original 'ENG' PSU. Kinda risky in case I'm in the middle of 'capturing' work and the unit is accidentally moved and loses the power connection.

Will have to consult the local distributor about it.

[rann]

Monzie - I, too, can just barely make a "power" contact with the yellow plastic tip in the 100, and would not want to depend on it.
Frankly, there does not appear to be anything substantial inside the yellow plastic . . . if you're feeling lucky, you might want to try cutting half of the yellow plastic off with a sharp knife, and you may achieve a good contact that way. I would only try that in an emergency, but I WOULD try it in an emergency. (Such free advice may be worth exactly that . . .)

[Monzie]

Monzie - I, too, can just barely make a "power" contact with the yellow plastic tip in the 100, and would not want to depend on it.
Frankly, there does not appear to be anything substantial inside the yellow plastic . . . if you're feeling lucky, you might want to try cutting half of the yellow plastic off with a sharp knife, and you may achieve a good contact that way. I would only try that in an emergency, but I WOULD try it in an emergency. (Such free advice may be worth exactly that . . .)

Just checked with the Philippine Distributor and told them about the bad 'fit' of the connector of the PSU5V on the advc 100. They said that the PSU5V was the only one available and shipped to them by Grass Valley and that I could just return if I'm not comfortable using it. I wonder though if your source of the ENG brand adapter will ship half the world away.

Maybe our friends from Grass Valley can offer a solution to this problem?

[rann]

Monzie, you have jogged my memory, and I should correct some of my earlier comments. When my original ADVC 100 power supply (the ENG unit) died, I replaced it with an identical EPA-121DA-05 one that I was fortunate to find on E-bay in general electronics. I did enough research to find that the ENG unit came with various connectors, so I contacted the seller and made as sure as possible that the connector on his unit matched what I needed (about 4 mm diameter, yellow plastic on the inside, etc.); I may have been lucky, but the one I bought was fine. If you go looking for the ENG power supply, you will need to confirm that it has the correct connector, or cut off the wrong new connector and splice in the correct one from your old unit, if you want to try that . . .
I then got added an ADVC 110 (wanted a back-up and got it cheap because it had no power supply). Then I bought the Unifive power supply, which matches yours, from Rose Productions, who occasionally has them on E-bay under a "Canopus" heading.
Bottom line:
1) the ENG EPA-121DA-05 power supply is probably available as a
stand-alone unit. You will need to do some searching for it, and will need
to confirm that it has the desired connector (or do some soldering
yourself if you have a correct one).
2) the yellow-tipped Canopus Unifive power supply is what I got from Rose
Productions, and is probably what you will get from anyone selling an
AVDC 110 power supply.
Don't know if that helps much, but maybe it clarified some things. Good luck.

[GrassValley_BH]

If you have a Radio Shack nearby, you can find the appropriate Adaptaplug and an appropriate power supply. But of course we won't support it if you tell us you're not using the approved PSU.

[Monzie]

Monzie, you have jogged my memory, and I should correct some of my earlier comments. When my original ADVC 100 power supply (the ENG unit) died, I replaced it with an identical EPA-121DA-05 one that I was fortunate to find on E-bay in general electronics. I did enough research to find that the ENG unit came with various connectors, so I contacted the seller and made as sure as possible that the connector on his unit matched what I needed (about 4 mm diameter, yellow plastic on the inside, etc.); I may have been lucky, but the one I bought was fine. If you go looking for the ENG power supply, you will need to confirm that it has the correct connector, or cut off the wrong new connector and splice in the correct one from your old unit, if you want to try that . . .
I then got added an ADVC 110 (wanted a back-up and got it cheap because it had no power supply). Then I bought the Unifive power supply, which matches yours, from Rose Productions, who occasionally has them on E-bay under a "Canopus" heading.
Bottom line:
1) the ENG EPA-121DA-05 power supply is probably available as a
stand-alone unit. You will need to do some searching for it, and will need
to confirm that it has the desired connector (or do some soldering
yourself if you have a correct one).
2) the yellow-tipped Canopus Unifive power supply is what I got from Rose
Productions, and is probably what you will get from anyone selling an
AVDC 110 power supply.
Don't know if that helps much, but maybe it clarified some things. Good luck.

Rann,

I started using the PSU5V (UNIFIVE) and it's ok. This was the only PSU available from the local Canopus distributor I guess I just have to be extra careful not to move the unit while I'm doing some capturing work.

Thanks.