So I just installed a ColorDMD LED on my AC/DC this afternoon. I figured this would be a great Labor Day project and I know this should be a fairly easy install (one ribbon cable and one power cable; mount to speaker panel) but when I powered up to test it out, I initially heard a weird screech from the speakers and the ColorDMD is just blank. None of the indicator leds is lit either. I assume this is a power issue? Per the directions, I disconnected the original power source and routed the included power harness to the aux power source at the front of the machine. I checked around and no fuses appear to be blown.

One other piece of relevant info: I have a speaker led kit installed as well and had that powered with a pigtail off the aux power source. I had an open pigtail and used that initially for the ColorDMD. When that didn't work, I plugged the ColorDMD directly into the power source (bypassing the pigtail) but still no power apparently as the screen is still blank and no indicator leds are lit.

Any suggestions on what may have happened and/or how to get it to work? Thanks in advance!

Tom

I will give that a try, thanks.

I checked the cable and the red stripe is towards the top of the ColorDMD so I think that is ok.

I checked visible fuses with a meter and they seem to be ok. Different readings on the meter, I assume from different ratings on the fuses. If there is any indication other than 0 ohms, the fuse is good, correct?

Which ones are these specifically? Maybe I will just swap them out with new fuses to confirm. Of course, if this was the problem, I am concerned what caused it to begin with. I did make sure I reconnected the grounding wires on the display beforehand.

Well, that would explain it! That adapter is a pigtail I bought years ago I think for the speaker led mod. I never used that particular pigtail line before. I guess the other pigtail is wired correctly since I have been using it for years with no problem. I never thought to check the wires themselves--just assumed it was good.

Hopefully it is just fuses and not anything worse...thanks for pointing that out though.

So I took a closer look at the pigtail. There are three pigtails--two of the pigtails were wired correctly, but the third one (the one I tapped into for this) was incorrect. I bought a few of these pigtails and have them installed on some of my other machines. I will inspect those as well to make sure any unused pigtails were manufactured correctly.

Haven't had a chance to replace fuses yet, but something must be out, because I have no sound either now. I hope that nothing is actually fried. All the other lights, etc. on the machine seem to be fine.

Turns out I blew both audio 5 amp slo-blow fuses. Replaced those. Then re-pinned the pigtail correctly and hooked everything back up.

With fingers crossed, I flipped on the power switch--success! ColorDMD looks fantastic and nothing was fried!

Thank you Pinside and everyone who talked me through figuring this one out!

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Hmmm...I haven't posted the latest code yet--was going to after I completed this. Does anybody know for sure about this?

Excellent! Perhaps I will update the software tomorrow. I had been waiting for the update to the update, but I guess that isn't happening any time soon!