CLEAR-COM 1/2 working?

JOhnV

Member
Clear-Com system with 452 power supply, 502 packs
System functions except for:
- CALL LIGHT on BP is always ON
- TALK will not latch ON, only works when held down.
- POWER SWITCH does not light up (yeah it's old neon and is likely just dead)

PS shows good dcV to chA and chB output jacks

Have disconnected all house lines to PS and testing using cable/hdset direct to each output jack on teh PS

clues?
thanks
 
Clear-Com system with 452 power supply, 502 packs
System functions except for:
- CALL LIGHT on BP is always ON
- TALK will not latch ON, only works when held down.
- POWER SWITCH does not light up (yeah it's old neon and is likely just dead)

PS shows good dcV to chA and chB output jacks

Have disconnected all house lines to PS and testing using cable/hdset direct to each output jack on teh PS

clues?
thanks
@JOhnV Your post has prompted more questions. Quoting you: "Have disconnected all house lines to PS and testing using cable/hdset direct to each output jack on the PS" And what happened then?
If you totally disconnect all house lines from your power supply and from all of your belt packs so you have nothing remaining except your wiring and connectors, your wiring should meter contact 1 to all contact #1's and likewise contact 2 to all 2's and 3 to all 3's. None of your contact #1's should meter to any of your contacts 2 or 3. None of your contacts should meter to any of your other contacts other than those of matching numbers. None of your wiring should meter to ground or any grounded surfaces such as conduits, rack panels or grounded metal cover plates. None of your three contacts should connect to any of your other contacts. Contact 1 should be your shield and it should only connect to ground through your power supply's grounded power input cord. Contacts 2 and 3 should be a twisted shielded 18 gauge pair such as Belden 8760. Is your system a single channel system? Have I asked enough questions?? Has anyone else posted while I've been typing???
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
I'm not familiar with that model, but the Clear-Com system I have here has dip switches on the rear that allow you to disable the latching function of the talk button. It is called MOM TALK. When set to "on," latching is disabled. I know there are also some jumpers inside the unit that can change some behaviors, like the headset audio limiter on/off function.
 
ANSWER FOR THOSE WHO CARE (or those who just cant stand leaving a mystery unresolved)

@JOhnV Your post has prompted more questions. Quoting you: "Have disconnected all house lines to PS and testing using cable/hdset direct to each output jack on the PS" And what happened then?

nothing... really..

If you totally disconnect all house lines from your power supply and from all of your belt packs so you have nothing remaining except your wiring and connectors, your wiring should meter contact 1 to all contact #1's and likewise contact 2 to all 2's and 3 to all 3's. None of your contact #1's should meter to any of your contacts 2 or 3. None of your contacts should meter to any of your other contacts other than those of matching numbers. None of your wiring should meter to ground or any grounded surfaces such as conduits, rack panels or grounded metal cover plates. None of your three contacts should connect to any of your other contacts. Contact 1 should be your shield and it should only connect to ground through your power supply's grounded power input cord. Contacts 2 and 3 should be a twisted shielded 18 gauge pair such as Belden 8760. Is your system a single channel system? Have I asked enough questions?? Has anyone else posted while I've been typing???
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

All of this was so at the start. To run tests I had disconnected everything and started with teh PS, a beltpack and headset and a mic cable.
Spent time scratching head about the symptoms:
CALL LIGHT ON
MIC TURNS ON ONLY WHILE MIC SWITCH IS HELD DOWN

checked all the internal wiring of the PS over and over.... all dandy
audio-where-its supposed to be
28VDC where its supposed to be,,,

head-scratching seemed to wake up 2 braincells screaming for Stupid Question Attention way over in the corner of my cranium...
DID YOU CHECK THE MIC CABLE YOU GRABBED?
CHECK EVERYTHING... ASSUME NOTHING...
YES EVERYTHING...

erghhhhh...

2/3 polarity swap on that cable.
got a proper cable....
NOTHING is wrong now.
Genius! whata repair guy are me!
Testing of beltpacks and headsets will reconvene in the morning over bagels/whitefish and coffee

thanks to you all for engaging.
 
The problem is always the last thing you check. Good job on finding the miss-wired cable. It's easily overlooked, but you didn't.
 
ANSWER FOR THOSE WHO CARE (or those who just cant stand leaving a mystery unresolved)



All of this was so at the start. To run tests I had disconnected everything and started with teh PS, a beltpack and headset and a mic cable.
Spent time scratching head about the symptoms:
CALL LIGHT ON
MIC TURNS ON ONLY WHILE MIC SWITCH IS HELD DOWN

checked all the internal wiring of the PS over and over.... all dandy
audio-where-its supposed to be
28VDC where its supposed to be,,,

head-scratching seemed to wake up 2 braincells screaming for Stupid Question Attention way over in the corner of my cranium...
DID YOU CHECK THE MIC CABLE YOU GRABBED?
CHECK EVERYTHING... ASSUME NOTHING...
YES EVERYTHING...

erghhhhh...

2/3 polarity swap on that cable.
got a proper cable....
NOTHING is wrong now.
Genius! whata repair guy are me!
Testing of beltpacks and headsets will reconvene in the morning over bagels/whitefish and coffee

thanks to you all for engaging.
@JOhnV File this experience in your memory and someday in the future you may employ this useful variation:
If you find yourself installing several miles of Belden 8760, or equivalent, for 12 channels of ClearCom in a 14 story opera centre, OR even if you're only installing miles of Belden 8451 balanced microphone level and balanced line level cables terminated with either 3 contact XLR's or row after rows of ADC RTS balanced jack fields, a really fast way to check every line for continuity, polarity and freedom from shorts is to arm yourself and your partner with the appropriate adapters, two ClearCom belt packs plus headsets and a ClearCom power supply. FIRST use your adapters to connect your belt packs to your power supply, plug in your headsets and be CERTAIN that all is working properly including communicating and your call lights. Once you're certain all your cables and adapters are kosher, one of you go to one jack field while the other goes to a distant jack field and you agree to meet on a given jack; mic line 418 for example. Assuming you're now in communication, you can test call lights both ways and agree to move to mic line 419. Talk, flash, move to 420. Two co-workers can fly through a lot of jacks this way confirming continuity, polarity and freedom from shorts. By prior agreement; if you ever move to a new line and aren't in communication you'll wait 15 seconds before returning to the previous jack to discuss your problems and agree upon the next number to move to. You don't need to keep track of all the hundreds of lines that function and sound flawless but merely note the few with problems for repair after ascertaining the condition of all of the lines in the facility. Even though your balanced mic and line level lines are only 24 or 22 gauge Vs. ClearCom's 18 gauge shielded pair requirement you'll find the ClearCom packs will work flawlessly with only two belt packs on each line under test. A buddy and myself found this our QUICKEST method for flying through checks of balanced lines in a facility. We always had a pair of Motorola walkies on our belts for backup but using the ClearCom packs was blindingly quick and conveniently easy; faster than looking at analog or digital meters and waiting for displays to stabilize and better than testers with LED indicators because we had the benefit of hearing and communicating using the same equipment that was confirming the wiring. If there was a polarity reversal the ClearCom had an audio and powering inversion thus we weren't in communication, the line was noted for repair and we rapidly moved on.
Blindingly fast. Convenient as you could hope for. Worked fabulously for us both for several decades. 'nough said.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 

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