SWM Power Inserter Blowout/Short - I am a moron?

[BillBurn]

So I hooked up my new SWM8 this weekend and the power inserter immediately shorted out upon plugging it in. I assume this is because I screwed something up, but I am hoping that maybe it was just a bad power inserter. I figured I would give the details here and see if anyone can point out what the specific screw up was here, because if its my fault, I am going to chalk it up to experience and buy another power inserter and try to get it right on the 2nd try, but if it's likely a bad power inserter I am going ask for a refund. The specifics of my situation:

I have a 5LNB Dish that was hooked up to a traditional 8 way switch. I carefully traced and tagged all my runs to make sure I knew which line was which. I then disconnected all the runs from my existing receivers (2 H20s, 1 HD10-250 and one old RCA one). At this point I swapped out the old switch for the SWM-8. I hooked the 2 HD10-250 runs to the Legacy1 and Legacy 2 ports on the SWM and I hooked up the old RCA receiver to Legacy 3. I then took the one run from my 1st H20 (I want two that's why I was putting in the SWM) and hooked that up to SWM1 and hooked one run from my second H20 to SWM2.

I then hooked up 1 port on my HD10-250 (without providing power to the inserter) to see if the Legacy ports worked without the inserter providing power. They did not (as far as I can tell). At that point I disconnected those runs and resolved to hook up the power inserter w/o any boxes attached. To do this I attached the SWM1 run from the SWM to the power inserter via the red "to SVM" port. I then attached an RG6 cable to the "IRD" port and put a DTV approved 2 way splitter on the end of that cable, nothing else. I did not hook anything up to my boxes because I wanted to see if the power inserter would power on without any surprises. It is at this point that I plugged in the power inserter. Immediately there were some pretty decent sparks within the box followed by the pleasant aroma of burning plastic. I immediately unplugged detached all cables from the power inserter and then replugged in. While the box doesn't have any "power on" lights or diagnostic lights, I am pretty sure it is fried because on plugging back in couldn't hear anything and the unit did not warm, indicating no power. Based on this I concluded that the inserter was fried. I then plugged in my HR10-250 cables to confirm that the legacy cables did not have a signal. I then swapped out the SWM for my old switch and thankfully the old setup is fine with no apparent damage to the LNBs or cables. Before I disconnected the SWM I listened to it and could hear a faint click and whir (which I heard when I first connected the legacy cables) indicating, at least to me, that it was still drawing some kind of power from the HR10-250 (this is why I thought that the legacy runs might work even without the power inserter live).

So my questions are: can anyone notice what I did that was wrong here in terms of me being at fault for the power inserter shorting out? Any potential hypotheses at root causes? Finally, I am 100% sure that inserter is fried, but what are the chances that the SWM itself is fried. When I went to disconnected it after the incident with the inserter it still had that faint "whir, click" sound and didn't show or smell of any signs of electrical damage. Feedback is welcome!

[veryoldschool]

If you look through the vent holes near where the coax connect, you should see a green LED [on].
From my "first pass" of your posting, I didn't see where you did anything wrong. If the coax from the PI to SWM was shorted, it could cause the PI to "smoke", but it kind of sounds like this was an instantaneous "smoke", which sounds more like a defective PI.

[BillBurn]

If you look through the vent holes near where the coax connect, you should see a green LED [on].
From my "first pass" of your posting, I didn't see where you did anything wrong. If the coax from the PI to SWM was shorted, it could cause the PI to "smoke", but it kind of sounds like this was an instantaneous "smoke", which sounds more like a defective PI.

Thanks, I'll looked for the green led when I go home tonight. Not very optimistic on that front given the post spark smell though. I will probably open up the unit itself (just seems to have 4 screws) and poke around..

The thing I didn't do, which I should have, is plug it in by itself with nothing connected prior to attempting the setup. That way I could have confirmed it was working prior to the install attempt. If you are installed SWM I recommend you do that just to be sure your unit is in good working order.

[dave29]

how many feet of cable did you have in between the power inserter and the swm

[veryoldschool]

how many feet of cable did you have in between the power inserter and the swm
"the 15' min" is for RF performance and should in no way affect DC output.

[BillBurn]

how many feet of cable did you have in between the power inserter and the swm

About 70FT. The install guide I had (from Weaknees) said it had to under 200FT so I figured I was in the clear by a wide margin.

[dave29]

About 70FT. The install guide I had (from Weaknees) said it had to under 200FT so I figured I was in the clear by a wide margin.

well there is your problem....... you bought it from weaknees!!!:D

[carl6]

Reading your post, I can't see where you did anything that would have caused the PI to smoke (except as VOS said, unless the coax connected to the output was shorted).

As to sounds from the SWM itself, I have never heard anything from mine. I think it is entirely solid state and I can't see how it would make any sound at all. But I also have to admit my hearing isn't the greatest.

Carl

[BillBurn]

Reading your post, I can't see where you did anything that would have caused the PI to smoke (except as VOS said, unless the coax connected to the output was shorted).

As to sounds from the SWM itself, I have never heard anything from mine. I think it is entirely solid state and I can't see how it would make any sound at all. But I also have to admit my hearing isn't the greatest.

Carl

I could swear I heard a very faint whir/click sound and it only was generated from the SWM when I had a line cable from a receiver connected to it. It's awful quite in my attic crawl space, but maybe I am just hearing noises :D

[BillBurn]

If you look through the vent holes near where the coax connect, you should see a green LED [on].
From my "first pass" of your posting, I didn't see where you did anything wrong. If the coax from the PI to SWM was shorted, it could cause the PI to "smoke", but it kind of sounds like this was an instantaneous "smoke", which sounds more like a defective PI.

I took a look at the inserter last night. The green LED does did not turn on when I plugged in the unit, so I think it's fair to declare it officially dead.

I took the liberty of opening up the inserter (4 screws). What's interesting is that there is a large black capacitor right next to the transformer. The capacitor had a big blob of a hardened glue like substance on it. In fact there was so much glue on it that the capacitor was actually connected to the transformer. On the part of the glue that was actually touching the transformer were some black scorch marks, which I am assuming is from the short, so it looks like the short had something to do with the glue touching the transformer. My first guess is that the glue is supposed to be a insulator and is supposed to be there to prevent a short, but the weird thing is that there are several other dollops of glue on the circuit board and whoever was applying them did so pretty generously. It does not appear to be a precision job. Anyone have any other ideas on the glue?

[veryoldschool]

Maybe the cap case shorted out to the transformer.
"I would think" the glue is not an insulator, but merely to locate [secure] the cap and that there "should have been" and gap between cap and ground.

That PI is "toast". :lol: