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1/4" phone jack replacement for Behringer 215 speaker.

This Behringer 215 speaker has two 1/4" phone jacks that are wired in parallel. It also has two Speakon jacks wired in parallel to facilitate adding extra speakers to the system. The unit came to me with one broken

1/4" phone jack. The picture of the pc board is here.
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The Speakon jacks were fastened to the back panel of the cabinet with two screws per jack. On the other end of the screw was a nut. Unfortunately, the nut wasn't anchored to anything so it was futile to try and remove the screw. The circuit board prevented me from inserting any tool in there to hold the nut while I was turning the screw. You can see the results. I replaced the Speakon jacks, no problem.

With the help of a Mouser telephone tech to match the original part, I ordered replacement 1/4" phone jacks, manufacturer part number NYS232.

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The owner suggested I replaced both of them as long as I had it apart. The parts arrived and I installed them. I wired everything back in place. Something told me to check the input impedance of the speaker with a multimeter just to make sure it was wired probably. It was a good thing I did. It measured a direct short from the speaker plug input. After searching up and down for a short, I didn't find any until I inserted the phone plug into the jack. That's when an internal contact in the jack switched to a different position and shorted out the plug. Ok, I guess this jack will not work on this pc board. I called Behringer's parts department and had them research the original part. After a day or two of researching, I received a call back from Behringer and ordered the parts. I received the parts today. Excited to finally get the speaker repaired, I removed the Mouser jacks and put in the Behringer jacks, same thing. Direct short across the input terminals. Then I looked inside and noticed there wasn't any difference in the terminal configuration between the Mouser jack and the replacement Behringer jack. I will call Behringer back on Monday to discuss this situation but meanwhile, do any of you know what kind of 1/4" phone jack is supposed to fit on this pc board?

Thanks for your reply.

--
David Farber 
Los Osos, CA
Reply to
David Farber
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Another piece of information here. If I plug in a stereo phone plug, then there is no short circuit. Is there some industry standard to use stereo phone plugs in this type of application? That seems a bit strange to me.

Thanks for your reply.

--
David Farber 
Los Osos, CA
Reply to
David Farber

"David Farber"

** A small, long blade screwdriver does the trick - just wedge the tip between the nut and the body of the Speakon to prevent it turning.

The jack sockets should be "mono" versions - stereo ones will short out as you have found.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

"David Farber"

** No way.

Mono plugs are always used for speaker leads.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

Thanks for the confirmation of the mono plug and the trick to remove the screw in the Speakon jack.

--
David Farber 
Los Osos, CA
Reply to
David Farber

Just a thought, are the outputs in antiphase and just one of them is exhibiting this "fault" if you check to chassis ground?

Reply to
N_Cook

It's amazing Fran Allyson didn't jump all over you.

The 1/4" phone jack is (supposedly) a balanced line-level input. If you plug a mono plug into it, the plug's sleeve will short the jack's ring to ground. This is normal; there's nothing inherently wrong with this. It's one way unbalanced signals can be connected to balanced inputs.

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I suspect you have a problem that isn't really a problem.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

Hi William,

I think if you take an ohmmeter and connect it to a speaker input, and it measures the lowest reading that it can display, that would be cause for concern. The only time this happens is when the stereo plug is inserted into the jack even when the plug isn't connected to anything. How do you perceive that this isn't a problem?

Thanks for your reply.

--
David Farber 
Los Osos, CA
Reply to
David Farber

I'm not sure what you mean by outputs. Do you mean the amplifier outputs? I have not connected it to any amplifier as of yet. I'm just measuring the dc resistance of the speaker at the input jack.

Thanks for your reply.

--
David Farber 
Los Osos, CA
Reply to
David Farber

Hi William,

I think if you take an ohmmeter and connect it to a speaker input, and it measures the lowest reading that it can display, that would be cause for concern. The only time this happens is when the stereo plug is inserted into the jack even when the plug isn't connected to anything. How do you perceive that this isn't a problem?

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As far as I can tell, this isn't a speaker input -- it's a balanced amplifier input. There is no reason why a mono plug or stereo plug should show a short.

Your description of what's going on seems inconsistent and confused.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

Hi William,

The are two Speakon and two 1/4" phone jacks wired in parallel that are situated in the back of the speaker cabinet. It's not a powered speaker. The inside of the speaker cabinet contains a crossover pc board, a woofer, and a midrange speaker. When I replaced the damaged 1/4" phone jack and checked continuity across the pc board input with the speakers disconnected, it measured open circuit. When I put a monaural phone plug into the jack, I rechecked the continuity and it was shorted. The monaural phone plug was not connected to anything on the other end so the short had to becoming from the jack itself. Does that make sense?

--
David Farber 
Los Osos, CA
Reply to
David Farber

Hi William,

I think if you take an ohmmeter and connect it to a speaker input, and it measures the lowest reading that it can display, that would be cause for concern. The only time this happens is when the stereo plug is inserted into the jack even when the plug isn't connected to anything. How do you perceive that this isn't a problem?

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As far as I can tell, this isn't a speaker input -- it's a balanced amplifier input. There is no reason why a mono plug or stereo plug should show a short.

Your description of what's going on seems inconsistent and confused.

William, why do you keep doing this?

If you had bothered to do your research properly you will have discovered that the Behringer B215 is a loudspeaker. It has no internal amplifiers, the jack sockets are simply in parallel with the Speakon sockets and do exactly the same job.

Clearly there is a problem with the replacement jack socket that seems to provide a short with a mono jack plug inserted in it.

David, my usual technique where the original socket cannot easily be replaced is to simply use a chassis mounted switched jack socket hard wired to the PCB, if space allows it, after carefully working out what connections to connect to where.

Gareth.

Reply to
Gareth Magennis

Hi Gareth,

There is lots of space to drill a new hole and mount another jack. Then it doesn't have to fit the pc board directly. Why would it have to be a switched jack? What would it be switching?

Thanks for your reply.

--
David Farber 
Los Osos, CA
Reply to
David Farber

Hi Gareth,

There is lots of space to drill a new hole and mount another jack. Then it doesn't have to fit the pc board directly. Why would it have to be a switched jack? What would it be switching?

Thanks for your reply.

--
David Farber 
Los Osos, CA 


A switched jack will just cover all possibilities.  You can use the  
switching or ignore it, the cost is pretty much the same. 

I can't see how a switched jack might be used in this unit, but nor can I  
see how inserting a mono jack plug into the replacement socket can cause a  
short, so something in the wiring is amiss. 

You might not need to drill a new hole, you may be able to fit the chassis  
mounting socket in the original hole, and just run wires from it to the PCB. 
Hot melt glue or silicone sealant will secure and insulate it. 


Gareth.
Reply to
Gareth Magennis

Tell Del Hopkins I said "hi". Thanks.

Reply to
dave

"Gareth Magennis"

** The Sommerwanker fails to read his own words, let alone other's.
** The heading alone makes that clear.

Then the pic backs it up.

** But Speakons do it way better and are not prone to shorting.
** Yep - it a stereo jack with the ring contact wired to the tip contact via the PCB.

... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

Do what?

I did do my research properly, because I knew I would be subjected to this crap. Did you look at the B215 link I supplied? The B215 is A POWERED SPEAKER, and the 1/4" phone jack is a balanced input. READ WHAT IT SAYS on the Details tab.

If there's something wrong, it's with Berenger's product sheet -- not my ability to read or understand it. Or perhaps David Farber gave the wrong model number. This might very well be the case, because the drawing doesn't show a Speakon connection.

I normally don't ask for apologies -- but in this case, I'll make an exception. Someone owes me an apology. Don't tell me I don't know how to interpret a product sheet.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

** Yep -- it's a stereo jack with the ring contact wired to the tip contact via the PCB.

Now, why would any manufacturer in its right mind wire a stereo jack -- input or output -- in such a way that inserting a mono plug would short out the signal? Oh, wait -- it's Behringer.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

"William Sommerwanker"

** The B215 is a passive speaker - as stated at the top of the first page of the link.

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Says: " * 2 professional speaker connectors (compatible with Neutrik Speakon

The "details" tab give you a different model - the B215D which incorporates a class D amplifier.

The OP made it VERY clear which model he was on about.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

"Gareth Magennis"

** Seen the exact same thing myself.

Luckily, it was possible to remove the metal parts from the socket and reverse them.

Seems both Re-An and Cliff can supply mirror image versions - if you want them.

Gotta be smarter then the "average bear" if repairs are you game .....

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

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