Creative GigaWorks S750 (7.1 Surround Sound System) DEAD ?!?

I also did some googling and will continue to do so,

First a thread describing dead gigaworks s750 subwoofers:

Which links towards another thread describing how to fix a blown fuse (haven't read it yet but gonna do that now, fingers crossed :)):

Bye, Skybuck.

I read some of the postings on that second forum what I learned from this is the following:

1. Many people have seen their subwoofer die.

1. Somebody mentioned: the glue becomes conductive after some time.

2. Many people investigating how to repair it, and schematics available.

Sounds like a real bore trying to make sense of it.

Maybe somebody in my neighbourhood understand electronics better.

Maybe the local electronics shop or computer shop though I doubt they will be able to fix it... but it's worth a try.

Otherwise maybe somebody else...

I am too tired to open it up right now so that will have to wait until tomorrow or so...

Bye, Skybuck.

Ok,

The symptoms for my gigaworks are:

1. Blinking green led on the back side of the subwoofer (there is indeed a green led back there !;)) (It flickers like a disco light or so... unregular and like beating or so... (I checked just shortly ;)))

1. The audio/remote pod leds are all dead.

Now I have something to go on based on the experiences/postings on that forum ! ;)

Somebody else also confirmed the glue becomes conductive... with a meter.

Pretty ridicilious that an expensive product like this has these kinds of problems !

Americans are known to be found for lawsuits... does this smell like a class-action lawsuit to me ! Gje ! ;)

To bad I am European :)

Without lawsuits Creative would get away with it... don't let them get away it is all I hope ! ;)

And ofcourse to hopefully get my thingy working again.

(I don't even use the subwoofer that much... all on low... no subwoofer would have been fine with me !)

Bye, Skybuck.

Ok,

I have opened the gigaworks s750 subwoofer and made some pictures of it:

1. Some glue was against the edges so I had to force it a little... then it came loose.

1. Lot's of glue everywhere will be difficult to take apart.

2. It seems like a 3 dimensional electronics puzzle ?!

I am not sure if I would ever be able to get it together again if I take it apart so care should be taken and everything well documented.

I am already amazed that apperently so people made sense of this 3d electronics glue mess and were actually able to repair it ? Sounds to good to be true to me ;)

I doubt I will ever be able to repair it or figure out what's wrong with it... though I will give it a shot.. by seeking some help on that forum.

One thing is for sure:

I will never again by anything that says: "made in china" on it ! ;)

Bye, Skybuck.

Ok,

Now I am trying to asses the damage.

First question is:

1. Is the fuse blown ? Is this the fuse ? How to open it ?

Pictures of probably the fuse:

Bye, Skybuck.

I also checked my suppliers warranty/contractual information.

It contains a somewhat interesting section in dutch which goes something like this:

"In case it turns out that the product had flaws from the start the supplier obligates itself to replace/repair it etc."

Seeing all the glue and other issue's with the gigaworks s750 this could be the case...

However later on it says up to 6 months... I am not sure if that relates to that point.

But it's worth a shot to contact the supplier... tell him about problems and such and see what he has to say ;)

Bye, Skybuck.

Another dutchman with a dead GigaWorks S750 wrote something interesting:

In the Netherlands there are laws about the lifetime of a product.

Consumers can expect certain products to have a certain lifetime.

If the products fails before that then they could still fall under warranty.

Interesting...

Personally my expectation for a speakerset would be 10 to unlimited years. Since I have never had a broken television or a broken stereo or a broken speakerset or whatever and those were even cheaper than this one.

Bye, Skybuck.

I have also slightly started to wonder if the burning smell I sometimes smell is from this device.

However it could also be dust burning up inside my pc.

Primarly I think it's smoke from my neighbours or car/bus gasses from outside.

However I tucked/filled up holes in my frontdoors/gates etc.. so gasses from outside become less likely.

Which leaves neighbours... could also be my own body odor but I don't think so... either neighbours or my pc sometimes does a little poopy/farts lol.

But seriously though... heat inside all kinds of electronics could be health risks ! ;)

And now people are mentioning heat issues inside this subwoofer... others have mention electric charge on heatsink... and then with all this glue everywhere... maybe it's lethal glue ?!

Bye, Skybuck.

Also I forgot to mention that some people have posted pictures of blown up components... quite impressive pictures.

People even wrote how their speakers were still functioning while some stuff had blown up ?!

If components inside my subwoofer have indeed blown up than that could be the smoking or in this case be the stinking gun ! ;)

However so far I have not seen any damage... maybe I should take a closer look ;) but not now.

Bye, Skybuck.

You're an idiot, and you will never be able to get through life and not buy anything that was made in China.

You are stupid beyond belief. Everything you buy "breaks"? Or is it that SkyTard is the one doing the breaking?

The glue is not conductive, idiot. It is there to keep the large un-braced mass of the caps from breaking the solder joint that holds it on. The glue provides bracing.

You'd be better off buying a cheap car stereo amp, and putting that in its place. They take 14 Volt input.

They are also more tolerant of stupid dips that abuse or otherwise hook up incorrectly, their gear.

Your rate of failure is so high that it MUST be YOU that is doing it.

Did you ever analyze THAT?

Ok,

I found some information on the creative labs support site.

My reseller/supplier also told me to contact their support team so I did... and asked for a repair service.

My website has been updated with a picture describing how to remove the fuse.

The pictures I took are indeed the fuse... and apperently a flat screw driver should be able to remove it.

I will attempt this.

Updated site:

Bye, Skybuck.

Ok,

I have successfully removed the fuse and took a close up picture of it thanks to my camera's special close up capability which I used for the first time...

(it was really needed too, otherwise I couldn't get a decent close up... I wish I discovered/used this close up feature before because it might have given better pictures... but previous pictures weren't so bad... but in this case it was really necessary ;))

The fuse looks intact except that the wire/bar is a bit diagonal so I am not sure if it's damaged or not.

What do you make of it and how to know for sure ? ;)

Maybe simply replace it and see what happens ? hmmm.

Updated website:

Bye, Skybuck.

For now I think it's safe to dismiss the "broken fuse" theory.

The fuse does not appear to be broken. However I might consult an electronics store to ask if they have any 250 volt fuses to try it out... I am not yet sure how to remove the fuse from the plug without damaging it... it seems a tight fit... but probably pulling it out would be the way to do it. The only problem is my "favorite electronics" store either went out of bussiness or their phone system is down... so can't contact them via phone. I will have to find some other store that might sell fuses.

Anyway it's time to speculate about other causes of failure:

First of all a non-blown-fuse/good fuse could be a good sign... this could mean not much damage to the device.

What other reasons could there be for the device failing (to come on?):

1. Control pod is damaged or dead.
2. Glue became conductive and is disturbing the device.
3. Some component/transistor is bad in the electronics housed in the subwoofer.
4. Maybe some statis discharge overloaded some capacitators, maybe the device will be back to normal once power levels drop or so ? (Wishfull thinking ?;)

Possible things to try:

1. Try using the speakerset system without the control pod... (I am not sure if a functioning system would work without it)
2. Try removing a little bit of the glue ?
3. Check out components by a repair man
4. Wait a while and see what happens... but I already slept a couple of hours since the failure so shouldn't it be drained a bit ? Hmm.

So far I like theory 1 and possibility 1.

Bye, Skybuck.

Also glue is everywhere inside of it.

Different types of glue seem to have been used (?)

Brownish glue and white glue or maybe it's all the same glue ?

This is very troublesome and worrieingsome.

What if all of this glue becomes conductive after a while ?!

This could become a major safety issue !

Best is to dump it before somebody gets killed ;)

Bye, Skybuck.

However this glue is not only in the subwoofer, I have seen screenshots on a review site... and the glue is also inside the speakers themselfes...

I was thinking about keeping the speakers... but now I am starting to have doubts... maybe it's best to completely return the product and demand money back because of faulty product.

Selling me products which are slightly defective is one thing... but putting my life at risk is an entirely different matter especially since I lost an aunt to a faulthy refrigarator/electronics device.

This could also explain the shock that somebody observed on the heatsink which is covered with the same kind of glue.

Maybe that guy was extremely lucky that the glue hasn't become "super/more" conductive yet..

Same could be said for me since I touched that heatsink a couple of times... could have been me that got fried... something horrible I would rather not experience.

Creative should have done a callback by now... they didn't... this means their asses have to fry in hell for this.

This story will continue...

Goodbye, Skybuck.

The glue is to keep the radial caps from vibrating back and forth and the leads fatiguing and breaking. The interior of a subwoofer is a HIGH VIBRATION environment. This is a proper construction technique for the conditions.

Cool. More for me.

snipped retarded page full of bullshit.

How is it even possible that a total retard like this SkyTard Sinking idiot has the time to sit and write up page after page of utter horseshit?

Does this little twit get EVERYTHING handed to him by mommy and daddy?

Dude... keep it to yourself. Not a damned soul anywhere in Usenet gives a fat flying f*ck about your stupid screw driver exercises.

No shit. It's called stress imposed creep failure

No shit.

No shit. Next time ANSWER him from HIS post, not my response.