XL2 main fuse blown -- FU-1000 culprit!

[Rainer Hoffmann]

Just got my FU-1000 back. Unfortunately there is no additional information. Canon just says they replaced the connecting cord and the connector. Well, I keep my fingers crossed.

I had a shoot yesterday and focusing with the color viewfinder is really just guesswork. So I hooked the camera up to a notebook via firewire and we checked sharpnes in the capture window of PPro. Very professional. But I'm still somewhat reluctant to connect the FU-1000 because we have 3 more days of shooting and I don't want to risk another blown fuse.

[David Calvin]

use an NTSC monitor for this?

[Rainer Hoffmann]

Originally Posted by David Calvin

use an NTSC monitor for this?

Well, I'm living in PAL country...

But, yes, an external monitor is next on my shopping list.

[Per Johan Naesje]

Originally Posted by Rainer Hoffmann

Hi everybody,

I forgot to mention in my original post, that I have a PAL XL2 and also the PAL version of the FU-1000 of course, so the information given by Canon Germany may not be valid for the respective NTSC versions.

I bought the Fu-1000 viewfinder from US and tuned it from NTSC to PAL myself. Se this thread: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...hlight=fu-1000 how this is done (scroll down to Elmar Tewes first replay in this thread).

My point is that I don't think it's any difference between the NTSC and PAL version of the Fu-1000, except that they are tuned differently from the manufactor.
I also discovered that one of the electrial board inside the Fu-1000 was loose, when I opened it! This could have caused to an electrical shortcut; as Brendon Whateley says: "...people seem to have used the configuration without problem for some time before they experience the problem..."
Well, I fastened this board, tuned the viewfinder to PAL, turned on the XL2 and everything worked great. Haven't experienced any issues with this configuration since I bought the Fu-1000 in february this year and fixed it. And I have used it alot, outside in cold, snow, rain, sun...., lots of traveling, shaking etc.

I haven't thought about this loose board until now, but if this happend to my viewfinder in the assembly process at the manufactor, I guess that some of you guys might have a Fu-1000 with the same fault!

[Charlie Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Mark Sasahara

I wonder if you should turn off the phantom power switch on the back of the camera before disconnecting?

I'm looking at getting another body to keep as a back up. What a piece of junk.

There's little excuse for plugging in a mic to blow the main fuse. Phantom power should be current-limited to a few milliamps at most. Mic preamps need only the tiniest bit of power. So is this another case of bad design?

I've used phantom power extensively with my heavily modified antique Radio Shack PZM mics without blowing any fuses (so far). I'm sure somewhere in there I've un/plugged them while the whole business was powered on.

But just to be safe, from now on I'm going to disconnect the battery, lock it in a steel box, bury it three feet deep in the back yard and move at least a half mile away from it before un/plugging anything! ;-)

-cw-

[Richard Hunter]

Originally Posted by Charlie Wilkinson

But just to be safe, from now on I'm going to disconnect the battery, lock it in a steel box, bury it three feet deep in the back yard and move at least a half mile away from it before un/plugging anything! ;-)

-cw-

Remember to switch off the XL2 before disconnecting the battery. :)

Richard

[Darrell Cornett]

Same thing happened to me yesterday drove me crazy. I was filmming a wedding and was all most ready to give up. I started messing with the battery and got power I think one of the connectors got bent I adjusted it with my knife and it working fine now. scared the crap out of me...

[Kalil Jalili]

Hello ppl.

Sudenly my XL2 won't turn on.
I tried different batteries and pluged it directly to its power adapter, but nothing happens, and the cassette compartment doesn't open or make any sound. I am really worried about it and I am way far far away from any canon place.

Is there anything I could do?

Any body knows what might have happened.

Thank you!

[Richard Hunter]

Hi Kalil. Sounds like the main fuse has blown, which has happened to a few people already on this forum. You can do a search if you like, but I don't see any alternative for you other than taking or sending the camera to a Canon repair centre. Feel sorry for you.

Richard

[Rainer Hoffmann]

Hi Kalil, yes, the main fuse most certainly. It happened to my XL2 as well. It is a real design flaw of the camera. And, what's worse, it is not possible to replace the fuse yourself. It has to be done at a Canon service center.

By the way, did you use the FU-1000 B/W viewfinder? If so, then send the FU-1000 to Canon as well as it is the likely source of the blown fuse. This board is full of stories about this camera/viewfinder combination.

Sorry, but it seems you will have to do without your XL2 for a while.

[Ash Greyson]

Not really a flaw... just a unique situation. This will usually happen when doing something you should not do (switching lens with camera on, plugging in the B&W viewfinder while hot, etc.) Most cameras in this class dont have those options and most people are not fully aware of the care you must take.

To be the safest, only change peripherals with the battery off.



ash =o)

[Kalil Jalili]

can a different technition fix it?

How long will it take the canon to repaire it the fuse?

thank u

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Ash Greyson

Not really a flaw... just a unique situation. This will usually happen when doing something you should not do (switching lens with camera on, plugging in the B&W viewfinder while hot, etc.) Most cameras in this class dont have those options and most people are not fully aware of the care you must take.

To be the safest, only change peripherals with the battery off.

I never had any issue with my XL2/FU1000 combo, but others have. There was an interesting story from someone who had this combo and it was found to be a defective wiring harness in the FU1000 causing a short. I believe it was in a post here on DV-INFO and IIRC, the person was in Germany. The gist of the story was that it was a possible weakness in the design of the wiring harness, and not so much the XL2.

This would not have manifested itself on the XL1/s because they use the battery tray adapter to power the FU-1000 so power never goes through the camera body.

-gb-

[Rainer Hoffmann]

Greg, you are right. The person you mentioned is me. Indeed Canon Germany acknowledged that the wiring of the FU-1000 was faulty. They repaired it at no further cost.

Ash, I allways powered my XL2 down before I removed the lens or plugged something in. Still, one fine day, the camera wouldn't power up. End of story. Actually, as an engineer, I would call this a design flaw. At least they could have made the main fuse a LRU (airline slang for Line Replaceable Unit, meaning any chimp can replace it while the aircraft is sitting on the ramp). Then you could carry a bag of 10 cent fuses with you while shooting.

Anyway, since Canon changed the wiring in my FU-1000 there haven't been any further issues. I keep my fingers crossed...

EDIT: Kalil, I can't tell how long the repair will take in your case. It depends on where you live and where the next Canon service center is. It took one week over here in Germany, using Canon Professional Service (CPS).

[Kalil Jalili]

Hey, and thank you all for the infos u gave me,
but, I am not using any FU-1000 BW view finder!

I use the original view finder that came with my XL2.

Like Rainer Hoffmann said it was "one fine day" when it stopped working.

I am in Afghanistan and I have been filming this Documentary for the past few months.

anyway thank you all.

bye