Moving Around

Troubleshooting

Chapter Four: Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting is how you determine what part of a complex system (like a home theater system) is at fault when the system isn’t working how you think it should. When you troubleshoot a system, you diagnose a problem by examining and eliminating possible causes until there’s only one left. Troubleshooting is easiest when you start with the most obvious, most common, and most likely and work from there.

Diagnosing your own problems can save you time and aggravation—the better you understand how to troubleshoot and adjust your own system, the less time you have to:

•spend on the phone with a customer service representative

•do without your receiver because it’s “in the shop”

There are some basic steps to good troubleshooting:

1.Verify the exact conditions when the problem occurs.

This is the most important step in troubleshooting. Whether you fix it yourself or have to describe it to a technician, you are much more likely to really solve the problem if you know the exact circumstances surrounding the problem. For example, if you don’t hear anything through the speakers, it’s useful to know if it only happens when you are listening to CDs. Knowing that eliminates the speakers themselves as part of the problem. The more you know about when a problem occurs, the more likely it is that you or the technician can solve it.

2.Check each part of the signal’s path from source (such as a CD player) to speaker.

You may also want to test the assumptions you made in step 1: maybe you haven’t listened to your MD recorder in a while— is there no sound from it as well? This step will really help narrow down the possible causes. Test all your connected components and eliminate the ones where the problem doesn’t occur. When you’re done with this step, you’ll probably have found the problem.

3.Go over all component connections slowly and methodically. Double-check the settings on your remote.

Wrong or loose connections are the most likely cause of the most common home entertainment problem: no sound. Use the Connec- tion and Setup Guide to double-check your con-nections for each com- ponent. This is especially important with VCRs, tape decks, MD re- corders, and equalizers, where it’s very easy to swap the “play” and “record” connections.

For the VR-4090, VR-4080 and KRF-V7773D, you should also check your Remote Control unit settings carefully. Did you set the input to the correct component? (you can also check the front panel of the receiver) Are you trying to listen to an analog source using a digital connection?

4.Cables (especially old ones) go bad more frequently than com- ponents do.

Always suspect the cable before its component. For one thing, it’s easier to test: simply swap the cable with one connected to a component you know is working. If the problem component works now, it was the cable. You can generally purchase new cables at most home elec- tronics stores, or via the Internet.

5.User error is more likely than component failure.

You probably don’t want to hear this, but it’s true. Use this manual to go over the steps to operate the receiver. Refer to the other compo- nents’ manuals as well.

6.Instruction manuals are your friend.

A good rule of thumb is to check the manual when something doesn’t work how you expected it to. If you read the manual before calling the store or taking the component back, you may find the solution to your problem much more quickly.

The rest of this chapter presents some common problems, grouped by type, and the steps you can take to resolve them.

Troubleshooting

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