atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Avaya - Lucent Telephones & Systems Merlin 820D2 - Red Warning Light of Death

Hello all,

Recently I made a deal with a friend of mine that I would install my old Merlin 820 system I had set up at my house at his backyard hangout in exchange for him covering the cost for me to get an older AT&T Partner system and some phones.

I installed the system at his place six days ago today, and he just called me today and informed me that the system Warning light was on and all of the phones were not working. I stopped by after school today to inspect the system. I powered it down using the power supply's power switch, and removed all of the station and line boards one by one to ensure none of the boards were faulty. The warning light remained on. I even removed the software package module with the Busy Buster, DXD, SA, and Call Forwarding features just to make sure. This made no difference.

I've had the system for about a year with no trouble whatsoever installed in my bedroom. It was always kept behind a surge protector and even the power running to it was conditioned by a very nice APC power conditioner and battery backup unit.

I also removed the power supply and thoroughly inspected the board and the two fuses that were visible, and neither were blown. (the warning light wouldn't have come on anyway if they were, I'm assuming).

Upon asking my friend if there were any power surges or other changes that could've negatively impacted the system, he informed me that there was a power outage the day before, but, "the phone system was already down before that." I also learned that he recently tested a 1200 watt generator on his hangout's power grid, which receives power from (I'm assuming and hoping) the power grid in his home. I personally believe the generator was somehow at fault here, but I'm trying to cover all the bases here before jumping to any conclusions.

The Merlin system is mounted on the wall about 5 feet 9 inches from the floor, and is not in any danger of water damage or excessive dust. It is powered by a power strip also mounted on the wall to the right of the system carrier.

I have already tried all the basic troubleshooting steps I know of, including power cycling the system, disconnecting the voice terminals, and removing/moving the line and station module boards.

For the time being, I'm honestly looking for input as to what could've caused this system to stop working, because I'm at a total loss. Before any of you make any suggestions, I understand that the Merlin system is old and outdated, but my friend (who already covered the cost of my Partner system) does not have the financial capacity or the desire to spend more money on an entirely new system when I just installed this one, so if possible, we'd like to work with what we've got.

My friend isn't too happy that the Merlin system is out of commission after not even a full week, and honestly I don't blame him, considering he's out the cost of my system. However, I'm almost positive his hangout's electrical grid is the culprit, as the lights out there flicker when one of the three refrigerators kick on...

Either way, in the end I'm hoping I can get this thing working again, I feel bad having a working system when he's got nothing, even if it is his own fault for skimping on wiring quality.

Thank you all in advance for your diligent assistance.

telecom guy10

Hey Scott....

If all of the phones are dead and the red light stays on no matter what, I would hazzard a guess that the processor is shot. John may have cooked it with the generator...but proving that is going to be tough.

Replacing the processor is the next step and warning John against trying that test again would be next.

Got any "spare parts" to troubleshoot with?

Paul:

Do you happen to know where the test points are? Honestly I'm not sure I want to spend another four and a half hours if he isn't even going to take care of it...

1864: Unfortunately not. All I had was a BIS 34D, two BIS 10s, two line cards, one station card, and the carrier with power supply...

I just edited that part of the post. I looked at a picture of the power supply and don't see any test points.

You're kidding right? How about because it's probably older than you are.

-Hal

Throw it away. It served its purpose. RIP. What did he think he was getting with a system that old

start with first replacing the memory battery, then the circuit module
you can use the 529A ( 820D ) or the
533B (820D2 )

you can find the battery at Mike Sandman's web site
https://www.sandman.com/

Thank you cvrbob, I appreciate your suggestions, and will look into replacing those parts.