We have a Starplus 616 Flex unit that's having some problems. I think it's the power supply going bad, but would like to be able to confirm it.

Station 10 is getting random chars displayed. It's also toggling lights on the buttons on/off at random, and beeping. I've tried soft reset, hard reset, but haven't reloaded database. I've also tried jumping the station output to a different phone jack. The problem followed the station connection, so I know it's not facility wiring.

Station 11 is also having problems, but not as severe as station 10. If I unplug station 10 completely, the problems on station 11 get as bad as station 10 (and so-on).

It basically looks like the data being sent to the phones is getting corrupted. It's not consistent.

I know bad power supplies can cause odd electrical problems, so I pulled the cover and checked it out. Motherboard has +24v listed, but the power supply output is about 36.5V DC, the transformer output is 28.9V AC.

Can anyone confirm these voltages are too high? If so, Does anyone know what the required amperage is? (I can just buy a good 24V supply, and plug it into the BBU connector and unplug the dying supply inside, or even get a refurb'd power supply for it)

If the voltages are ok, any other ideas on why the first station has the worst problems and they get better as you move on?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

The two phones share a port. What I would do is unplug both phones, take a known good working phone and plug it into ext 10 or 11 and see if it works to figure out if you have a bad port or a bad or two bad phones.

I'd think if the power supply were bad you'd have more than just two ext. acting up. Specs show output of 28 volts DC

Do you have a 66/mod adapter so that you can take the jacks and wiring out of the equation, by putting the adapter and a phone right on the 66 block? As Bill has suggested, you have to narrow down what might be wrong.

I already jumpered directly to station 12 at the 66 wiring block. I unplugged the phones at 10 & 12, removed center crossovers of station 12, use alligator clips and jumped station 10 to station 12. When I plugged station 12 phone back in (now wired to station 10), it started displaying the same problems. So at this point I'm 100% sure it's not the phones or the wiring. I also tried taking station 10 phone to station 12 jack, and the phone worked fine.

Your statement about 10-11 sharing a port may be helpful. Since I haven't seen the same problems on 12 or higher.

Anything I can do to repair ports 10-11? It sounds like a failing component, and I could scavenge components from ports 24-25 if needed. (I can pick up a 616 from e-bay for $10 just for parts if I have to)

Thanks gentlemen, I'm really not looking forward to replacing the KSU. This one has been working for a long time and we've been happy with it.

Reseat that station amp connector on the KSU---sometimes, the top couple of pair do not make good contact.

You can use the spare ports. Only problem is your programming is done from station 10.

Hopefully reseating the amp connector will cure your problem.

Of course it has. It was discontinued in '99.
My only input is about what was described to me as being "Sister" stations. 10/11 are sister stations then 12/13, etc. If you reverse one of the pairs, (don't remember if it was pr1 or pr2) you will see odd conditions on both sets including one set assuming the identity of the sister set.

disconnect all stations punch a biscuit jack down on 10 and take it from there


a replacement KSU should be cheap

Had to remove/reseat the amp connector when I removed the cover and the problem persists. I'll give it another shot (although the problem started without any warning, and last time anything was done to the KSU was when it got moved several years ago)

several minutes later

Reseating the AMP connector doesn't seem to have any effect.

I'm handy with a soldering iron, and I'm not afraid to use it! When I asked about scavenging, I didn't mean simply using the other ports, I meant removing/replacing components.

Just to be sure I'm aimed the right way, T1 on the MBU affects both ports 10 and 11, and T9/T10 go with ports 10 and 11, respectively. I can see 2 diff types of transformers associated with the ports, 8 of one type, and 16 of the other. I'm assuming that the 8 serve up the data to the phone (each one serving two ports), and the 16 handle the voice circuits (one per port).

T1 doesn't seem to be well anchored, and it appears the frame of the transformer is cracked. I'll do some surgery on the board on Saturday and see what happens. I'm hopeful that I can simply swap components and keep it going for a while longer.

Does anyone have a tech ref manual for the MBU? I'm going purely on theory here (based on layout of the board, and number/location of components).

Thanks again.

I'm glad someone mentioned "paired ports" again. I just found out that the phone at station 11 is causing all of the problems. Station 10 is working fine with 11 unplugged. (and 11 works fine with another phone in its place)

Never underestimate the power of thorough debugging!

<---- Feels like a dummy :bang:

Anyone know of a reputable place to get Executive Phones? (and possibly repaired)

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Glad you got it fixed.

Don't feel bad I have struggled a few times with the flex and some of the old comdials.