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CNX-PAD8A advice: Solved


 

It was the PAD8A. I suddenly remembered that it is supposed to flash all the rooms leds at power up and it was no longer doing that, just solid power & net even when directly hooked up to the PSU. I got a fleabay replacement and it all works again. This could be a red herring however the first thing that went bad was the fuse in the cnpws-75 so maybe something in the PAD8A suddenly drew too much current? I may open it up to see if there is anything obvious. Thanks again for your help and suggestions.


 

Good news! Glad you solved it...

Just an FYI since we all are using things like Pad8's alot more than we thought we would...:)
The Pad8A/BiPad8 units draw 10 and 20 watts/Cresnet respectively, but what I learned early on and is not well/properly documented is that when the units power up, they draw aprox. DOUBLE that due to them firing/testing their relays simultaneously...
Even when you're careful to do power calc's, this can be missed. Thus, a system with two Pad8A and other things on a 75 PS for example can draw an add'l 20w (30-40w for the BiPads! IIRC) during a PS restart.? After a number of starts like this, the Pads *can* go south from being starved...
?I've always de-rate my calc's by 25%, esp with any Pads.?


 
Edited

Ha, yes Chris well pointed out. This bit me when I fitted a second biPad to my home system also running off a 75w psu. Had me scratching the bald bonce for a while.

I love biPad/Pad8's - oh how I miss the analog days when generally the only things you had to fault find was power and wiring issues. Sigh!


 

I must be jinxed! The unit I swapped in just died the same way. Toolbox device tree shows firmware 1.0(); I think it was 0.22 when I got it. Can anyone think of any reason why this would happen again? There is a button on the back next to the "Setup" led, I cannot find any documentation about it. Is the latest firmware still available on the Crestron site? I have to get another one so if the firmware is still there, I'll find someone in Silicon Valley to see about flashing the latest. IIRC you have to use Viewport, not Toolbox. BTW what was the difference between the PAD8A and BIPAD8 other than the number of jacks? Was the BIPAD8 an updated version?
Thanks,
Paul


 

CNX-PAD8A firmware v0.22 was unstable in that the firmware would get erase and you would just have the boot loader showing up in viewport.? Any CNX-PAD8A with v0.22 should be upgraded to v1.08.? Reloading firmware is tricky.? I don't remember the details so I suggest to call Crestron if you have trouble.? And yes I said viewport because I don't think you can load firmware via toolbox. ? So you probably need to find an old XP machine and load viewport on to it to restore the CNX-PAD8A.

The BIPAD8 is similar to the PAD8A and is prone to the same firmware issue. ? It was design to interface directly with the CNX-VPID8x4 room boxes. I believe the firmware file is the same for both the BIPAD8 and PAD8A.

Good luck,
Steve


 

My 2nd replacement arrived with firmware 1.08, woohoo! I am going to put this one on its own 75w supply. Perhaps the fuse going out on my 75w in September was not a red herring after all. We are getting more power failures in CA so more cold start powerups (everything is UPS but no generator at night). I need to find someone to reload my two "dead" pad8a units (anyone in Silicon Valley reading?). Thank you to everyone who offered advice.


 

IIRC Pad8A's have a pretty big inrush current draw on power up, I've seen issues when powering with the 300W PS, if stacking 4 on the same leg.