B&G Instrument fault - any ideas?

[Talulah]

Occasionaly when turning on the B&G instruments (network range) the log display is completely blank whilst all the other displays are fine. Turning the power off and back on again in most cases brings the instrument back to life. Any suggestions as to what might be up?
Thanks

 

[robind]

take off the leads and clean the contacts to the screen ( spray with contact cleaner spray) may simply be an earth fault?
Hope this helps
Rob

 

[Evadne]

Slightly dodgy (or long) power connection to the log or log display?
My reasoning is, some instruments take more power at start up and need a minimum Voltage level to boot up properly, or they can hang up. A bit too much resistance in the power line could drop the Voltage seen by the offender below this level. Once the internal capacitance is charged up, the Voltage drop at start up is reduced, so switching it off and switching it back on again works.

 

[jfkal]

Certainly bad connection in the power cord or the inter-instrument cables.

 

[kirielad]

+1 weak / lazy capacitor was my initial thought.

It's telling that the first time you switch on you get nothing, but trying a second time (after the capacitor has been charged up by the first attempt) it springs to life.

It could be low voltage supply level, but unless its down to 10.5 volts it shouldn't make a vast difference as the current draw for an instrument like this is negligible. It would be worth checking to make sure the supply voltage is fine at the connector though.

If the voltage is ok I would leave alone unless it starts to get slower and slower to start and then its a trip to the menders for a replacement cap.