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Schiit Freya damage by giving it an electric static discharge on the volume knob.

Anyone had his Schiit Freya Tube Preamp "zapped" by carpet electricity build-up while touching the metal volume knob? just to find out the your device lost 70% of its original volume out?
Today, the wife while trying to lower the volume on my music she accidentally gave a carpet electric discharge to the knob and the music stopped, but the unit remained off, so I turned it off, and back on, just to find out that the volume knob, did not make any relay noise until you start getting to the 3 0-clock position, then little by little the music starts playing back but when you get to the maximum, the output it only about 30% of it,
I believe the volume relay board got damaged up to some point, but since I am not familiar with this type of "volume technology", I have no idea the extent of the damage. Wondering if any Freya users there heard of this issue before, how to fix it, and how to prevent this from happening in the future.
128x128centaurojz
14 responses Add your response
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,360 posts
 
I'm not any help but I had a Monster Power Center. at least I think that is what they called it. Anyway, I did what you did to your Schitt and that was it, the unit was toast and was replaced by Monster. The part it took out was not repairable. They use to have a complete line of them but not anymore. I hope your unit is repairable.
oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
OP, did you just try to unplug it, wait and plug it back in?

Cost nothing. I would think a valve went bad, part of a gain stage. Do the valves light up? 

IF you turn off the valve stage does the volume go UP? I think that will solve that TS part. If it's low when on valves, and higher without, pointing to the valve portion. Valve, or auto bias circuit, something like that..

Good luck..
mikem
260 posts
 
There are different relays to control the volume depending on which level you want. One of those relays might have been fried by the static zap.. 
I zapped my Yggdrasil dac and it shut down completely..  it did power up and all is well.. but I try to ground myself first to the rack before changing any controls..  The remote is a great way to no zap the preamp.. 
dadork
632 posts
 
I've recently had a similar experience when adjusting sub gain. Luckily no damage! What can be done to stop this from happening other than moving from cold climate?
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,360 posts
 
"...What can be done to stop this from happening other than moving from cold climate? ..."

I ground myself by touching the stereo rack first before I touch any equipment. 
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,595 posts
 
The equipment should be static discharge protected... not saying that it is, but should be (its just a resistor and a capacitor that is needed to protect it; its not rocket science....). Its not like this sort of thing hasn't been known about for a very long time. I used to work at the Allied Radio Shack service department back in the 1970s and we had to retrofit equipment that was getting damaged in this way.


At any rate, if rebooting it (if it has a computer) doesn't do the trick it will need to go back for service and under warranty if the warranty time has not expired (IOW its not acceptable that the damage due to static discharge isn't covered).
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,261 posts
 
I use a 3 inch square anti static mat that is grounded to my wall receptacle.  I touch the mat on the audio rack before I touch any of my delicate equipment.  I fried an Audible Illusions preamp once due to static and it wasn’t cheap to fix. 
realremo
460 posts
 
I also shock myself on my rack before touching any equipment, but I am in a listening room in the basement, my system is not available to neuro-typical humans. I too live in a dry, cold environment with much static electricity. I'm seriously looking at the Schiit Freya as a future alternate pre so tagging this thread. IME Schiit is pretty good about supporting owners of their gear, have you tried to drop Stoddard an email?
glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,504 posts
 
Wonder what they use for the volume control of the relays. If it’s like an encoder it may have got damaged or the position of the volume could be lost for reference. Not sure grasping at straws. May want to try turning the  volume all the way down then power cycle it. 
ross6860's avatar
ross6860
103 posts
 
FWIW, I have recently sent back two, yes TWO, faulty Schiit Freya+ pre-amps.

This has nothing to do with your issue other than there possibly being some over-arching quality issues.

I know folks love the Freya and Freya+, and the passive and SS buffer sounded nice, but the tube section was faulty in both units I received.  I tried multiple tubes from known good units to eliminate the tubes from being the problem.  One had severe noise issues during playback, the second only hummed before releasing the magic smoke in about 10-20 seconds.

Good luck.  You will probably have to send it in for service.  I wouldn't admit to the "static discharge".  Probably outside of a warranty claim (Act of God , abuse, etc.).
chorus
976 posts
 
I had issues with a new Freya after connecting a Loki (tone controller) to the system.
When I sent them back as not working correctly Schiit denied my issue claiming it
all "Tested correctly". Hence a 15% restocking fee was assessed. Will not be buying
this brand again.  Their QC is 2nd rate. 
bjw54
25 posts
 
I own a Freya + and it’s a great preamp! Years ago I heard about static discharge destroying equipment. I didn’t really believe it,
but just to be safe I ran a ground wire down to the basement and 
attached it to a COLD water pipe. I then attached the other end to a metal  blank electrical outlet box cover that is attached to the side of the wooden cabinet. I always touch the plate to discharge any static electricity before using my system. I can’t believe the zap I sometimes get! I have had this set up for many years and have never had an equipment failure due to static electricity.
 


centaurojz's avatar
centaurojz OP
1 posts
 
Well, thanks for all the input, and yes, my rack is metal and I usually touch it before touching any component, since all of them are metal cased, but in this case, wife wanted to watch TV next room...so she just went straight for the metal knob!!!
I tried many things, in fact I am using a very nice Power Sequencer Conditioner Digital Power Supply Controller Regulator w/ Voltage Readout, Surge Protector, which turns on and off all components on a timed sequence, so I still wonder how come this static thing happens, I don't recall if the Freya has a 3 prong plug or two, if its two, probably I need to reverse the connection on it. Another thing, yesterday I tried using the remote and I was able to pump up the volume higher than with the knob, maybe to its real max, but not sure because as I lowered down again, I was not able to repeat the event, it went back to my 30% as with the knob, so this "relay" technology is strange, or it was applied to this model without enough testing or research on it.
I emailed Schiit, and since I am not the original owner, they said rate may start with a simple $50 fix or a $350 board swap, I am still wanting to open the damn thing and see if there's a way to locally get it fixed, I still think this may be a design fault, the grounding of the unit and its components, since this is the first generation model (not the +).

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,595 posts
 
I still think this may be a design fault
If this happened as you say due to touching the volume control and a static discharge occurred, then yes, this is the case. Static discharges are common in the US during winter and any electronics used inside during the winter should be able to survive.
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