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Powersupply failure?

alexvw
Honored Guest
I spent a few days with my Rift, and was super-excited to start development on a couple game ideas I had. For the first few days, it worked flawlessly (Low resolution was a little more obvious than I expected, but the tracking is infinitely better than other tracking I've used, so its great to prototype) However, I ran into an issue yesterday evening:

I went through the usual pattern of plugging in power, usb, video, etc. About 3 seconds after plugging in the power, there was a loud 'POP' coming from the control box. Now, I can hear something loose inside the box, and the headset doesn't get power anymore. I thought it might have had some voltage overage or something, but there was never any smell of burning, just a pop. I'm not sure what was on the display while this happened (I did not have the headset on) but the exact state the box was in when it happened was: Power in, DVI in, usb not connected (was plugging it in when this happened). It was raining at the time, but it was plugged into a grounded surge protector, so I don't think that could have caused the issue.

So now, I'm without a dev kit. It's definitely the control box that failed, but considering the headset is hardwired to the box, I'm concerned about getting a replacement. I know there is a warranty on the hardware, but considering I got mine early because of my early backing (I've been following Palmer and this project since his mtbs3d ideas long before the kickstarter) I'm worried about availability of a replacement. I'm afraid I'll have to go back to my homegrown hmd hardware (The resolution is better, but boy will I miss the rift's tracking). Is there someone on here who I can talk to about this issue?
12 REPLIES 12

Anonymous
Not applicable
Not seen a Rift yet but a pop sounds like it might just be a fuse, can you get into the control box to look?

msat
Honored Guest
I wouldn't poke around unless you want to try to solder some parts yourself, probably voiding the warranty (assuming it's a component you can even get) as I doubt it'll be a simple fix like a replaceable fuse. That really sucks, but your best bet is contacting Oculus, and hoping it won't take long to get it fixed/replaced.

KBK
Protege
The pop was an electrolytic capacitor, I'd almost bet on it.

Does it smell slightly? take a whiff of it.

I'd also be willing to bet that connectivity and implementation of connectivity was lifted right out of the given tech manual for the given components. Which means this would be considered an anomaly. Fuses don't make popping sounds, capacitors do. And they stink. OK. it could be a chip regulator let go, and a cap, as a pair. But not much else beyond that. Regulators tend to pop, but quietly. More of a 'crack' noise. Capacitors go loudly. A mini-bang, one could say. Regulator goes 'crack!', capacitor goes 'pop!'.

Do not plug it back in.
Intelligence... is not inherent - it is a point in understanding. Q: When does a fire become self sustaining?

densohax
Explorer
If you eventually dig into the problem, can you take a picture so that we can see what exactly happened?? (Assuming Oculus don't see a problem with us opening the hardware and taking pictures..)

cybereality
Grand Champion
Sorry for the inconvenience.

Please email rift@oculus.com and we will take care of you.
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palmertech
Explorer
Email support@oculus.com, and we will get you a replacement ASAP.

everygamer
Explorer
This is what happens when you deal with a small company sometimes ... a fast and strait forward response 🙂

alexvw
Honored Guest
@ cybereality - Thanks for the quick reply, I'll email you guys tonight.

In reply to everyone else - it was definitely a VERY loud pop. Like, a little capgun going off in the box. Loud enough that my girlfriend came in from the kitchen to see what happened (Sad, because I was just about to show her how awesome the headset was ). I'm not going to open the case to take pics, though, for fear of voiding my warranty.

Anyways, looks like the awesome support here is going to help me out. This is the kind of thing that makes people loyal to a brand 🙂

Dycus
Honored Guest
Most likely a cap, that's how they fail. You probably just got a bad one out of a batch; it can happen sometimes.