by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A man explained,
About a year ago I purchased and installed the Univox DLS-50 induction loop system in my living room. I loved it. Now it has quit working so I can no longer get the sound thru my hearing aids (with t coils) or the loop receiver I purchased from you. Is there any way to test the DLS-50 to see if it is the problem, or whether the problem is with the wire that loops the living room? How do I trouble shoot this?
Since you have the Univox DLS-50 home loop system, troubleshooting your loop system is quite easy. This is because the three blue “idiot” lights on the front of the Univox DLS-50 are nifty troubleshooting lights. All three will be on when everything is working properly.
Here’s what to do (and in this order) in order to root out the problem depending on which lights are lit or not.
1. The power light (right blue light)
First, check that the RIGHT blue light is on. If it is not, the loop amplifier will not work as no power is reaching your loop amplifier.
If it is not on, then re-plug the power adapter into the wall and unplug and re-plug the power cord into the amplifier unit. If this doesn’t solve the problem, try plugging another device into the wall socket. You want to make sure there is power to the wall plug.
If there is power to the wall plug and the right blue light still doesn’t come on, then either the wall adapter or the DLS-50 itself is defective and you need to contact your Univox dealer for instructions to return it for repairs.
If the right blue light is on, go to step 2.
2. The input signal light (left blue light)
If the right blue light is on, the next step is to check whether the LEFT blue light comes on. (The left blue light can only come on if the right blue light is already on.)
The left blue light indicates whether there is a signal coming from an external device to the Univox DLS-50. The signal could be via a patch cord from a TV or other audio device or from a microphone plugged into the back of the loop amplifier itself.
If you are using a patch cord from a TV or other audio device, first check that you are plugged into an Audio out jack of the TV or other audio device, not an audio in jack. Reseat each of the plugs to be sure they are plugged in snuggly. Make sure the TV (and cable box if you have one) or audio device is turned on and that the volume is turned UP so there is an audio output signal available at the audio out jack.
Note 1: If you are using a microphone plugged into the right microphone jack on the back of the DLS-50, be sure to turn up the microphone gain control. If it is turned all the way counterclockwise, no signal will get through.
Note 2: The left blue light only comes on while there is a signal present so if you are testing a microphone, you need to keep talking into the microphone while you look to see if the left blue light comes on. If the left blue light comes on, then go to step 3.
3. The loop signal light (center blue light)
If the right and left blue lights are on, but not the center blue light, this indicates that the signal from the loop amplifier is not going into the loop.
a. The first thing to check is that the gain (volume) wheel on to the left of the center blue light is not set at “0”. If it is at “0” no power flows in the loop and thus the light stays off. If the gain control is set at “0”, simply turn it up to “3” or higher and see if that solves the problem.
b. If you are using a room loop, did you remember to strip the insulation off the ends of the wires before you inserted them into the spring clips on the back of the DLS-50? Some people forget this simple step.
c. If you still don’t have any success, and if you have an ohmmeter, check for continuity of the loop wire. If the loop wire is broken, no current can flow and the center blue light will stay off. If you don’t have an ohmmeter, temporarily try a different piece of wire and see if that solves the problem. If it does, you know your loop wire is broken somewhere and needs to be fixed or replaced.
That should get your loop system working in 99% of the time. If you still can’t get it working, phone or email me and I’ll help you. It may be that the Univox amplifier itself is at fault. This very rarely is the case, It’s almost always one of the above problems.
I have a Univox DLS-50 with an underfloor loop I installed under a floating floor. It worked perfectly for several months and then produces static along with the correct sounds. Have checked continuity of the loop and found it OK. All three lights on the Univox are lit. Tested it with a piece of wire above the floor and the static overrides the TV sound. What next? Thanks!
Hi Boyd:
The very first thing you need to do is just turn your hearing aids to t-coil mode with the loop system off and see what you hear. If you hear the static, you know it has nothing to do with the loop system, but probably something electrical in your house or nearby is producing all the magnetic interference that you are hearing. Second, if that doesn’t reveal anything, go away from your house and turn your t-coils on and see whether you still hear static. If you do, then it is likely your hearing aids that are acting up. If both of these tests turn up negative, then try hooking another device to your DLS-50 and see what you hear. You can use a stereo audio patch cord to hook up a computer, iPad, iPod, etc–any device that has a 1/8″ earphone jack–and see if there is any static. If not, then you know it is in the TV.
After that, I’d suspect the DLS-50 itself. Let me know how you do.
Cordially,
Neil
Did that. I put my bad dls-50 on the tv that has my good dls-50. I got the static with the bad dls-50. I put the good dls-50 where I got the original static (added a new tv in a different room and looped) and did NOT get static. Pretty sure the bad DLS-50 is the problem. What’s next? Buy another kind or replace with same kind or repair this one.
Hi Richard:
Sounds like the DLS-50 has gone bad. Sometimes repair is possible. There is one chip that occasionally goes bad. If that is all the problem is, it can be fixed for around $35.00. Much cheaper than buying a new one.
If you want to, you can send it to Contacta Inc., 332 E. Lakewood Boulevard, Holland, MI 49424 and ask them what it would cost to repair.
If you want to replace it, we no longer carry the Univox line, but now carry the superior Contacta line of loop amplifiers. You can see them at http://hearinglosshelp.com/shop/contacta-hld3-hearing-loop-system/
Cordially,
Neil
How does the connection between the DLS-50 work with a new Smart TV? There seems to be no way to connect to the new Snart-TV now.
Do we need a different adapter?
Hi Peggy:
If your new smart TV has the square TOSlink jack on the back, that’s all you need. The HLD3 comes with the TOSlink cable to plug into your TV and the back of the HLD3. This is actually superior to the older RCA jacks used in the Univox DLS-50. The new HLD3 loop amplifier can use either and comes with both cables.
If your TV does not have either RCA or TOSlink aaudio out jacks, then you need to take a different approach. If you have any cable or set-top box hooked up ahead of the TV, often they will have audio output jacks, so check them of either RCA or TOSlink jacks.
Cordially,
Neil
I have a UniVox DLS-50 that is installed in an Home Owners Association Club House that appears to not be working. The 3 blue lights all flash on and off simultaneously. The manual that I was able to down load doesn’t tell me what this indicates. Please help me resolve this issue.
Hi Ron:
It sounds like a chip inside has gone bad. You have two choices–either get it fixed or get a new unit. I’ll know by tomorrow whether there are any of these chips left in stock. If so, it would be about $35.00 to get the chip replaced. Otherwise, you need to get a new unit. Since the DLS-50 is obsolete and is no longer made, we have replaced it with an even better product, the Contacta HLD3, I’d recommend this new unit. You can see it at http://hearinglosshelp.com/shop/contacta-hld3-hearing-loop-system/ .
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Ron:
I just got the answer back. They still have chips in stock to fix your DLS-50 (if it is what I think the problem is).
Call Alyssa at Contacta at 616-392-3400 and she will tell you what to do and how much it will cost.
Cordially,
Neil
can a univox dls-50 be hooked up to my PC?
Hi Ralph:
You betcha. Just use a double male, stereo 1/8″ (3.5 mm) audio patch cable. Plug one end into your computer’s earphone jack, and the other end into your loop amplifier’s IN jack. It’s that easy. Actually you can do this with any audio device that has an earphone jack.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Neil,
I’m a customer device rep at a bank I’ve been using this system (my counter is looped) for well over a year. At first it wa working great, but now all of a sudden the sound is not as loud. It seems very weak. Any ideas? Your help is appreciated!
Hi Melanie:
It’s hard to diagnose the problem sight unseen, but here are a few things you can do.
First, unplug all the chords cables and wires, one at a time, and reinsert them. Sometimes they might just make a poor connection or oxidize. If this is the problem just unplugging and re-plugging them should fix things.
Second, check that the gain control on the front has not accidentally been set to zero or a low number. It wants to be typically somewhere about halfway between minimum ends maximum.
Third, when someone is speaking, are all three blue lights on?
See if these fix the problem. If not, let me know.
Cordially,
Neil
We purchase the Univox Auto Loop 2.0 for our house. We hooked up the red and white cords to our AT&T cable box to complete the loop since there was only a buzz transmitted to the hearing aid when it was plugged in the TV.
Problem: The volume was LOUD as my dad heard it in his hearing aids. If I stood next to him, I even heard it.
I lowered the volume on the Univox with the under side switch. We reset the TV volume settings. We turned down the volume on his hearing aid and it was still too loud.
What other adjustments can be made so we can use this product?
Thanks,
Carla
Hi Carla:
If you have set the volume on the bottom to its lowest level (-3 dB), that is all the adjusting you can do on the AutoLoop 2.0. Make sure that you have plugged the plug from the cable box into the “line” jack, not the line/mic jack. That’s the second thing you can do.
Adjusting the volume on the TV doesn’t make any difference as you are plugged into the cable box and you are using a line level output from it via the red and white plugs. I assume that you are plugged into the audio OUT jacks and not to audio IN jacks.
What are you using for a loop–a room loop or a loop pad or what? If you are too close to the wire of the loop, the signal could be too loud, especially if you use the loop pad on the back of your chair.
Apart from all that, the problem can be with his hearing aids–if the level in t-coil mode is set incorrectly (too high), you’ll need to go back to where he got them and have the level on them set correctly. Very often the t-coil levels on hearing aids are set wrongly.
Cordially,
Neil