I was enjoying some records on Christmas Day. I went to flip the record, and when I did I created a static charge. I heard a loud pop and the Sprout 100 started to make clicking sounds and the LED light doesn’t come on. I unplugged everything and it just keeps making a clicking sound. No LED light. I am hoping to send in for repairs but I have had the sprout for the last 3 winters (dry climate) but nothing like this has happened. Are there recommendations for avoiding this in the future, assuming I get back up and running with this device?
Static electricity is often very hard on circuits. I hope your Sprout was not horribly zapped.
Other than providing for adequate humidity in the home to avoid static discharges outright, I can only think of touching a ground before touching equipment.
Generally speaking, I noticed that when I wear synthetic trousers or sit on a chair with synthetic fabric, I get a huge charge in me when I stand up and walk to the audio rack! Once I had a small electric shock myself and saw a blue arc discharge. I switched to natural leather seat and that helped a lot. Also, now I avoid wearing certain clothes that gave me such a high charge! I am convinced my movement and the fabrics did induce more static than anything else in the room!
I also have a habit of muting my preamp when I do anything with the TT like changing records. I’m not sure it would have helped you here, but it prevents fat finger incidents from blowing up the speakers.