Well, I don't doubt that there may be additional damage, however that doesn't mean that I should just scrap the unit and not try to repair it if possible. I knew the unit was not working when I purchased it, if I can get it working then great, if not then I'll use it for parts for my other two units. These boards, even with their age and condition, are still quite expensive when purchased used. I love the Show Designer and, as I said in another one of my posts, I have many, many hours invested in to programming my patterns, so I'd really like to stick with them for the time being.
You may be right about the XLR jack, there may more to the problem than is initially apparent. I may try to temporarily bridge the ground to see if that makes any difference before installing a new female adapter.