TiVo Series 3 HD - Cringeworthy Caps

[richfiles]

My TiVo Series 3 HD device gave up the ghost after my AC tripped my breaker. I figured it's probably something in the power supply. I open it up, and low and behold, I see bulging caps, even leaky caps... "CapXon" brand, in a lovely China-esque serif font, from around 2007... Looking online, I see these were made at the tail end of the notorious "capacitor plague" time period. bad materials or something. I don't recall the material specifics... but a LOT of caps from that time period have suffered premature failure. Not really sure if that's the same issue here, but TiVo forums all seem to agree... The caps are crap! 

At least they had the sense to use 105 degree rated crap caps.

I'm gonna replace ALL the PSU caps with GOOD ones, and hope nothing else popped. I got ridiculous measurements in some of the caps, like 140uf on a 2200uf cap, and 570uf measured on a 3300uf cap. I have a job I must finish, but yeah... these caps are clearly bad. I might see if I can replace a few caps if I can find them on hand, and get it up and running again, so I can at least enjoy some TV (I love me my PBS documentaries), but it's DEFINITELY getting a total re-cap.

Not much time to deal with it now... job and all, but I'll come back and post some more shortly. Hoping it's just caps. If it's more, I'll deal with it as it comes.

[roffvald]

Capxon brand caps caused the death of thousands of Samsung TV's and monitors, horrible horrible things.

[richfiles]

I pulled them, tested the ones that I didn't have on hand replacements for, and put in Panasonic and Nichicon caps wherever I could. The TiVo forums have a nifty little Digi-Key part number list of replacement caps. About $10 US worth of parts, to fully rebuild the power supply. I threw in what I had and returned the old caps only when the cap tested good, and I had no equivalent on hand. For some of the caps, they were wired in parallel, so I put in a few extra Panasonics, at slightly lower values each, to come up with an equivalent total capacitance. That was the only "beefy" area that I didn't have exact replacements on hand for.

The result is that the unit now works, and I can enjoy some Ken Burns documentaries, and with only an hour and half to spare!   

I'll get the Digi-Key parts ordered and do a PROPER rebuild once those parts arrive. most of the caps on the divi-key parts list are 10000 hour @ 105°C rated... I think one is 6000, and another 4000 hour... For $10, you might as well get the best, right! 

Should have taken pics of the temp getup... but I was rushed! 

CapXon caps truly LOOK cheap. There is something special about seeing electronic components with that quintessential serif font that China seems to adore. I feel a special sort of queasiness... 

Err... Makes me wanna pop open my three samsung monitors... You know... to purge the evil! 

[Psi]

Not as fake as these Rubicons i found, at least they bothered to cure the silkscreen on your Capxon caps

[richfiles]

I can imagine wiping the Rubycon off the caps also wipes the smile off your face... 

[richfiles]

I snagged this nifty parts list from a TiVo forum. I have not placed an order yet, or verified the availability of the part numbers, but this lists the secondary side caps.

C401 2200uF 6.3V Panasonic EEU-FR0J222 Digikey P14365-ND $0.81 (Alternate: P15308CT-ND?)
C402 2200uF 6.3V Panasonic EEU-FR0J222 Digikey P14365-ND $0.81 (Alternate: P15308CT-ND?)

C601 2200uF 16V Panasonic EEU-FR1C222 Digikey P14402-ND $1.01
C701 2200uF 25V Panasonic EEU-FR1E222L Digikey P14428-ND $1.43
C501 3300uF 10V Panasonic EEU-FR1A332 Digikey P14383-ND $1.01
C502 3300uF 10V Panasonic EEU-FR1A332 Digikey P14383-ND $1.01
C504 3300uF 10V Panasonic EEU-FR1A332 Digikey P14383-ND $1.01

C503 3300uF 10V Panasonic EEU-FR1A332 Digikey P14383-ND $1.01
C603 470uF 16V Panasonic EEU-FR1C471 Digikey P14394-ND $0.49 (Alternate: P15342CT-ND?)
C702 470uF 16V Panasonic EEU-FR1C471 Digikey P14394-ND $0.49 (Alternate: P15342CT-ND?)
C403 1000uF 6.3V Panasonic EEU-FM0J102 Digikey P12340-ND $0.51

All are rated at 10000hrs@105C except for the last 3 which are 6000hrs@105C and 4000hrs@105C. Cost was $9.59 in parts plus $0.48 tax and $4.91 S&H for a total of $14.98. (Circa 2012... Who knows what they'll cost today).

Additionally, there are three caps on the primary side. No clue why the guy on the other forum didn't just go ahead with these too. I plan to nuke any trace of crap caps from my unit. Gotta look up part numbers for these yet. I have another repair going on, a blown 50 volt 20 amp bench supply that needs some parts too, so I'll probably wait till I know everything I need and combine the orders.

C220   - 47uF   50V   -   Connected to:   primary side of transformer
C227   - 10uF   25V   -   Connected to:   primary side of transformer
C120   - 470uF   200V   -   Connected to:   primary side of transformer

[dSquare]

Re the Samsung connection.

I'm here for the Digikey parts list since my Series 3 started randomly restarting. There are three bulging caps but I'm following hte advice to replace them all. (and the parts price is still the same but shipping is now $10) but noticed the comment about Samsung TV. My former TV was a Samsung and it needed caps replaced.  I'm a medical doctor rather than an EE, but hey it's just a few electrons, right?

Thanks for the info.