I've had this Wellon VP-180 programmer for years and recently needed to program a small PIC. Sadly, when connected to the computer the programmer failed to initialise and produced an error suggesting a hardware failure. So with nothing to lose I take it apart and look at the PCBs. I notice on the underside of the top board (holding the ZIF socket) one small surface-mount transistor (Mosfet?) had tiny a blow-hole in it, I needed a microscope to spot it! This and all the similar nearby devices have the marking HY2D and nothing else, and I totally failed to identify what this component actually was.
So again, with nothing to lose, I unsoldered that device and replaced it (hand soldered) another no-name component salvaged from a scrap PCB (a DVD writer). It didn't work first time and I got the same error, however I repeated using a different component and I thought I was successful this time because now the programmer initialises correctly and also passes its self-test routine found in the programmer software. Success? I can't really say because it still failed to write code to my PIC chip. Maybe the chip is faulty but I still have the nagging doubt that - despite passing its self-test - that replaced component was not correct. I don't even know if it is (was) n-chan, p-chan, NPN, PNP or what the heck. The programmer definitely reads chips just fine, but whilst the self-test includes an 'Output Test' I'm not sure it actually tests output voltages or it's just a logic thing.
Yeah, this isn't the way to execute a repair, so if anyone knows what the specs are for the failed component (HY2D) I might have more confidence in it.
Edit: Ah.. no. It's a fail. I tried to test some simple logic ICs and it fails to recognise them. I'm guessing when it tries to apply voltages to the pins it fails.
Edit2: Squeezed a through-hole n-chan mosfet onto the SMD pads (don't have SMDs in stock) and still fails. I think I'm done with this, I have a MiniPro TL866A on order which is modern and better software.
ChrisH