Have come across this happening now as I have installed many.

They come in as picture breakup, no signal, SNR graph is flaky, won't re-scan channels, etc.

Problem is C8, C9, C10 in the power supply bulging, I guess another case of bad caps as it seems to be a cluster around serial number 2006080nnnn.

Picture here.

Thanks for the tip.
Mine is s/n 20061101320. 13 months old, Picture breakup. C8, C9, C10 bulging.
Cheers, Jim S.

These boxes have a 3 year warranty so anyone not comfortable with a soldering iron should send it back to Radio Parts for repair.

Thank you so much for your post! I was getting picture breakups on NBN Newcastle but other channels OK, now today "no signal" errors and no reception at all, just the STB menu items on the screen.

I have a Supernet 8000T-PVR (apparently same as Wintals?) serial # 200606nnnnn purchased November 2006 (16 months old) and it is similar - caps bulging and small top leak in power supply. In the STB I have the dodgy caps are C12, C15 (both 2200uF 10V) and C16 (1000uF 16V).

Not being an electronics expert - actually pretty crap at soldering - but having bought it thru fleabay and hence no warranty, can I just buy same or similar rated caps from DSE/Jaycar and have a crack at soldering or getting a mate to? If/when I purchase new caps which of those specs are important to get identical and which can I get better / higher / lower numbers on? Eg would 2400uF 10V be OK for C12/C15?

Thanks for any replies!

The same or better specs is acceptable, usually with regard to voltage or temperature rating (preferably 105° C rating.) 2400µF is not in the E3 or E6 series so would not normally be available. The next value in this series would be 3300µF, however I would keep to the same capacitance value as physical size may prevent shoehorning the replacement into the available space.


Careful with the soldering as boards can be damaged by excessive heat.

I was browsing through the forum and saw this post - very fortuitous! I was just about to bin an STB-X5A that died last week - same symptoms with picture breakup then no signal. Serial number 20060800956. Was just out of usual 1 year warranty (forgot about the three year warranty). I opened it up and it looked identical to the photo M'bozo posted.

I'm handy with a soldering iron so I'll fix it up myself - thanks for the tip!

The techs at Radio Parts must be tearing their hair out by now . And think of all those computer motherboards with similar problems, changed for the sake of components worth less than a dollar.

Can't help but feeling that electronics is going backwards sometimes. Electros were never the most reliable of components, but 13 months

I fix old valve radios and the high voltage electros in those were never this unreliable.

Cheers, Jim

Thanks for the that, my stb was due for the tip, but thought I'd have a look inside anyway after reading this. Lo and behold it looked exactly the same as the pic. Mine's branded a Rotel.

Just replaced the caps, up and firing again. Only problem is that now I can't find any SBS channels. Reception was perfect beforehand, digital and analog, so obviously not a reception problem.

Any ideas?

Is it just the two SBS channels or all the digital channels that broadcast on UHF?

When I first got my STB-X5A I had a similar problem in that I couldn't receive any of the UHF channels. Spoke to a tech at Radio Parts and he told me how to reset the whole box and then it was fine.

Unfortunately I didn't write down / can't remember the procedure as he guided me thro' it on the phone.

If your STB is exactly the same as the X5A then perhaps you could ring Radio Parts service and ask them.

Cheers, Jim

This link shows how to reset the Wintal.

May apply to your Rotel as well.

It worked!! Thanks mate, hadn't even crossed my mind to try that. What a relief, I was getting pretty sick of watching Top Gear on analogue.

[quote name='M'bozo' date='Mar 27 2008, 12:33 PM' post='1007447']
This link shows how to reset the Wintal.

Thanks for that. I've printed it out for future reference.

Cheers, Jim S.

Thanks M'bozo

I've a Wintal X5a (PS - 2006 10) and an identical Supernet 8900T (PS - 2006 06) that died within weeks of each other due to 'bulging' leaky caps.

Looks like the offenders (all 105° C caps) are:

C8 - 470uF 16v
C9 - 1000uF 16v
C10 - 470uF 16v
C11 - 470uF 16v

My Aldi-bought SD STB developed the same symptoms. When I opened it, the power supply was exactly like the one pictured above. $2.65 and some desoldering later, I'm back in business! Works better than ever.

Thanks a million M'bozo!

They're good boxes even though the Digenius firmware's a little odd.

A few more pictures for those with similar power supply boards. Blue = bad

Capacitors

Power supply

I've had my Digicrystal SD PVR for about 2.5 years now but recently it's started to act up. Hard drive claiming it was full and recordings dissapearing or not working. Pulling the power plug seemed to reset things but in the end it got worse and worse so I just got a Toppy 5000 to replace it.

I thought I may as well have a go at soldering in some new caps even though I've never tried my hand at surface mount before. My only experience is with wires and motors and whatnot on RC cars.

Just wanted to check, is there anything in particular I should be careful of? The unit has been unplugged and sitting in a box for over a month now, will the caps still have any charge? Anything to worry about or should I just disconnect the board and start de-soldering?

I'm not too fussed if I end up breaking the thing, it's going to the tip anyway if I don't try. Just as long as I don't break myself in the attempt. Cheers for the info everyone.

No not hard, they're low voltage caps so no danger to yourself.

However you do need to watch how much heat you apply to a pcb as the tracks will lift, if excessively heated,

Best to buy a bit of solder wick to 'suck' up the solder around the cap pins before/after removal, unless you have a solder sucker.

Electrolytic caps are polarised ie +/- legs. Check the polarity as you remove and replace in the same fashion.

C9 failed in my X5a and also in my supernet 8050, replacement cap fixed both. 1000uF cap failure seems to be an epidemic, I have replaced them in at lease 10 dvd players, a HD/DVD recorder, and 6 STBs

c8, c10 and c11 are all bulged in the supernet but I didnt have any 470uF caps left, looks like another trip to Jaycar next time I visit the big smoke, the supernet now starts and runs ok, b4 it would flash strange combinations of the led display. I will change the 470uF caps when I get some

I picked up a PVRx10A with 80gb hard disk at a recyclers for $5, and it seems to work ok (no remote though) I havent opened it up yet but do they have any power supply issues?

Also, does anyone know the universal remote code for the x10A?

The problem you experienced is exactly what mine is doing except mine is a dual tuner and currently only one tuner is failing; but the biggest problem the hard drive saying its full after approx 30mins of recording. Did you try replacing the capacitors and more importantly did it work.