(Topic ID: 254480)

General repairs on WPC driver boards

By wrd1972

4 years ago



Topic Stats

  • 5 posts
  • 5 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 4 years ago by CLEllison
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

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    #1 4 years ago

    Okay I am repairing a CFTBL and the 5 big caps on the WPC board are severely "bubbled" even though it is showing power issues. So I will be removing the board to replace the caps. No worries...I have done this before without issue.

    But my question is. Since the board is going to be off, should I just go ahead and replace the rectifiers and the 5v and 12v regulators too as well? The regulators would be the new digital types from EZSBC.

    Thanks

    #2 4 years ago

    No I'd leave that stuff alone.

    Here's what I'd look at closely, J101, J114, J115, J120 and J121 for tarnished or burned pins. Change C2 and C4 as well. C4 has a lot to do with the +5V. I'd look at changing out C31 for the +5V on the CPU as well, although that board is easier to remove.

    #3 4 years ago

    God I really want to start a fight on this o e. The answer is do what you want. Old schoolers still quote Clay like he is god and say find the problem and fix it without shotgunning everything. The newer guys quote Clay saying that caps are End of life and should all be replaced because the service life is 20 years or so. Sounds like you of the shotgun school (me too). If I have a board that has a problem I tend to redo everything while it’s out. For $30 in parts it’s worth it not to have to drag the board back out when another part fails. I have had bridges test fine then fluctuate under load and crash a board. Since I’m doing caps anyway I just do it all as parts are more available then they use to be. Again, do what you want because no one is right all the time.

    #4 4 years ago

    I'm the person who will pull every board out of a machine and recap every cap, reflow every pin, and do every known upgrade from pinwiki, including any diagnostic LEDs and that sort of thing. Heck, a bunch of the pics and a few of the articles were written by me.

    All of my machines go out to clients, and having those LEDs has saved me a housecall a few times.

    #5 4 years ago

    Stating a pin is 20+ years old is not an opinion. it's just fact. Every component has a life expectancy and if you have to do some soldering you might as well make it a party and replace the power section of the board as well.
    The only real down side is new parts don't always mean "good". You might induce a new problem and you just shot gunned 15 new components so now how in the hell do you figure out what part is bad ... unless you're one of those super sleuthing type guys (with proper bench tools) you'll have to send it off to an expert.

    If you're confident in your abilities go for it. While you're at it ya might as well order a whole new header/connector kit as well. Let's face it, those things are starting to get old too

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