Powering up a 20-year old MicroVAX II

[Roy J. Tellason]

On Monday 23 February 2009 05:24:32 am Gordon JC Pearce wrote:
> Rod Smallwood wrote:
> > Hi
> >    Sounds like capacitors.
> > Alhough it's a switcher any high voltage/high value capacitors in the
> > PSU might well need reforming.
> > Quite often you will see caps with a pair if incised lines on top. This
> > makes them go pop instead of bang.
> > You would not want to see a PSU where they have gone bang.
>
> This is the only popped electrolytic I have ever seen, in damn near 30
> years of fiddling with electronic stuff:
>
> http://www.gjcp.net/~gordonjcp/blowncap.jpg
>
> Gordon

I was given a flatscreen a while back and after opening it up I saw a whole 
*bunch* of them that looked like that...

I'm undecided yet whether I'm going to just change the ones that are bulging 
out the top like that or swap them *all*,  which is going to end up being 
rather more extensive.

I suspect that lack of a surge protector was probably a good diagnosis for 
this user.  :-)

I have another one from the same source that uses an external power supply 
that's dead.  A replacement is at hand,  so I'll probably "fix" that one 
first.

-- 
Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and
ablest -- form of life in this section of space,  a critter that can
be killed but can't be tamed.  --Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters"
-
Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James 
M Dakin