Reconditioning ZX600TI & ZX400TI, need more help.

[Alfaholic]

Hi i now got the caps, i want to check that all the vias are okay before soldering in the new ones is it just to see if there is contact between both sides of the vias?.
I have been realy carefull so i hope they are okay but i want to be 100% sure that they are ok.

[Alfaholic]

Well i got connection between both sides of the board through the vias so i guess they are ok phew, i bought a new soldering station so i got something thats works the irons i had were too weak.
I soldered the caps today i trained some befoe i did them here are the pictures:

[vwdude]

Nice clean soldering job. What I do at this point is I make sure that + sides of the caps are in contact with each other and same for the -.

[Alfaholic]

Nice clean soldering job. What I do at this point is I make sure that + sides of the caps are in contact with each other and same for the -.

Thank you, i used my glue gun and glued the caps that was glued together before and then i gave it some power with a 7.5amp fuse all the four red light came on and no protection light.
I will but it in the test bench when i got the 3 leds working.

[brinrose]

hi to all next time u have a amp that is dirty like the pg titanuims that actualy pull dirt into amp instead of using alchol or acetone which I use to clean only when u have soot from burnt Parts just GIVE UR AMP A BATH YUP A BATH USE 409 CLEANER SPRAY DOWN AMP LET IT SIT FOR A MINUTE OR 2 TOPS THEN USE UR SHOWER HEAD WARM WATER BETTER AND HOSE AMP DOWN THEN U COULD LET IT DRY IN SUN IF ITS SUMMER TIME OR LIKE I DO SINCE IM IMPATIANT I SHAKE OFF AMP OVER TUB AND USE A BLOW DRYER AND DONE JUST MAKE SURE ITS DRY B4 U POWER AMP UP USALLY I WAIT TILL NEXT DAY SINCE I CLEAN AMP B4 I BEGIN TO REPAIR

[knightrider358]

hi to all next time u have a amp that is dirty like the pg titanuims that actualy pull dirt into amp instead of using alchol or acetone which I use to clean only when u have soot from burnt Parts just GIVE UR AMP A BATH YUP A BATH USE 409 CLEANER SPRAY DOWN AMP LET IT SIT FOR A MINUTE OR 2 TOPS THEN USE UR SHOWER HEAD WARM WATER BETTER AND HOSE AMP DOWN THEN U COULD LET IT DRY IN SUN IF ITS SUMMER TIME OR LIKE I DO SINCE IM IMPATIANT I SHAKE OFF AMP OVER TUB AND USE A BLOW DRYER AND DONE JUST MAKE SURE ITS DRY B4 U POWER AMP UP USALLY I WAIT TILL NEXT DAY SINCE I CLEAN AMP B4 I BEGIN TO REPAIR

Am i reading this right?!?!?! Give the amp a shower and then let dry. Im no expert but seriously!?!?!?

[Alfaholic]

I cleaned down the board with anti static eletric cleaner and then i used aceton and Q-tips and cleaned all the dirt so its like new now, thank you for the tip but i will neve ever use water it got nothing to do on an eletric board and it can leave water under things where you dont even know it and that can give you big problems down the road.

[brinrose]

WATER IS FINE I BEEN REPAIRING CAR AMPS FOR 4 YEARS NOW AND ITS ALOT FASTER THEN USING Q TIPS I LEARNED FROM PERRY BABIN LOOK HIM UP IF U NEVER HEARD OF HIM

[zeropoint0.5]

WATER IS FINE I BEEN REPAIRING CAR AMPS FOR 4 YEARS NOW AND ITS ALOT FASTER THEN USING Q TIPS I LEARNED FROM PERRY BABIN LOOK HIM UP IF U NEVER HEARD OF HIM

[Alfaholic]

Water is fine for flowers but i would not use it on my amplifier board not even if god himself came down and told me to do it, it can go under a cap or into a bad solder joint it is not the way they do it in repair shop and its never gonna be the way im doing it.
Its common sense that water and electronics dont mix.

[brinrose]

I can understand ur logic and I understand ur lack of experience water is only bad for electronics if it has power applied of if u let water sit on it for a long period of time and if u shake the board to get most water off then use a blow dryer u will never have water left under componets or in bad solder joints water evaporats with heat ur anti static cleaner is worse for the board as it is oil based and leaves a residue and also with a strong solvent such as acetone on some boards it will ruin them so u need to be careful this is a perfectly safe method and it will save people a hour of there time

[Alfaholic]

But the caps has power in them and water is not anti static is it?

[brinrose]

caps only discharge when u touch both leads toghther

[Alfaholic]

caps only discharge when u touch both leads toghther

Water can conduct electricity, if it is mineral water or tap water it can be good at conducting electricity and combined with dust and leftover at the board it can be a very good conductor.
Its not like water is 100% safe that is a false statement, even if the chance off a failure was 1% its still a chance and that would mean you ruin 1 off 100amps you work on its not much but its a chance.

[brinrose]

and water is a ingredient in every solvent or liquid that is man made no?

[ttocs]

wow this post got fun

[Kurten75]

wow this post got fun

hahaha

Come on Alfa - let's see you clean some of your zx boards like this:


(Don't even think 'bout doing my ZX this way)

[Alfaholic]

and water is a ingredient in every solvent or liquid that is man made no?

Yes i know water is in many things but if i tell eletrical tech that i wash my circuit boards in water i think we both know what they would say, send a message to the Pg team and ask them if you can rinse off your circuit board in water i do not think they recomend it to anyone.
I dont say it cant be done but i think there is a chance you can fuck it up, i would never recomend it to anyone what if they dont dry it right/enough what if something go wrong because off it.

[Alfaholic]

wow this post got fun

hahaha

Come on Alfa - let's see you clean some of your zx boards like this:


(Don't even think 'bout doing my ZX this way)

I love my zx and treat them with love, so there is no water going near my board i love the time i spend cleaning them the tested aproved regular way.
Take it easy i will not test it with your zx either lol

[knightrider358]

wow this post got fun

hahaha

Come on Alfa - let's see you clean some of your zx boards like this:


(Don't even think 'bout doing my ZX this way)

I love how the vid never showed the board being powered up.

But what gets me more is how he has a bottle of yegermister on his pc desk while blow drying it.

Just seriously using water is not good practice in my opinion.

I wish a few of the techies here chime in w theor opinion.

[trickyricky]

The point of removing the heat sink completely is to ADD NEW thermal compound. Of course while you're there you get a toothbrush (not the one your currently using, lol) or a small 2" paint brush and dust off all the debri underneath the heat sinks. With compressed air it easily lifts up dust and loose debri, without the need of water or drying process.

Yes pcb can get washed but if there is no need for it then why do so? Only reason why anyone would want to do so is if it had some type of gunk stuck on the board such as oil, tar residue which usually doesn't end up in amplifier boards as much as they do on PC's (people who smoke cigarettes in doors have some MESSY home electronics...those would likely require washing to remove the tar film from all the accumulation of smoke.)

[Alfaholic]

Well today i got the zx400ti and started ripping it apart, and i also got the PG zpr 6 (rca jack) that im using to make 3pcs off 1.5meter rca cabel i used some focal tripple shielded rca cabel that is brown.
The zx400 looks great and im only going to clean it up inside not with water lol and im going to change the caps and apply new termal paste.
I also stole my wifes laundry room not the whole room just a corner to place my soldering tools it will have to do until i get my storeroom cleaned up at the moment its so full.

[Alfaholic]

I see that the rail caps on the zx400ti has bulging on the top, does this mean that i will need to change them.
I also wonder if there is a guide somewhere on removing the snap on rail caps, i know its easy to ruin the vias and i need to know a bit more before i do this.

[trickyricky]

If you want peace of mind then replace them, remove the top black plastic that is bulging and you might not even see anything on it leaking. They usually bulge like that due to heat, so if your concerned you can pop the black tops off and see for yourself. Now I did have a ZX400ti here that the rail caps seem to have been leaking as there is corrosion on the top of the caps.

[brinrose]

just push down on the top plastic part I wouldn't take it off there a bitch to take off and put back on with out tearing the plastic on the sides if its bulging u will feel it most time the rail caps are fine the problem with the pg caps are the power supply filter caps