Phoenix Gold Phorum

I got my first ZX600TI today it got the three led not working and its alot of dust inside it, i want to clean it fix the three led and have new paste on the heatsink but i need some help.
On the three led board i see that the power terminal on the board is gone but i need to know how much voltage i can use to test the led i was thinking on using a small AA battery but want to make sure i can do that.
I also want to know hoe i clean the heatsink, do i only remove the small heatsink in got 12 of them or do i also remove the big heart board they are screwed down in, i have never done it before and im going to be real carefull im not going to solder anything before i have trained on some old amplifiers.
Also wonder what do i use when cleaning the heatsink and inside components, i got some eletric cleaner but when i used it before it leaves a spot where i used it.

If the LED's didn't turn on, more than likely it was because of the missing screw for that board. The voltage goes through the screws and onto the tri-led board. To test them use a DMM in diode mode do this in a dark/dim room/area because most DMM barely light up the LEDs and you can't tell if your in a bright lite room.

To clean the heat sink you will need the following:
-Alcohol 91% (or higher percentage) isopropyl
-lint free towels (you can use paper towels but they leave lint behind and has to be dusted off)
-socket for the screws (I believe its a 4mm or 4.5mm, hard to find but its available)

You will have to remove all 12 of them, take pictures before you remove them so you know exactly how re-assemble. The thermal compound is really messy and a PITA to remove completely, its on both sides of those black heat sink plates (bottom where the semi's are and top where the heat sink fins are).

When assembling it the screws have to set hand tight (they should be torqued all to the same spec) careful not to stip the head of the screw or the screw itself. If it breaks you'll have to remove the black plate to get to it and replace it.

To dust off the board, get a paint brust and an air compressor (or compressed air in a can works), dust the board off with the brush then air it off. You'll find a lot of debri under those black heat sink plates.

Thanks for the help i see one of the leds are cracked and missing a piece, the screw is not missing but the contact surface on the board is gone.
What is diode mode on the DMM?. when i use papers under the caps it dont get wet but i will change them anyway its better to be safe then sorry.

LOL I didn't even pay attention to the LED....if one LED is open (shorted) then the circuit is open meaning it will not power up the other two LED even if they are good/functioning.

If the caps are "HF" or "HFZ" then they require replacement no matter what.

DMM is short for digital multi meter, they have several settings the one you need to set it on is "DIODE".

I got that symbol is it the one that beeps when red and black are connected, i got some picture of the caps.
I gave it some juice the fan start and 4red lights in the middle off the board lights up, what do the 4 red lights mean?.

The four red LED's inside is an indicator that all four channels are properly working (getting both sides of the rail voltage).

Yes the diode mode on most DMM produce a beeping sound. Check the diode individually, you'll barely be able to see it light up.

All the leds are damaged and the cracked one is shorted, can the shorted led cause damage anywhere else?.
I will test if the power spot on the board to see if it gets any power, when i have applyed new termal paste to the heat sink.

I got the heatsink removed and everything looks good, i just orderd termal paste hope i get it soon.

When you assemble it, used a 10amp fuse on the B+ and with the LED board removed, power the amplifier up and set your DMM to DC voltage and place one probe/lead one each screw mount you should get 30vdc. Each side has a 330ohm resistor then on the cathode end/side followed by a 2N4403 just in case your not getting the proper voltage you know where to look.

Thanks for the help, i got to buy a DMM that check caps i also got to read on how to check different components on the board.
I orderd some AKSA hybrid and AKSA high preformance termal paste with a termal paste remover solvent kit,
i also put all the screws in there places after removing the heatsink so i dont put them in the wrong place,

Well im off to work, have a nice day

i just thinking what's the difference between paste and thous light brown little leaves?

I see two of the fets has a silly pad and the rest has termal paste so i think there is a difference since they used both in one amplifier,
the two silly pads look good can i use them again or will i need to change them?

Those are the rectifiers and NEED TO BE INSULATED!!! DO NOT DAMAGE THAT SILPAD!!

You can re-use it but make sure...VERY IMPORTANT that there is not any debri between the silpad and the semi as well as the silpad and the heat sink (both sides of the silpad needs to be 100% clean.) Any little metal shaving/burr will cut through the silpad and short the rectifiers....BOOOM!


I went ahead and included 4 silpads on your package...they are in a cardboard folded and taped onto the box so hopefully Customs don't remove or loose it.

Thanks alot you are a stand up guy and i have learned alot from you, i got the amp up and running again i did clean the silly pad and i used medical gloves
when i put it back together all parts cleaned with isopropanol and lot of thermal paste.
Its fun work and the caps look thick so they should be easy to solder in new, i got a solder iron with pump coming so i hope it works and the new hako soldier station is on the way from USA.

I got one of the small caps out they are CE EF caps and under the first one there was a tiny drop of fluid under it. i got a new soldering iron with that sucks up the solder from the via it works great and i only paid 10$ for it with shipping included.
Here are some pictures:

When i had ulled the cap off the two pins and i were going to cut the pin so i could get it out of the via i shorted it becase my plier was to big, is this dangerous for the board or other components?
It came a small spark from it hope i did not fuck anything up by doing this.

Can someone please help me find the right caps on Digikey im not finding the right ones, i also see the some change to higher UF when changing the caps is this better or is it better to use the original ones

Alfaholic wrote:Can someone please help me find the right caps on Digikey im not finding the right ones, i also see the some change to higher UF when changing the caps is this better or is it better to use the original ones

I've got about 30pcs of these at home if you care for a drive ...
http://www.digikey.com/product-search/e ... 93-1543-ND

Someone will for sure know if these are usable for your 600.
I'm using these in the MS-series.

Alfaholic wrote:Can someone please help me find the right caps on Digikey im not finding the right ones, i also see the some change to higher UF when changing the caps is this better or is it better to use the original ones

Just wait for the ones I sent you....they are Panasonic 16v 8200uf (biggest available in its dimensions). Now if you have a component distributor near by (same country) then you might want to order (just make sure the dimensions are the same and pin spacing as well).


I wouldn't pull on those leads left over from the capacitor especially if you have a iron/pump, they should fall off by themselves. If anything get some hemostat clamp and clamp them to the leads once you applied enough heat with the original solder they should fall off using the weight of the hemostat.

If you pull them and the solder doesn't reach melting point you may pull the though hole via and will need to be repaired otherwise you'll have a cosmetic cap (if it's not making proper contact).

trickyricky wrote:

Alfaholic wrote:Can someone please help me find the right caps on Digikey im not finding the right ones, i also see the some change to higher UF when changing the caps is this better or is it better to use the original ones

Just wait for the ones I sent you....they are Panasonic 16v 8200uf (biggest available in its dimensions). Now if you have a component distributor near by (same country) then you might want to order (just make sure the dimensions are the same and pin spacing as well).


I wouldn't pull on those leads left over from the capacitor especially if you have a iron/pump, they should fall off by themselves. If anything get some hemostat clamp and clamp them to the leads once you applied enough heat with the original solder they should fall off using the weight of the hemostat.

If you pull them and the solder doesn't reach melting point you may pull the though hole via and will need to be repaired otherwise you'll have a cosmetic cap (if it's not making proper contact).

Thank you for answering me, i do not pull the the leads off i pulled the cap off the leads and then cut the leads down at the board before i sucked out the soldering tin.
The reason i asked for the link to what caps it uses is because i want to have some on hand and im looking on one last zx600ti, i think i got an amp addiction.
I shorted one off the caps when i cut the leads off is this dangerous for the amplifier, i also wonder do i change the two big capacitors and did you send the two big ones?.
Is higher UF better?, there is 6 small caps and 2 big caps is this the only ones that are changed?

Kurten75 wrote:

Alfaholic wrote:Can someone please help me find the right caps on Digikey im not finding the right ones, i also see the some change to higher UF when changing the caps is this better or is it better to use the original ones

I've got about 30pcs of these at home if you care for a drive ...
http://www.digikey.com/product-search/e ... 93-1543-ND

Someone will for sure know if these are usable for your 600.
I'm using these in the MS-series.

They are exactly the same size as the small ones the only difference is the UF, i do not know what changing the uf do.
Thank you for the offer but i cant pick them up tonight, im alone with my son as my fiance is working but i could cme up tommorow after work.

The ones Kurten is offering will work and having higher capacitance (uf) on the B+ filtering is better. The ones I sent you are 8200uf, just make sure you insert them the correct way otherwise expect it to fail.

The two large ones in the middle by the PS daughter board are the rail caps, they don't need to be replaced plus I don't know if that solder pump came with different size tips because the leads on the rail cap are much bigger than the caps you removed. I would just recommend to leave those alone as damage can be done when removing.

Ok, then i know what railcaps are i almost started on removing them but im glad i did not do it then i tryed with paper under them and they are dry.
Is the square vias + and the round are - ?.

Square are positive, they are silkscreen on the board as well.

Touching the pos and neg of the cap shouldn't do damage. All you are doing is discharging the caps, that's why you saw a spark. It's actually safer to discharge them before you. Es with anyway, but they do t store enough electricity to do much damage to you.

Going with a higher capacitance is good this case. I don't mess with the capacitance when it comes to signal caps, but for your power supply it's good to add. All you are doing is adding to the ability to store energy.