Started working on my Nickel today. When i got it two connectors were broken. Even tough the seller shipped the amp in the OEM packing from a MS1000TA. The plexi is only a piece of crap anymore due to shipment to former owner. One of the green status leds is damaged as well. And last but not least the bussbars were bent.
When is first saw the amp i knew that the caps needed to be replaced before i´ll be able to use it.
Today i took the amp apart and desolderd the old caps. Those were leaking as hell. Even the big caps already started to loose the liquid stuff Down below are some pics
Why did you remove the rail caps? There looks to be nothing wrong with them at all.
You tore the vias out of most of the input caps as well!!!
My eyes are actually starting to water seeing this, you just cut the value of this amp in half at least!
Got "schooled" by member shawn k on May 10th, 2011...
No longer really "in tune" with the audio industry, and probably have not been for some time.
Hands down the forum's most ignorant member...
Don't even know what Ohm's law is...
Eric D wrote:Why did you remove the rail caps? There looks to be nothing wrong with them at all.
You tore the vias out of most of the input caps as well!!!
My eyes are actually starting to water seeing this, you just cut the value of this amp in half at least!
I pulled the vias holes on purpose eric! It is way easier to get a drillbit and redrill those holes and use nicos method with the small wires thru the holes. And the rail caps started to leak as well. plus i´m going to change them to blue/white ones.
Use a drill bit! Intentionally rip out the vias. This is crazy talk.
Are you sure the rail caps were leaking? I would guess it was solder flux, not cap fluid. Of all the amps I have ever repaired I think only one needed rail caps due to leaking. And they had gotten so hot the heatshrink on them was completely missing.
You could have fixed the terminals, replaced the bad LED, put the amp back together, and it would be just as good as the day it was made, other than the leaking input caps.
Now you have pretty much trashed the amp if you ask me. At least in the eyes of anyone else who would want to buy it for collecting purposes. If you actually get around to installing it, then I can't complain, as you do not want it to catch fire in your car. However, it seems 95% of the members here collect these things, but never use them. If you don't use it, and end up selling it in a few years, I hope you let the buyer know what you have done to it.
Got "schooled" by member shawn k on May 10th, 2011...
No longer really "in tune" with the audio industry, and probably have not been for some time.
Hands down the forum's most ignorant member...
Don't even know what Ohm's law is...
I should probably clarify this, since I probably am coming across as a dick.
I am just shocked that you have done this, and I don't really know how to react.
This amp was around $10,000 USD new, and is one of the (if not the) most impressive, most rare, and most sought after PG amps ever made. To me it is a work of functional industrial art.
What you have done to it in my opinion is the equivalent of doing touch up work on the Mona Lisa with a crayon...
Got "schooled" by member shawn k on May 10th, 2011...
No longer really "in tune" with the audio industry, and probably have not been for some time.
Hands down the forum's most ignorant member...
Don't even know what Ohm's law is...
No problem eric! You are for sure not a dick! You´ve been working with amps forever compared to my expirience. The first time ever i repaired an amp i had to send it to you for repairs.
I did another 2 MS2250´s with the method i´m doing the nickel now. And those are working just fine since 2 month in a friends car. He´s using his stereo on a dayli basis for 2 hours.
Wheeeeew!!! Thats some kinda collection you got goin Joerg. As far as what you are doing, GL I have nothing to offer as far as looks like a bit of work for sure.
screw car audio, I'd rather go fast....errr, wait a minute.
Polished the enplates and the sink yesterday with something called "never dull" I think everything came out nice The first two pictures show what i started with.
Maybe some slight over reactions here. If when you are finished it looks 100% factory and is 100% reliable then it will be fine.
Of the last few amps I changed caps on I think one of the via's needed repair. I did Nico's method and tested it with a MM. In the end it looked perfect and worked perfectly. You would never know anything had been done at all.
Besides it's the case that is the expensive part. Boards are cheap
So i finished her up today! I also tested both sides and they power up just fine! No test with music yet as it is 1am here right now and i don´t think my already sleeping girlfriend will like it!
I got two of them now. A friend of mine had one of those decals leftover from his time as a dealer. He gave it to me and i decided that it would look good on the nickel as well. Better than throwing 150eur in a OEM plexi. Now i can use that money for other important things
One of the green status leds is damaged as well. And last but not least the bussbars were bent.
Down below are some pics 
