ZX owners check those CAPS!!!

[Pillow]

I just got a ZX in the mail and it is the first one I have seen with leaking caps. After pulling the caps this evening 3 out of the 4 were leaking.

... Kind of F'ed up the power input area with some serious arcing. I need to clean it up and we will see how it turns out. My biggest concern is that one of the power hold down screws snapped off in the board... Too much contamination leaked into it and seized it up.

More to come... Hopefully with some pics.

[Eric D]

Are you talking about the gold screws on the brass input terminals?

[Pillow]

Yes, exactly.

There is some pitting in the copper/gold plating as well. Again from arcing IMO.

[kg1961]

sorry man this

is the amp i got from stryker and it came back from pg 1.5-2 years ago

shit it owrked 100% in my friends car running just high pass speaker in a mazda 3

[Pillow]

No worries Mike. It was due for caps anyway... This is just the first ZX I have seen leak.

[Eric D]

I replaced the caps in two ZX500s, and one ZX450 last week. All of them had at least one cap leaking, and in the case of one of the ZX500s, all the caps were leaking (input caps).

You may end up soldering the terminal. I had to do this on a ZX950 I had years ago. If you end up soldering it, you will need a very good iron to do a good job...

[Pillow]

Nice fix there Eric! I mean Jedi master.

Here are some pics:

[Eric D]

Do you have a Dremel tool, or equivalent? If so, use it with a very small dental drill and slowly grind out the screw. The screws are actually pretty soft (hence the reason they break off so easily).

I think if you can grind most of it out, you will have good threads left to work with.

[Pillow]

That is what I hope to do Eric... Results in a day or two

[oldskoolmseriesfan]

I dont think I could trust the DOCS so called "SKILLZ" I think hes just talking out his ass

[Eric D]

In all honesty I am not that proud of the work I did in the above photo. I did that over 6 years ago, and back then I did not know nearly as much about soldering as I do now.

[smgreen20]

Gotta start somewhere right? Hands down E, you're the best here at it.












No I'm not forgetting about Jason, he does an awsome job to.

[Eric D]

I think there are 4 or 5 guys here other than me who are as good or better at soldering.

[oldskoolmseriesfan]

I hate soldering Im sure my 3 year old could do it better than I.

[ttocs]

I think there are 4 or 5 guys here other than me who are as good or better at soldering.

golden hands!?

[gfunk_nz]

try a bit of penetrating oil round the threads of the screw overnight, there is a product called Mouse's Milk, it's the best stuff I have ever used, you can also use a 50/50 mix of kerosene and a light oil like jet engine oil, or probably any air tool oil, that will work through the threads then an easy out might just get the remainder of the screw out nicely.

[Pillow]

The ZX450 is all business and rocking in my Burb as of tonight I had to drill and retap/clean the threads for the screw, no biggie (6-32 tap if anyone cares).

I just did a "good" ZX500 and found that 3 of the 6 caps were starting to leak. Caught it early so no damage/marks at all... And it is now rocking in the Burb as well

In the next few weeks I hope to get the rest of the M50s and ZX500s done as well.

Again CHECK THOSE CAPS!!!