Contary with what I stated in the previous post, I tried to fix the 7A13 plugin. I couldn't leave a burned capacitor in there.
Messages
on the TekScopes list suggested a simple test: measure with an ohmmeter the
impedance across the tantalum capacitor: if it is zero, then there is a
problem. And it measured zero.
So
I cut off the original C158 capacitor and promptly replaced it with a
modern 100 uF 25V electrolytic. Why cutting instead of desoldering?
Because pads might not sustain several re-heating and, in any case, that
component will not be reused. Even if the board is densely populated, I
could operate without disassembling it, that could have been a
nightmare.
With
the new capacitor in place, the meter reading was still zero. So I
located another couple of tantalums and one of them was dead short even if it looked brand new. Off
it came, and a shiny 10uF 16V electrolytic got in the scene.
No more 0 readings across those capacitors. Time to a test in the 7603 chassis ... GO! The baby lives, again.
 |
| Left: C158. Right: C165. |
Out of curiosity, the burned capacitor measures open circuit and does not smell: I suspect it went up in flames long ago. The smaller one measures short circuit.
