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FrankenZERO - A bang for buck exploration with a DIY Heart ! - Page 14

post #196 of 427
1/10/09 at 8:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by prinz View Post
God bless You ;]
I guess we are still being inundated with this nonsense!
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post #197 of 427
1/15/09 at 6:02pm
Thread Starter 
Les....LOL....you certainly are a character...

Ok folks...something I ran across this morning while trying to squeeze in a unrelated set of pcbs and psu parts into my heavily modified HK HD720 CDP.....I had added PIO bypass caps to the 2 47uf 16V MUSE output coupling caps ( a few months back) and noticed the other day when I tried the analog outs (for kicks) on it the R channel was not functional....of course while I had the chassis lid off this morning I decided to try and figure out what the issue was....low and behold one of the traces on the right channel coupling cap had cracked breaking the circuit and dropping the right channel in the process....OK no problem I'll fashion a jumper and fix it....the real question though is why did it break to begin with (other than the really cheap one sided PCB being part of the problem) ? I discovered that the legs of the PIO bypass cap were under "tension" as in they had not been completely bent into the proper shape to mate up with the MUSE cap pads and therefor leave the completed joint stress free......Obviously with the delicate traces on the Zero board the PIO cap leads need to be bent into a shape (following the Instruction manual photos ) that will not stress the + and - pads of the cap being bypassed. Even a 1/10 of 1 mm crack will cause the board to fail with the resulting troubleshooting of that fault difficult to detect.

Hopefully this additional info will drive home the importance of being precise ....it really will effect longevity and although it happened to another unit of mine, the lesson is universal and translates to any application where PIO bypass caps may be used.

Peete.
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post #198 of 427
1/17/09 at 9:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by prinz View Post
does the direction of PIO's legs matters?
None of them is signed as + or -.
Im asking because on underside PCB i saw different soldering between Peet's and someone else photo.

i've marked differences in blue circle
Hi prinz, no, the direction matters not a jot. The picture you refer to is one of mine and I just happen to like my boards to look neat, clean and tidy, with the legs pre-formed to fit into the space available so that strain on the board does not occur, as PP has intimated elsewhere.
All of my boards look like this and after a challenge once where I had a track break from a PIO leg not quite right, I have had absolutely no problems with tracks cracking and creating frustrating problems later on my other projects. It's really worth taking the time to get this right, as there is far less chance of possible problems with RFI pick up (radio frequency) or other magnetic interference. Great care is needed when working around the DAC.
Well done on doing a pretty fair job there, it's neater than many I've seen.
You might consider finding an old toothbrush and some Isopropyl alcohol and giving the solder joins a gentle scrubbing to remove the solder flux.
It not only leaves a much cleaner and neater looking board, it makes finding potential solder bridges much easier to see.

The main board from the top should really show little signs of much modification in my book, but then I am a bit persnickety about this. Here's what I mean in the pics below, one of which, BTW, has not been cleaned yet. Regards, S-man.
LL
LL
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post #199 of 427
1/18/09 at 11:05am
thanks sennsay for answer. Today i'll get my zero back from electronics service.Yesterday they told me, that they dont know what's wrong with my zero, i dont believe that situation has changed today. (i broke it while i was doing mod).
Im really upset, it was my first mod, first soldering.. and mission failed.
I would be very grateful if someone could post a picture with selected caps which should be soldered from the upper side of the PCB. ( i've soldered everything from downside, and i hope thats the reson why my zero's dead). Im electronic noob, cant see any tracks by myself really. I need help from You guys..

---
EDIT
---

I've resoldered the suspicious caps, searched carefully for caps which should be soldered from upper side of PCB and soldered them ofcourse from the proper side. And **** is not working... :/ when i push the "reset" i hear sound for about 5ms.

:~~-(


EDIT!...


IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
one of the tracks leading to the cap which should powerup the reciever was lifted.
Now it works! !!!
Ill be back in few days (
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post #200 of 427
1/19/09 at 12:34am
Thread Starter 
Aha......good job prinz........!!!!

That tech should be fired IMO. He should have caught that fault during his visual inspection (that's the first step for any troubleshooting job).

Peete.
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post #201 of 427
1/19/09 at 12:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by prinz View Post
thanks sennsay for answer. Today i'll get my zero back from electronics service.Yesterday they told me, that they dont know what's wrong with my zero, i dont believe that situation has changed today. (i broke it while i was doing mod).
Im really upset, it was my first mod, first soldering.. and mission failed.
I would be very grateful if someone could post a picture with selected caps which should be soldered from the upper side of the PCB. ( i've soldered everything from downside, and i hope thats the reson why my zero's dead). Im electronic noob, cant see any tracks by myself really. I need help from You guys..

---
EDIT
---

I've resoldered the suspicious caps, searched carefully for caps which should be soldered from upper side of PCB and soldered them ofcourse from the proper side. And **** is not working... :/ when i push the "reset" i hear sound for about 5ms.

:~~-(


EDIT!...


IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
one of the tracks leading to the cap which should powerup the reciever was lifted.
Now it works! !!!
Ill be back in few days (
Good Deal, Makes you feel great finding it huh!
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post #202 of 427
1/19/09 at 10:30am
yeah, it certainly does
I'm really courious how sq will change after burn in.
Im also thinking about changing two 330uf caps near the DAC's OPA. Atm there are panasonics FC, but i also have 470uf BC COMPONENTS (actually VISHAY, couse BC/philips was bought by vishay some time ago) from the best series.
I've heard that those BC Components caps sounds really, really good, and they quite cheap btw.
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post #203 of 427
1/19/09 at 10:55pm
Thread Starter 
Can't hurt to try it...give the Frankie it's required hours first is my advice before changing anything else. The BC caps are good ones indeed. I used some of them (220uf 100V Axials) in my Adcom GFP-750 rebuild/mod....at 6 dollars ( CAD from Digikey) a cap they are quite a bit more $$ than the NOS Russian PIO's....and loads more than the Panay FC's...I'm not sure you'll gain much with the swap. Might be worthwhile though....I say why not (but after burn in). The Adcom sounds really good...but it is still many many more hours before it's done cooking. I changed out 76 parts...rather large mod.

Peete.
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post #204 of 427
1/20/09 at 12:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pricklely Peete View Post
Can't hurt to try it...give the Frankie it's required hours first is my advice before changing anything else. The BC caps are good ones indeed. I used some of them (220uf 100V Axials) in my Adcom GFP-750 rebuild/mod....at 6 dollars ( CAD from Digikey) a cap they are quite a bit more $$ than the NOS Russian PIO's....and loads more than the Panay FC's...I'm not sure you'll gain much with the swap. Might be worthwhile though....I say why not (but after burn in). The Adcom sounds really good...but it is still many many more hours before it's done cooking. I changed out 76 parts...rather large mod.

Peete.
I don't suppose you've modded any Adcom 555's?
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post #205 of 427
1/22/09 at 7:05am
Can someone tell me where can i find those parts for this mod?
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post #206 of 427
1/22/09 at 3:14pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by les_garten View Post
I don't suppose you've modded any Adcom 555's?
Not yet

The 555 hmmm....need to look that one up and get familiar with it again. The model does ring a bell (a very dusty one) Les.

Here's an interesting thread on the 555....Nelson Pass designed this amp as well....diyAudio Forums - Adcom 555II - Nelson Pass ? - Page 1 and he makes personal comments on it in the thread itself. Can't get better info than that I'd imagine. Straight from the horse's mouth

Peete.
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post #207 of 427
1/22/09 at 3:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pricklely Peete View Post
Not yet

The 555 hmmm....need to look that one up and get familiar with it again. The model does ring a bell (a very dusty one) Les.

Here's an interesting thread on the 555....Nelson Pass designed this amp as well....diyAudio Forums - Adcom 555II - Nelson Pass ? - Page 1 and he makes personal comments on it in the thread itself. Can't get better info than that I'd imagine. Straight from the horse's mouth

Peete.
Hi,
Thanx, I DL'd the Schematics. I saw your Adcom ref. and thought you may have bastardized a 555 in the past!
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post #208 of 427
1/22/09 at 4:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by les_garten View Post
Hi,
Thanx, I DL'd the Schematics. I saw your Adcom ref. and thought you may have bastardized a 555 in the past!
Who me ?....Never

Interesting to note the few options in that thread that do improve performance though. There is always room for improvement IMO unless the object is already perfect in every way...(rarely if ever seen in this price category) hence the threads suggestions for upgrade. I followed similar instructions for the 750 (from diyaudio.com of course) but then veered off that path using some ideas of my own. A hybrid mod you might say.

Peete.
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post #209 of 427
1/26/09 at 9:32am
Is it ok if I use PANASONIC FM/FC caps for all the electrolytic caps? Would I compromise on sound quality if I use the panasonic caps instead of the nichicon PW, Elna Silmic or Sanyo OS-CON capacitors?

The only supplier I have access to (Farnell) doesn't have Nichicon PW, Elna Silmic and Sanyo Os-Con capacitors.
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post #210 of 427
1/26/09 at 1:34pm
Panasonic are quite goodsounded caps, but too much of them will increase trembles to extremely not welcome level.
They sound very precise, punchy, but not musical. You wont enjoy Your music anymore :]
Better find some other caps.
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