757 Labs A Hackerspace in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Vizio TV guts

We finally took apart the Vizio 42" EDTV set that came to us for free (but had a cracked LCD.) No luck in finding a replacement panel. The working board set will be sold to hopefully cover some lab costs, meanwhile there are some odd left over parts. There is a trippy diffuser that was used on top of the backlights but before the LCD panel. A cracked LCD panel which serves as a conversation piece, and a backlight with 20 CCFL florescent lights in it.

GV42L is the model.

Travis playing with Vizio backlight diffuser plastic.

Supermicro / Ablecom SP302-1S Power Supply Failures

At my day job we're seeing some failures of Ablecom (Supermicro) SP302-1S power supplies. These SP302 units are used in 1u Supermicro servers. We had one failed one that was out of warranty, I decided to peel it open and see what went wrong.

Not surprisingly, a Teapo capacitor (1000uf @ 10v) was looking pretty bloated. Replacing it with a random pull that was laying around the lab fixed the power supply. More faulty Chinese capacitors. We've seen 4 more of these supplies fail at work, so my guess is all of them are suffering from the same issue. The other failed ones at work are under warranty, but I'm afraid the replacements will have the same faulty components.

Notes: Revision 3.1, Ablecom, SP302-1S used on Supermicro PDSMI+ system boards. Symptoms, units won't power on, LEDs blink faintly, repetitively, indefinitely. With working supply they come on, even with unit powered off.

(Blue electrolytic capacitor on edge of board is the replaced one.)

Ms. Pac-Fail

I think I'm a okay guy when it comes to electronics knowledge, but I have to admit. The monitor in Ms. Pac-Man is giving me a run for the money. I've replaced the normal common failure parts that are known. Haven't really made much progress. I might just go all out and replace the flyback. The monitor is a Wells-Gardner K7201, so it's a much newer monitor than the original. It looks really good (when working.) There are still some capacitors that haven't been replaced yet, which are next on my to-do list.

SCEPTRE X9g-Naga V Monitor Fix

Just a heads up, TJ troubleshot a dead19" LCD monitor that was donated to the lab and it's time to share the fix.

SCEPTRE X9g-Naga V, (Sceptre, x9g). Monitor would not power on (power LED would flash a few times I believe.)

The problem - two 1000uf capacitors located next to the transformer on the power supply board. Made with faulty components, swollen tops. Replaced them, works like a champ. Much thanks to Mark G for the monitor! Radio Shack (MacArthur Mall) actually had the parts.