Cyberhome 1 year old DVD recorder bad caps
 

We had a client bring in a Cyberhome DVD recorder model CH-DVR 500. Problem was it would not "boot up" the system and stayed on the startup screen. We found there was a bad cap in the power supply that was bulging and hot. It is a G. Luxon 3300 mfd 6.3 volt in the middle of the board. We installed a terminal strip on the main chassis with a new 3300 mfd 10 volt cap and sure enough this fixed it.
This unit was only one year old so if you have one or have a client bring one in for repair beware of those caps.

Was reading a website I think its www.badcaps.com about bad new caps on computer mother boards so that is what also led me to suspect bad caps in this case.

Here are pictures of the repair:

Yes,those Luxon caps are bad news.
We see alot of then go bad on PC
motherboards at work.They usually
have a green plastic wrapper with
gold or white writing.This is the first
time I ever saw them used in a DVD
player/recorder.
Regards,
Swanson

I've seen bad PSU caps in a few cheapie units like the Cyberhome and Koss. The bad cap is so obvious its painfull.

I fixed a 5 year old PC that had bad caps on the Motherboard. They were ALL bulging!
It operated an Alignment Rack in an open air shop so it worked in weather conditions from the mid 30's to over 100 degrees at times.

I recently had to rebuild the PS board on a one year old $1200 Eden amplifier due to bad cap quality. Replaced everything with Nichicon Hi-Temp caps. I think my GE Superadio 3 has nothing but Luxon caps in it. I guess I'll toss the damn thing in the trash when they go. :(

I secretly love it when manufacturers get bitten by cheap/defective parts. Sure its a PITA if you paid list for the gear new but if you nab it off the broken pile for pennies on the $$$ then its usually a cheap fix (at least for parts).

Labor is an entirely different matter when you have to replace a dozen SMT caps. <barf>

It seems to me that in most of the newer things that I've worked on in recent years, the culprits in their failure has almost always been shitty cap quality. You'd think the manufacturers would wise up and just buy better caps. Given the mass quantities they use, I'm sure they wouldn't pay signifigantly more for Nichicon or Rubycon caps over the kee-rap they're using. Even so, the slightly higher price points would be worth it for the consumer and save the manufacturers much grief in warranty repairs.

Are you sure it's not by the design of the bean counters? Many electronics carry a 90 day warrantys or maybe even a year, so why would they buy more costly reliable parts with long lives? Especially lesser brands in today's disposable market where you pitch it and buy a new one.

Think about it; How many of use have ever paid or had warranty work done on a VCR, DVD player or motherboard? Labor costs exceed the value of the replacement piece!

I'm not saying this is the case, but I sure wouldn't be surprised if it were part of the equation.

That is EXACTLY why I was wondering why there was a "Cyberhome" DVD player in for a repair!

Very true. I've know people to actually throw away gear that was IN WARRANTY rather than go thru the hassle of trying to get it serviced. In the case of the aforementioned Eden amp, which I own, at some point I will go back into it and replace the dozens of crappy Chinese caps that are left in it. That particular piece really pisses me off because of it's price point and the fact that Eden is an American company (whatever that means). Given their reputation, I expected better out of them.

We charge $27.50/hr plus parts...total charge was $22.19 to the client and he was very appreciative. The client wanted it repaired! and we were able to do it for a fair charge. I don't see what is unusual about it...it was broke and he wanted it fixed!

Hey Chad, for your sake I am GLAD it came into your shop! But my statement was based purely on cost. Why the owner wouldn't buy a BRAND NEW Cyberhome CH-DVD500 (slightly different model) for $29 is beyond me! For another $7 you would get a new DVD player WITH warrantee (and it's progressive scan).

$27.50/hr?????? Up here try $60.00 or so last time I looked. One hour minimum too.
I don't think labor rates have been $27.50/hr in Detroit since Nixon was in office.

Ahh but that's just a DVD Player, this is a recorder and considerably more expensive: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...62055%3A105664

I have a couple of the CH DVD 300 players and they work well for what they are. They will play PAL discs and display them in NTSC too!

Eric

i am kc8adu on badcaps and do a lot of repairs.
folks with high quality motherboards that overclock well dont want to toss them for bad caps.and high end server boards are always worth the effort.at 35.00+1.00/cap i keep busy.
i get consumer grade stuff in that folks have gotten attached to even though a replacement is cheaper.
feel free to join us and post the stuff you get in.
http://www.badcaps.net/forum