I don’t honestly deserve any real credit for this project. In fact, anyone can arrive at the same result by reading from the following sources: (1). Japamacs [see web address below], (2). BadCaps.net [specific thread address also way below], AND (3). from utilizing the image files attached to the above post. Not to forget Andy Cuffe’s initial positive comments concerning the re-cap possibility effort in the first place. Good guy, that Andy.
The true credit for all of this, goes primarily to Toasty over @ BadCaps.net and good ol’ Buz from way back in 2006… when both those guys started the AcBel PSU “shotgun surgery” thread. I bet that I’ve read it at least ten times (and continue to refer back to it), and if you’re seriously considering this “shotgun approach” I strongly suggest that you visit there and read it too… several times. Toasty seems to have the patience of Job. (Biblical reference there.) Read the BadCaps thread beginning with Buz’s post (noted way down at the bottom here).
None of it is really all that difficult. It just requires time and patience… and some “other stuff” too. AND not getting your pants shocked-off.
IF your PSU is only recently “suspect” and it’s still in your machine, you may wish to check out the following from 2009 first:
http://www.jcsenterprises.com/Japamacs_Page/Blog/D275729F-09DA-4FBB-96B3-BEEEB2C04619.html Otherwise, proceed…
The
MAP jpg shows the basic layout of the board and details the (12) capacitors that were removed and replaced. (Caps noted with darker green dots.) The lighter, yellow-green dotted capacitors AND the blue-dotted capacitors were not R&R’ed. BUT,
IF this “replace 12 capacitors” effort doesn’t cure your PSU… you may need to know the locations of these others. Let’s hope not.
The
BackMap jpg was created to make it
much easier than flipping the board back and forth trying to ascertain just where the solder points might be for the capacitors to be removed and then replaced. (This image could be a little smaller.) Hopefully, the back of your AcBel board will look exactly the same.
YOU must now be WARNED, these PSUs and their capacitors
will maintain an electrical charge for quite some time, especially after just being unplugged. I’ve heard “wait for 48 hours” to allow the charge to bleed off / dissipate (I’d wait much longer)… and the PSU that I re-capped had probably been sitting around for a year or more. I still shorted out the two legs of each capacitor on the back of the board before doing anything because…
YOU CAN DIE! With that in mind, you proceed at your own risk. Me, MacOS9Lives, nor anyone associated with the aforementioned, OR anyone over at BadCaps.net… shall be liable in any way… should you shock your pants off and/or DIE while attempting this procedure. So there. Proceed only at your own risk.
Had a 30 Watt soldering iron, but I bought a 50 Watt-er for this project… and wish I’d gotten an even hotter one. I used 60/40 flux-core solder (.032 Diameter) and Chemtronics Size #3 Soder-Wick to remove the melted solder. (I’ve got one of those spring-loaded solder-suckers too and I’ve always hated it.) Also, wearing an Opti-Visor magnifier is a necessity unless you’ve some desktop flexible-neck jeweler’s magnifier handy (or you have Superman’s super vision capabilities). A sharp X-Acto knife is also very highly recommended. #11 blade (and a #17 blade and/or a #18 blade, is also nice).
After you get the PSU removed and its’ case opened, the first hurdle is removing the female power plug insert from the PSU case. Unscrew the green striped ground wire from the case and move it all out of your way. When you try to desolder the brown and blue wires from the female plug lugs, you just might accidentally heat the ground wire more than you should (like I did, but not too bad). Then you’ve got to compress the “wings” on both sides of this female plug insert, in order to push it out of the case*… in order that you may eventually remove the main PSU board from the case. Someone did insist that you can do all of this without removing the female plug insert (good luck with that).
*Trimmed wooden chopsticks work fairly well with practice. Or, long thin screwdrivers. You’ll see. Be patient.
Now, you can carefully cut the small zip tie that holds all the wires entering the case in place on the case. Then carefully (very carefully), remove the (2) fan plugs from the attached Fan Control board and then you can remove the fans… before removing the (4) screws holding the main PSU board in the case. Now, you can take out the main board with the small Fan Control board attached and begin your close inspection of the main board, looking for evidence of burnt/shorted/melted connections/tracks, etcetera. Remember… can still have juice present. A little flashlight is nice to shine in, under and around on the board, inspecting.
Mine didn’t have any “flash” trace or other electrical-short/burn evidence. I did see two bulged/swollen TEAPO capacitors (C29 and C60), their tops looked like small domes as opposed to a nice round flat-top surface. AND, they don’t always dome, bulge or swell when they fail. After removing the (12), I found some other bad ones with my diminished-capacity, digital multi-meter. (No, didn’t buy a new DMM for this, OR an ESR meter to test the capacitors while still soldered on the board.) At $13.50 total for the caps and shipping for this little adventure, it was go-cheap or go-home.
The
MAP jpg image provides a clear location view of the caps, without the true overhang of Heatsink 2. Don’t need to remove the heatsink to get at the caps (unlike the Samsung PSUs where a heatsink and attached mosfet(s) must be removed). You’ll understand this, once you get your AcBel PSU open. And maybe I’ll tackle a Samsung later.
Goop vs. Glop. The next
BIG hurdle is all the “white-goop-stuff” (technical term there), that was applied during manufacture in order to keep the caps from “singing”… as I suppose the “mighty fans” blow over, around and through them. This is where the X-Acto knife is necessary. (I cheated and had a second X-Acto
#17 or #18 bladed knife with that squared blade that I simply pushed down through some of the goop.) Get C29 and C60 out and you can address the remainder of most of this goop a little easier. C16 also is a good place to begin on that cluster of caps. (Very careful around C16 as it’s gooped to the nearby bundle of wires. After all the new caps are back in, I think Toasty @ BadCaps recommended using silicone glue-glop in place of the white goop. I used very little, just in case I needed to get back in there… AND I prefer a bit more “mighty wind” around and through my caps for dat chill.
So, there you have it… easy as π. Caps out & caps in! You can get a very detailed, extensive rundown thread on most all of this over @ BadCaps.net (
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=14077). Once I had the AcBel open, it made a lot more sense after reading through the BadCaps thread about seven or eight more times. You might also need a “map” of the PSU’s MOBO plug in order to “jumper” test (and other voltage output tests / PSU diagnoses), should the PSU not function properly after this shotgun surgery approach. (There’s a good one on the Japamacs web site noted here at the beginning of this diatribe.) I’ve also attached my Mouser capacitor shopping
List jpg here with the individual capacitor physical dimensions… should you wish to shop somewhere other than Mouser. (
www.mouser.com) Or, use completely different capacitors from another manufacturer.
P.S.
Andy in Austin (
[email protected]), stated at some point that he won’t work on PSUs that someone has already “fiddled with”. So, honestly assess your true soldering skills before possibly wrecking a PSU any further… because Andy might not save your buggered PSU afterwards. Of course, it wasn’t working before you started on it, right?
So, there’s my 100th wordy post here. Thanks again to everyone mentioned herein… and thanks to you for taking the time to read all this gibberish.
