Sony DVP-SR500H loaded w/Lelon caps; Am I gonna be soldering?

[Digital Technophile]

Howdy,

My roommate purchased a Sony DVD player from Wal-Mart (Bad idea IMHO; always seem like they get manufacturer's "seconds"). The player is okay, but ~1 in 10 power ons or so it will not turn on, and end up having to unplug the unit from the wall, plug it in again, and it'll turn on. Been sitting around for awhile, waiting to take a trip to the landfill. One day (today), I decided there wouldn't be any harm in crackin' her open to examine caps and solder joints. The soldering is in my opinion sub-par but acceptable, but as far as the caps they used: (1) Rubycon 10v 2200uF, but a BUTTLOAD of Lelon caps.

Questions:
1. What are the chances of the Lelon's being the cause?
2. Has anyone else had this problem with this model of DVD player?
3. Can anyone else back up my anecdotal Wal-Mart's got junk seconds theory?
4. Is there any questions I should've asked?

Thanks for any and all comments and inputs you may have. I'll post pics if requested.

Bri

[cmj21973]

Re: Sony DVP-SR500H loaded w/Lelon caps; Am I gonna be soldering?

Pics please, component side & solder side.

[Digital Technophile]

I had a feelin someone would need a looksee...

First, I need to clarify the problem. As I was shooting pics, the roommate comes in, curious as to what I was taking sooooo many pictures of (thank heavens for digital photography...I shudder to think of what the cost of CT photography would've been). I explained what I was doing and what I had posted, promptly correcting me.
"Noooo, it wasn't the power button that was the problem. Every so often the disc tray would not eject, requiring the cord to be unplugged and plugged back in."
Next, I'd also like to clarify what a pain in the testiculars macro photography is. Took several hours and over 50 shots to get decent enough shots to post, so I hope these will suffice. At least the caps I got shots of are really up tight and hi-res. The shots of the solder pads were the best I could do and only barely convey the substandard soldering on the boards. But they should be enough to use for communication purposes. So with that here's what I've come with, enjoy:




















Hope this helps

[Digital Technophile]

Link to full album, if interested

Here's the link to the full album of pictures (some of them I marked showing various features of soldering):

http://s566.photobucket.com/albums/s...H%20Circuitry/

Thanks again

[japlytic]

Re: Sony DVP-SR500H loaded w/Lelon caps; Am I gonna be soldering?

Why would some Japanese manufacturers cheap out on the electrolytics (and possibly other components)? I don't understand this.

[Digital Technophile]

Why indeed...

Even though I have low expectations of making the DVD player function normally (thus off to the landfill) whilst holding a happy thought, it is quite humorous on several levels. Why indeed would one of (possibly THE) largest manufacturer of electronics in the world cheap out on these caps? Internet excavations turned up Lelon's website: http://www.lelon.com.tw/index.php (there is an English language selector up top). Browsing through their site, it became apparent that they value a slick website and banal corporate jargon. To be somewhat fair, I don't have very much experience with their other components, so there could be some other redeeming qualities I'm unaware of. BUT, that doesn't help me with a load of possibly bad capacitors. Visual inspection checks out, but without an ESR meter and knowing their reputation for bad caps means I may have to replace them if the soldering rework produces no joy.
Secondly, it tickles me that Sony found it in their tiny little hearts to throw a Rubycon in there (for good luck perhaps-maybe they thought Rubycon's quality would rub off on those other caps, LOL). Also, what was Sony thinking anyway? Certainly they have to be aware of who makes good and bad caps which leads me to believe (haven't done the money math to see how much they saved...and you know they enjoy deep quantity discounts) the "samples" they probably received from Lelon were "specially" made to keep their cap business running...just a theory.
But even still, continuing to sample the supply is not reliable as we all know, because even an apparently in-spec cap could fail after use. I could probably prattle on all day, but I think the real question isn't WHY would they cheap out, but WHEN will the whole of the electronics industry stop this insanity? IMHO, knowing just how touchy these seemingly simple components are would suggest only EVER using high quality, 105oC and above...not to mention manufacturing the highest quality-blah,blah,blah. I'm sure if we were able to see Dell's wrinkly corporate ass, we'd notice a $150m chunk missing out of it...how much money did you save on those caps now Mike?
So the secondary question we need to ask is WHO learned their lesson and who has NOT?
My final thought? Last year I bought a Western Digital WD1002FAEX 1TiB Caviar Black (supposedly their top of the line consumer drive) for $90 which I filled with +/- 10 years of data gathered over the years (not just music and pictures mind you), planning on purchasing a second 1TiB to mirror RAID-1, because hey what kind of idiot puts his eggs in one basket without backups and failsafes, right? I'll tell you-an idiot who erroneously ASSUMES that the world leader in mechanical hard drives would never release defective hard drive into the wild. So now, faced with a bill of somewhere between $800 and $2300 (I know it's a spread, but it's a ball park figure until they receive the drive), I realise that hidden cost burns the worst. *takes really deep breath and ends rant*

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Why indeed...

I think the real question isn't WHY would they cheap out, but WHEN will the whole of the electronics industry stop this insanity?

When the world ends. Not any sooner.

So the secondary question we need to ask is WHO learned their lesson and who has NOT?

Sony for one will never learn. They have created a respected brand and are now earning the dough behind it, even though what they make nowadays is the same chinese turd you can buy for 1/4 of the price.

[Rulycat]

Re: Why indeed...

When the world ends. Not any sooner.



Sony for one will never learn. They have created a respected brand and are now earning the dough behind it, even though what they make nowadays is the same chinese turd you can buy for 1/4 of the price.

Or when longer warranties become law and they are forced ot make it last or else face costly returns.

[cmj21973]

Re: Sony DVP-SR500H loaded w/Lelon caps; Am I gonna be soldering?

Soldering not to bad, considering it's lead-free.
The bung of this cap (circled) looks like it's bulging out.

Check if any of the other blue elevated caps bungs are bulging, both boards.

[Digital Technophile]

Re: Sony DVP-SR500H loaded w/Lelon caps; Am I gonna be soldering?

Soldering not to bad, considering it's lead-free.
The bung of this cap (circled) looks like it's bulging out.

Check if any of the other blue elevated caps bungs are bulging, both boards.

Good eye cmj, I noticed that as I was shooting pics. It does appear as though she's got a little turtle head trying to come out there, but that particular cap is the only one of that size (Lelon REA 470uF 16v) on either the PS board (where that one resides) or the decoder board (where the majority of the other REA's live...they're all elevated and all of the next smaller sized ones seems to be flush on the bottom). Damn, I wish I had an ESR meter. Tomorrow's solder-thon...going to reflow a few of the joints I don't like the looks of (the pics don't convey the dullness of some of the joints...even for Pb-free). Don't have a lot of new caps, in fact only a set of Nichi's that I recapped my monitor with (nothing remotely close). In the used department, I usually keep a few circuit boards for parts scavenging. Again, ATM I can only rely on a visual, name brand/series, and age to be able to determine viability of a particular cap. Thinking a meter's going to be a must have here shortly.

Thank you for the reply, I'll post back tomorrow with news

[Digital Technophile]

Re: Sony DVP-SR500H loaded w/Lelon caps; Am I gonna be soldering?

Hello gents,

After more than a week of non-stop action (mostly involving a kitchen renovation for my friend), I finally got this thing back together. There is one cap that I haven't replaced as of yet that cmj21973 pointed out that appears to be pushing the bung out, but I'll leave for now (gotta leave myself something to solder). What I have done is reflow a couple of joints that looked suspicious and added solder to two of the connectors on the decoder board that looked like they didn't get enough solder (XP3 and XP5 in the third picture). Haven't really had a chance to watch movies as my life has become a whirlwind of activity (my life could use a BIG capacitor, LOL), but I will start testing this thing soon enough. I want to thank you all for your help and comments, it won't be forgotten.

Bri