I got this Antec TPQ-850 in the hopes I could repair it. After digging into it, I am beginning to wonder if it is worth the trouble.
The first thing I did with this supply was to see if it would do anything, but I did not get any signs of life when I tested it, so I took it apart. I was excited to see that the 5vsb was controlled by a NCP1200 chip, but that soon went away as I tried to disassemble this thing farther. The first thing I found was that the main fuse was blown, then the FETs tested shorted in circuit. I then went about trying to remove the primary heat sink for better testing of the FETs attached to it. I thought something was strange about how difficult it was to get the pins desoldered, however I had never encountered a power supply that used a double sided PCB until this one. I ended up ripping out two vias and part of a trace, not the end of the world but frustrating at the least.
Every component on the primary heat sink tested as shorted. Then I noticed the blown SMT component on the bottom of the board. This is when I discovered that they had not bothered to stencil the bottom of this board. Unless someone on here has one of these supplies and can tell me what that SMT part is supposed to be, it is going to be quite difficult too figure it out.
I am now torn between cutting my losses and not bothering to attempt a repair or seeing this as a real challenge and going for it. If I do attempt a repair I intend to just use scrounged parts on it until I am sure it will work and then replace them with the correct valued parts. Even if I do get it working, the thought of how much trouble it will be to recap makes me cringe. I think this will be more difficult to recap than a motherboard if that heat sink removal was an indication of what to expect.
Any constructive input or comments would be appreciated.
The first thing I did with this supply was to see if it would do anything, but I did not get any signs of life when I tested it, so I took it apart. I was excited to see that the 5vsb was controlled by a NCP1200 chip, but that soon went away as I tried to disassemble this thing farther. The first thing I found was that the main fuse was blown, then the FETs tested shorted in circuit. I then went about trying to remove the primary heat sink for better testing of the FETs attached to it. I thought something was strange about how difficult it was to get the pins desoldered, however I had never encountered a power supply that used a double sided PCB until this one. I ended up ripping out two vias and part of a trace, not the end of the world but frustrating at the least.
Every component on the primary heat sink tested as shorted. Then I noticed the blown SMT component on the bottom of the board. This is when I discovered that they had not bothered to stencil the bottom of this board. Unless someone on here has one of these supplies and can tell me what that SMT part is supposed to be, it is going to be quite difficult too figure it out.
I am now torn between cutting my losses and not bothering to attempt a repair or seeing this as a real challenge and going for it. If I do attempt a repair I intend to just use scrounged parts on it until I am sure it will work and then replace them with the correct valued parts. Even if I do get it working, the thought of how much trouble it will be to recap makes me cringe. I think this will be more difficult to recap than a motherboard if that heat sink removal was an indication of what to expect.
Any constructive input or comments would be appreciated.
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