emachine

[Mr Clean]

Yes, i have one of those spectacular e-machines... they are quite possibly the product that defines the Top Of The Line....

Ok, no... I have run across quite a bit of e-machine hate and some on this site... Not that it matters to me. This LCD monitor belongs to a crippled neighbor of mine. Who would like me to fix it. There seems to be no sticker indicating model #. If there is somewhere specific I should look let me know.

It turns on for about 3-4 seconds then shuts-off... So my very little experience with electronics repair has me thinking heat issue or overloaded capacitor issue... or just maybe its another e-machine POS...

I DID find epcos B41044 capacitors that were bulging and fluid leak at the top. Digi key states them as obsolete.
I have already purchased replacements with a higher heat rating and slightly more voltage rating. They are most likely problem causing the monitors issues. Shown below:



One problem is, I know this is some chinese made crap... so I am thinking about replacing all the radial caps... SHOULD I worry with the creamic disc caps as well? I have never replaced one before, but considering the extreme cost cutting used on these machines would it be a good idea?

I cannot find replacement for these two caps. They both state PET which leads me to thinking they are non-polarized Polyethylene Terephthalate film capacitors, but I cannot find anything comparable to these and do not know what i should replace them with... They are both Elite brand, which i have seen before on consoles that do not usually seem to be very good quality, but i could be wrong. I have been told by an old timer that non-polar caps can be soldered in either way, as in, they are not neg to neg, pos to pos, dependent... is that true? also I dont think i would want nonpolar caps on this psu.... PLEASE HELP ME... they are picture below



Also can someone explain to me what type of cap Elite gP is? I did find them on a chinsan site or something like that, but nothing of the ratings i needed.
The small one above is Elite gp and the one below is also a gP. The one below with a 230 running down the negative line on the wrapping, I have no idea what this 230 is supposed to tell me. Is this relevant at all?



I have never fooled with the controller boards before, but I may recap it as well, we will see. I do not think anything is wrong with it, but getting inside this monitor without breaking the shroud is extremely difficult. There are codes on these caps that I cannot seem to find answers for like cd263 and cd287, also is there a reason all are black and just one is blue? They do have different codes.



Forgive me if I am making this more difficult than it needs to be.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Below is a birds eye view of the psu, maybe it can help. discoloartion can be noticed as well, Usually i would not be worried about that, but with that much discoloartion, I actually am.

[goontron]

Re: emachine

Sounds like its starting up, so the rest should be OK. If it has problems starting, replace that small brown cap.

Don't bother with those small blue disk caps. They rarely fail, and are on the HV bus, so if they do, you will know.

A good drop in replacement for that orange cap is a Panasonic EEU-FR1A681B.

That discoloration, well, its a thing. These monitors have horrid cooling.

Those caps on the DSP would need to be pulled and a value estimation made from the measured value...

[Mr Clean]

Re: emachine

Thanks for the quick reply goontron!

I have already purchased a nichicon (UPM1C681MPD) cap for the one you suggested. I hope it works. Thanks for the suggestion, if the one in the mail fails I will definitely refer back to here.

My main concern is the Large black cap with the PET labeling. I heated it with a heat gun to try and lift it up in order to see the labeling and ended up putting a gash in the metal insulating sleeve. So I think i need to err on the side of caution and replace it regardless of it reading the correct capacitance.

So I am still unsure if the advice I received when I was younger is good advice. Which was: Any capacitor with a charge labeling (neg or pos) is a polar capacitor and can only conduct electricity in the correct direction. If this is true then the negative line on the plastic labeling would indicate that I would be able to replace this with an aluminum electrolytic. Which happens to be the only type of cap i can find with 120μF 450V radial specs.

Also I will drop/pull the DSP board caps and test their capacitance per your suggestion. Without finding a cap mfg with the JH symbol and without finding any datasheets on these, I think I will go ahead and replace them regardless.

Every time I open this monitor up I will have to break more of the plastic from the casing so if I can get it as good as possible in one go, it would be best.

Thanks again!

[goontron]

Re: emachine

Nichicon is a good brand.

That sleeve being damaged won't hurt anything. As long as the aluminium can is intact its fine.

That big cap is an Aluminium 'Lytic. Your advice given about them being polar is correct. They can't be run on AC and if put in backwards they turn into smoke bombs. They rarely fail because of the large physical size and low value. PET what that plastic sleeve is made of.

According to the part numbering paperwork on Uranium-235's server, It's a PW series, +/- 20% tolerance, PET sleeved, rated for 105*C, 120uF, 450V, aluminum electrolytic. https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...cbefea9dfa.pdf

Nichicon EKXL451ELL121MM35S is a good replacement if you still want too.

[Mr Clean]

Re: emachine

Thanks!

I think I will replace it and just have the other old one as a backup.

I really appreciate the help!
Good luck to you in your endeavors!

[Mr Clean]

Re: emachine

BUMP!

Welp… I got almost a good year out of this repair... now the wonderous emachine is giving me more problems.

It still gets power and all the buttons seem to work, but I am now getting some artifacting/distortion on my monitor screen..

This however doesn't happen if it has been unplugged for an extended period of time.. I have since opened it completely back up and replaced all 'lytics' and found the logic board did in fact have another cap that had failed, wasn't blown but provided no capacitance.

The Blue cap on this board is the one that was bad...


I replaced all capacitors with ones of like voltage and like capacitance. And what do ya know?!? The monitor worked great for a couple days!!!
Then it gave me the same distortion again.

Even today I can get about an hour of operation out of it before it distorts.

Picture of good monitor and the distortion


So I am wondering if anyone has any ideas where I need to be looking?
All other monitors work well with my Rig and I know nothing else is wrong with my gpu and or ports on my computer.

The fact that, letting the power discharge allows it to work for a short period of time, still has me thinking it is capacitor related, maybe I'm wrong there, but that is my gut... either that or a gate is getting stuck open or shut, but I have no idea if this effects image...

Any information you may need let me know.
I know its a piece of junk, but if it can be saved I really would like to do so and not add to the landfill.

Thanks,

Clean

[piernov]

Re: emachine

First try to clean the contacts inside the VGA/DVI port, and clean the flat flex cable contacts and connector between the mainboard and the panel.

[captainKKK]

Re: emachine

Wait, I am lost, your next to last pic shows TWO monitors, one good and one bad at the same time, explain....

[stj]

Re: emachine

what caps are you fitting??

[Mr Clean]

Re: emachine

@piernov

I have cleaned the flat cable per literature I was reading.. It also stated to lubricate it with some sort of silicon lubricant, but I did not do that. I see nothing by shiny clean copper on the flat cable. What would you suggest I use to clean the DVI and VGA ports with? I have tried ISA, would it be better to soak in ISA and then scrub? Or is there a better cleaner I should try?

@CaptainKKK

The two monitors is just to show that the computer itself nor the GPU is responsible. Its the monitor at fault.. Its also just to show the difference/type of distortion, although I am unsure if that matters...

@ stj

The caps I fitted in place are nichicon UPV series
information here https://www.digikey.com/product-deta...3-1-ND/4319804

These were bought during my initial repair and didn't get used so I decided to use them on this second repair. I was not able to find much information about (JH) capacitor mfg. initially and was unable to determine the difference between the blue caps(series CD287) and the black caps (series CD283), from what information I was able to find.

I am sure that the blue one was there for a reason, but I do not know the reason, and the blue has been replaced the same as the others with the nichicon UPV.

The second repair was about 3 months ago and it has been sitting on the floor after the failed attempt. I do in fact have more/better soldering equipment than I did for the first two initial repairs.

Appreciate the responses, and will answer any questions you have.

[budm]

Re: emachine

So those caps on the power supply boards you replaced, except the large main filter cap, did you get the low ESR type or you put in general purpose caps?
Did try heating and cooling the logic board to see what effect it has on the picture?
That last picture in post #6 looks like Gamma issue.

[Mr Clean]

Re: emachine

So those caps on the power supply boards you replaced, except the large main filter cap, did you get the low ESR type or you put in general purpose caps?
Did try heating and cooling the logic board to see what effect it has on the picture?
That last picture in post #6 looks like Gamma issue.

The Caps used on the PSU have lower ESR than the initial ones on the board. Not just according to my cheap Chinese LCR meter but also according to the datasheets and conferring with a DigiKey rep. The PSU had Elite caps and I was able to find some information about the specs.

I looked up my order and I bought low ESR series for one, a low impedance series for another, and a high ripple current cap for another. They still might not have been a suitable exact replacement, but they were the best we were able to find via the information I had.. The same DigiKey rep has helped me to repair a couple gtx 1080s as well, so he is not completely incompetent and I do think he has more knowledge than myself.. that isn't saying much though.

I am going to soak the logic board in ISA and clean the dvi/vga ports again, then I will let monitor run for a couple days until it distorts again, if/when it does I will heat the logic board with a hair dryer... if the hair dryer doesn't seem to effect anything I will use my hot air station at low temp, making sure not to melt any plastic, I will let you know the outcome.

Thanks for the replies!

[goontron]

Re: emachine

The Caps used on the PSU have lower ESR than the initial ones on the board. Not just according to my cheap Chinese LCR meter but also according to the datasheets and conferring with a DigiKey rep. The PSU had Elite caps and I was able to find some information about the specs.

I looked up my order and I bought low ESR series for one, a low impedance series for another, and a high ripple current cap for another. They still might not have been a suitable exact replacement, but they were the best we were able to find via the information I had.. The same DigiKey rep has helped me to repair a couple gtx 1080s as well, so he is not completely incompetent and I do think he has more knowledge than myself.. that isn't saying much though.

I am going to soak the logic board in ISA and clean the dvi/vga ports again, then I will let monitor run for a couple days until it distorts again, if/when it does I will heat the logic board with a hair dryer... if the hair dryer doesn't seem to effect anything I will use my hot air station at low temp, making sure not to melt any plastic, I will let you know the outcome.

Thanks for the replies!

If that doesn't work, inverted can of computer-duster air will be able to freeze the board and see if it does anything weird