IPTV set top box repair question

[Swervin]

Hello everyone, I work for a company that provides IPTV service and we have several set top boxes (50+) that share a common defect with a capacitor manufactured by Teapo. The capacitor is a 470uF 25v SY series. I believe it is the 10x12.5mm one listed in this datasheet: http://www.teapo.com.tw/ftp/pdf/SY.pdf .

I was wondering if the Panasonic FR series would be considered an appropriate replacement for these. Specifically I had these in mind: http://search.digikey.com/scripts/Dk...name=P14419-ND . I've recapped two of the set top boxes with these, and they seem to work good, but I want a second opinion, and after reading the forums for a couple days this seemed like the most knowledgeable place to ask.

[mariushm]

Re: IPTV set top box repair question

Yes, in my opinion it's good.

If you have room height wise, you can go for something even better (from good specs to lower specs, but all above the teapo specs):

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/Dk...me=565-1694-ND 20mm tall
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/Dk...name=P12388-ND 16 mm tall
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/Dk...name=P14441-ND 16mm
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/Dk...me=565-1677-ND 16mm
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/Dk...me=493-1582-ND 20mm

Some of them are rated for 35v, which is not bad - going up in voltage is OK.

[VaNS]

Re: IPTV set top box repair question

I'm still kind of new here but from what I see they both spec out the same pretty much. But in my opinion I would actually go up in voltage maybe 35V that is if it seems to be a reoccurring issue in similar devices. From what I know it's normally recommended.

[Swervin]

Re: IPTV set top box repair question

Thanks for the help guys. We're not sure why they fail, could be heat, they're mounted a little less than a cm from the processor's heat sink. I measured voltage across it when the box was running, and it measured 3.334VDC.

It'd odd, because there's quite a few of these types of capacitors on the board, but it's consistently this one failing, never the others. Could be a design flaw too I guess.

[mariushm]

Re: IPTV set top box repair question

Go for the taller ones then, even if they're rated for higher voltage - looks like you have the room.

Should have longer endurance and since they're more common - they're cheaper when you buy them in volume.

I do want to point out that the capacitors on the top of the list of links I posted have much lower impedance, around 25 mOhm compared to Teapo's 60-70 mOhm range.

Lower impedance is almost always better but in some rare cases, it's possible to have issues - I doubt this is the kind of complex circuit where everything is so fine tuned that lower impedance would cause issues but someone more experienced than me should give some feedback.

[BryGuy460]

Re: IPTV set top box repair question

Wow, looks like a mess. I have never had a problem with the IPTV Pod, been working great straight out of the box.