Creative CT5320B SoundBlaster MCV Recap (microchannel)

[theokretes]

Here's somewhat of an oddity that I recapped. It came with mostly Rubycon and a few Gemicons. All of the caps -- even the good ones -- were beginning to leak from their bungs, so everything was replaced. Unfortunately collectors don't know how to fix these cards and leave them in a catastrophic state.



A much better output section (overrated the 100uF decoupling cap to 220uF, there's only one due to the fact OPL2 is mono):


The Yamaha OPL2 chip originally had a sticker placed on top it for twofold reasons: #1 at the time a lot of OPL2 chips were covered up or had their logos melted, my guess is to hide the fact they came from Japan. #2 Creative didn't want to show they used 3rd party chips for their main synthesis and as previously mentioned, didn't want to advertise a Japanese company on their product like what some American companies did.

Here you can see how (lazy?) Creative was with the microchannel card edge connector:


The majority of the teeth don't go to any traces, and they didn't even bother to add teeth on the second notch; most likely due to the fact the card is still 8-bit internally, and microchannel is 16-bit. The socketed CHIPS IC is what performs the ISA to MCA conversions. This is essentially a SB 2.0 with a quick wrap-over... despite looking quite different.

Also, this card has *nice* wide open vias, and a strong solder mask. It was a dream to work on. One of the easiest recappings I have ever done, if not the easiest. It'll be fun to mess around with when I have some free time...

[momaka]

Re: Creative CT5320B SoundBlaster MCV Recap (microchannel)

That's a nice classic piece of hardware there. Glad you saved it like you did.

Interesting to see old caps like that leak (even the Rubycons). I've seen much older hardware with both small and big Rubycon and other Japanese caps all still working fine.

[Wester547]

Re: Creative CT5320B SoundBlaster MCV Recap (microchannel)

EDIT: Nevermind, I see that the pictures are from the recapped board, not the board with the prior capacitors.

[theokretes]

Re: Creative CT5320B SoundBlaster MCV Recap (microchannel)

That's a nice classic piece of hardware there. Glad you saved it like you did.

Interesting to see old caps like that leak (even the Rubycons). I've seen much older hardware with both small and big Rubycon and other Japanese caps all still working fine.

Well it's actually caused from a bung manufacturing difference. Some vintage capacitors hold the electrolyte in better than others. Panasonic for example made some terrible bungs 30 years ago. The rubber probably decomposed allowing the fluid to leak out.

[momaka]

Re: Creative CT5320B SoundBlaster MCV Recap (microchannel)

^ Yeah, I guess you are right about that. Nichicon PL (and a few other series from the early 90's, too) had problems with leaking from the bungs.

Most old Japanese caps are still pretty good, though. I trust them more than the fake or no-name garbage sold on eBay.