Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

[mockingbird]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Oh, your right. I am still getting lost in the Nichicon's Hx series.

Anyway, they are suspiciously same, don't they use the same electrolyte?

I believe there are subtle differences in Nichicon HD, Panasonic FM, UCC KZE, IC KXM, Rubycon ZL etc... So I'm not sure if they know eachother's exact electrolyte formulas, but these series are usually interchangeable.

[Behemot]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

I am under the impression these companies also sell foils and electrolyte separately so some of them may be based on competition's models.

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Just to confirm.. as this looks like a filter cap for 5vsb? Buy low ESR or low impedance? Most of the time I'm working on networking equipment and motherboards where low ESR is a must.. I'm assuming low ESR in this case aswell?

[PeteS in CA]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Use low impedance - of the KY/KZE, HE/HD, FM or ZL variety (which are 5K and 10K hours series), not the ultra-low impedance HM/HN/HZ variety (2K hours).

NCC, Nichicon, Rubycon and Panasonic are pretty much technological peers. So their R & D are going to be at similar stages. And it makes sense for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th company to the market for a particular class of product to follow the specs of the 1st to market rather than to try to sell an idiosyncratic product series. So HD, KZE and ZL are usually drop-in equivalents (ditto KY and HE), but not re-badges coming from the same factory.

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the info.. I didn't realize the ultra-low impedance has a shorter lifespan..

I will probably go with the Nichichon HD for a quick test.. I'm not to worried about size as the cap thats in their now is 10xmaybe 15 high.. It's elevated off the board.. I'm hoping the HD will hold up well.. I'm in the middle of looking for a decent iron to work with..

As a general rule of thumb low impedance goes in PSUs with low ESR on motherboards? Does this apply to secondary inside a PSU? A PSU delivers power so I'm assuming power supplies don't want/like high impedance?..

[Behemot]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Low impedance and low ESR is the same. ESR is part of total impedance thus lowering ESR lowers impedance.

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Ok great.. Thanks for the quick replies.. Resistance & impedance noted..

I got a new half decent iron.. Hopefully will make it alot easier to remove the wires on the main PCB.. Quick question though before I proceed..

I'm not losing my mind in thnking these wires can be pulled off the main pcb? Like a quick connector? Nevermind.. They clearly need to be de-soldered from the board..

[Behemot]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Yeah but it's somewhat difficult to solder them back because of all the solder residue on the PCB and wires itself. You also need quite powerfull soldering iron for that, I use transformer 125W one.

[jamesbo]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Disconnect the main wires from the rear panel, you won't need as much heat to unsolder from the tabs on the switch or receptable.

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

I got the board seperated.. Went from main PCB.. With a new iron it was pretty easy but you can tell it's going to be difficult to getem in good again.. Probs best to clean off the excess solder with wick or something.. Also took the blue wire from the rear panel to so they aren't still connected..


I have a powerful gun style that I can use to get them back in but along way from there.. Might aswell do the full recap assuming it's just gonna fire right back up.. No SMD stuff looks damaged etc..

I am starting to think it would of been easier to go from the modular plate.. But harder to pull caps out with the wires in the way..

Could I leave the main Teapo to avoid having to breakdown the main heatsink? Are these big Teapo's known to fail? If I were to dissemble the heatsink would need proper compound for replacement? If I do go this route and break it all down I'm going to be looking for a heatsink to place on the diode rectifier? Seems rediculous that it wouldn't have a heatsink.. Nothing else on the board looks like that..

[mockingbird]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

So HD, KZE and ZL are usually drop-in equivalents (ditto KY and HE), but not re-badges coming from the same factory.

Isn't UCC often several mm shorter than competing equivalents with the identical spec?

Interestingly enough, I have some brand new 6.3V 1200uF 8mm caps, KZE and FM series, the former ordered from Newark and the latter from Mouser.

The spec sheets list their part as follows:

FM: 10x20mm, 0.030, 1560
KZE: 10x20mm 0.041 1250

Now the interesting part is that neither part is exactly 20mm high. The KZE is around a millimeter less, and the FM a mm more and it is quite visibly longer than the KZE part by around a couple of mm.

So unlike everyone else, Panasonic didn't rip the spec from UCC and then build a part around it. They built it from ground up, and that would explain the slight differences in what should be equivalent parts. Unlike Illinois Components, which I believe models KXM series after KZE... (I'm not sure what the story with IC is, I've used a lot of their parts recently, and I believe their stuff is manufactured in Thailand today).

Another occurance of varying height but equal spec is Sanyo/Suncon WG... Identically spec'd parts are often a couple of millimeters shorter (Their 10mm caps are often 23mm high where MBZ/HM/KZG would be 25mm high).

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

The secondary large 3300uF caps are hardest to find in 10mm.. I'm gueesing I can go up to 30mm..

[Behemot]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

No quality manufacturer but Samxon makes them ATM, and even Samxon does only custom batches.

[cheapie]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

No quality manufacturer but Samxon makes them ATM, and even Samxon does only custom batches.

Didn't somebody here buy a bunch of them?

[Behemot]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

I did?

[PeteS in CA]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Isn't UCC often several mm shorter than competing equivalents with the identical spec?

Interestingly enough, I have some brand new 6.3V 1200uF 8mm caps, KZE and FM series, the former ordered from Newark and the latter from Mouser.

The spec sheets list their part as follows:

FM: 10x20mm, 0.030, 1560
KZE: 10x20mm 0.041 1250

Now the interesting part is that neither part is exactly 20mm high. The KZE is around a millimeter less, and the FM a mm more and it is quite visibly longer than the KZE part by around a couple of mm.

So unlike everyone else, Panasonic didn't rip the spec from UCC and then build a part around it. They built it from ground up, and that would explain the slight differences in what should be equivalent parts. Unlike Illinois Components, which I believe models KXM series after KZE... (I'm not sure what the story with IC is, I've used a lot of their parts recently, and I believe their stuff is manufactured in Thailand today).

Another occurance of varying height but equal spec is Sanyo/Suncon WG... Identically spec'd parts are often a couple of millimeters shorter (Their 10mm caps are often 23mm high where MBZ/HM/KZG would be 25mm high).

There is some variation between different mfrs' equivalent series. A few unique case sizes are offered. How the shrink wrap wrinkles when it is shrunk onto the case can also cause a .5-1mm variation in length.

Panasonic's FM series does seem to be idiosyncratic - the impedance is more in the range of the 2K-Hour ultra-low Z types, but the rated life is in the range of KZE and HD, IIRC (or between HD and HE?). One of Panasonic's major customers is ... Panasonic ... who gets first priority when availability is tight. So they have a major customer that cares less (or not at all) about having multiple sourced equivalent series part than other cap mfrs' customers do.

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Slow progress.. Got the bulged cap out.. 1x 16V 1500uF Nichicon HD back in.. Put in in the same spot (elevated off the board) maybe better for airflow? The secondary caps have alot of solder around them... Probably going to needs some braid..

Finishing up sourcing the remainders.. The hard ones are out of the way.. Thanks Behemot!..

Does anybody have recommendations on proper solder for replacement? Looks like a flux solder used?

[Behemot]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

I use leaded solder, I think it does not matter if there is flux inside or not, you should use extra soldering flux anyway. It's most important to get the solder to be wettable against the metals you need to connect and that's what the flux is for.

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Slow and steady.. Go the 25V 220uF caps replaced.. Waiting on the big secondary caps and the last single 470uF cap.. All seems to be going well..

Edit: Big caps just came in..

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

I finished the recap.. In the process of reassembling everything.. Just wanted to confirm wiring.. I didn't get good egnough image and dont have schematic... I'm fairly certain I've wired the modular terminals correctly.. Not 100% though.. Please see pictures attached..

I have 3.3 VS and 5VS wires that I'm concerned about.. They lead to the modular plate.. I also have 3.3v/5v wires coming from an onboard sensor chip.. Just wanted to confirm that the 3.3vs (from modular plate) go to same positions.. and the wires from sensor chip to 3.3v/5v main pads..