Re: Conexant Battery exploded

I suspect the batteries had been bad for a long time. I've only seen swollen batteries like that when they'd failed months before and the clueless IT manager ignored the battery failure alarms. That was an APC SmartUPS: it took a big screwdriver to pry the battery tray out.

Re: $5 goodwill tower

I've bought a couple of Salvation Army systems, and picked one up one tower from the curb. One had a hideous PCChips mobo, which I swapped with a better yardsale mobo then gave the system to a neighbour. I still have at least 3 PIII Dells that my former employer chucked out. They're solid systems for email and office apps, so I'm going to clean off the private stuff and see if I can give them away. Maybe keep one for the case, and paint it something other than beige.

I guess most old systems are going straight to the recycling yard now, which is...

Re: Buying an amp

There's TA2024 amps for under $10 shipped if someone is hesitant about trying Tripath amps. (BTW, I haven't received any offers of Viagra when buying from eBay sellers in China.) The wattage may not sound like much, but it's almost exactly the same as a "high power" car head unit, and those are capable of bass you can feel with the right speakers. (Read the specs or reviews carefully, and you'll see that even a name-brand "40 watt" deck is more like 12W RMS.) I'm using one for my computer speakers, powered by a 12V adapter I found in a gravel...

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

All the UPSes at the office were APC, and I kept a log of when batteries were replaced and any failures. The only thing that ever went wrong with them was the batteries. The worst battery life span was the little 250VA units that used single 12V 7AH batteries.

Anyway, maybe it was because of the clueless IT manager that ignored the warning beeps, but the only bulging batteries I encountered were on SmartUPS units at a different office location. Changing them out required large screwdrivers and other persuasion. I wonder if the automatic...

Re: Fix for Benq FP737s 17" (Q7T3)

An update... I got the transistors and a fuse from a guy on eBay, stuck four new ones in along with the fuse, crossed my fingers, and plugged it in. It worked. Before buttoning it back up I checked one of the power supply caps, and it measured OK.

I've been using the monitor for a while now, and it's still working. I'm starting to think these LCD monitors just might catch on... it's a lot smaller than my old 17" CRT, and even though it's not running at the native resolution, it is perfectly legible.

Since...

Re: APC UPS Schematics

Is it a fault in the UPS that causes the batteries to swell up? I figured it was because someone had ignored the battery failure warning beeps on the UPSes. When I was looking after that stuff, I replaced dead batteries promptly, and never had to deal with a swollen battery pack.

Re: clearing solder tubes

As a last resort, I've used a very small drill bit (around #70) to clear a hole. I chucked it in an X-acto knife handle and turned carefully it by hand. Since the hole was partly clear, hopefully the bit would stay centered and just remove solder, not the through-plating.

Re: Fix for Benq FP737s 17" (Q7T3)

I suspect the failures are caused or at least aggravated by heat. On my FP731s, there aren't enough openings at the bottom of the metal shroud to allow cool air to enter.

I'm going to grab the Unibit and cut some bigger holes on the lower left and right of the shroud, next to the openings in the plastic outer cover, and along the bottom. That should improve air flow.

Only one of the four transistors was bad, but I've ordered 8 anyway, in case I can score another one of these.