Good morning!!!!

[RedNeckGeek]

How did you know it was the capacitor?

I didn't. I found a post that suggested it would be the capacitor, and for about $7 shipped for five of 'em, figured it was worth a shot. The clocks are no longer available from VW, and used ones (containing the same aging parts) sell for upwards of a hundred bux. :shocked: If the repair hadn't of worked, I would have probably put a dark piece of plastic over the clock and just used the clock on the radio display.

I seem to recall a procedure from my high school electronics class where you could charge the capacitor witha power supply of the rated voltage, then set a multimeter to the volts range and watch the voltage drop if the cap was able to charge. I'm not sure it would work with such low values of capacitance, though.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Ready for Eclipse tomorrow! Only partial herein Texas.



Hope all enjoy the eclipse but, don't do anything stupid! Looks like lots of clouds in Midwest part of the total eclipse path. Lo siento!

 

[mostly_gas]

Kyle, I have a Samsung TV with capacitor issues. About every 5 years several will fail, and the TV will not turn on. The first time was covered under extended warranty, this time I had to replace them myself. According to Youtube videos, the capacitors with the domed top are bad. I had 3 tops that had domed up, replaced those and TV has worked for a year plus.

 

[mostly_gas]

Good morning all. 80F at the start this morning, clear, calm. Temp hit 98F (HI 109F) moderate wind, sky remained clear. Too hot to work on bike, did go to chapel, made wife breakfast, and stayed indoors most of the day.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Kyle, I have a Samsung TV with capacitor issues. About every 5 years several will fail, and the TV will not turn on. The first time was covered under extended warranty, this time I had to replace them myself. According to Youtube videos, the capacitors with the domed top are bad. I had 3 tops that had domed up, replaced those and TV has worked for a year plus.

The problem is that Samsung TV's power supply capacitors voltage rating was too low.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Kyle, I have a Samsung TV with capacitor issues. About every 5 years several will fail, and the TV will not turn on. The first time was covered under extended warranty, this time I had to replace them myself. According to Youtube videos, the capacitors with the domed top are bad. I had 3 tops that had domed up, replaced those and TV has worked for a year plus.

good info. I heard the same for a computer monitor too.

 

[RoyJackson]

2017-08-21, 0328

58 right now..low 80's as the high.

Pretty good weekend...got a fair amount done

 

[Eric Salop]

Good morning. Our weather is proving fickle to forecast this summer, with pesky low probabilty rain making another appearance yesterday and giving us another unexpected soaking. Today will be another wet one going on what I see through the window.

I have made a living out of electronics for the past 40 years and throughout that time, if you wanted to find a fault on an ageing circuit, the power supply was always the best place to start, with the component that tends to die of old age first being electrolytic capacitors ( that's those with a tubular shape ). The electrolyte eventually finds a way through the casing and as it starts to dry out, the capacitance goes down. Some caps also corrode internally, producing that bulge on top, or blow a relief plug in the base.

The most common job of these capacitors is to smooth out a voltage rail (much like an accumulator in a hydraulic circuit) and keep a dc voltage steady. In truth the voltage is never perfectly steady, there is always what designers call "ripple" on top of the dc (if you look at it on an oscilloscope, it looks like waves rippling on the top of a deep pond). The lower the capacitance, the bigger the ripple, until eventually the dc level (the bottom of the ripple) is too low for the circuit to work anymore. Also the current that is constantly rushing in and out of the capacitor warms it up and the higher the internal temperature goes, the lower it's life expectancy will be. Electrolytic capacitors tend to have a huge range of manufacturing tolerances too (typically plus or minus 20% or more), so it's not that surprising that if the designer hasn't taken everything into account and then applied a good safety factor, the cap will be the part that lets everything else down.

RNG, I can tell you how to work out the capacitance with your meter and a resistor, but by the time you have the old capacitor de-soldered, it's as easy to put in a new one for the little they cost.

 

[daugen]

good morning all. Happy Eclipse Day for the US. They are making this out as very unusual, but only for here, total eclipses happen somewhat regularly in other places, other hemispheres. I read that when the sky goes black, animals react in interesting ways. Birds stop singing.
Bees buzz louder. Cows and horses head for the barn. And when the sun comes back out, there is supposed to be quite the braying from all animals celebrating/discussing the return of the light.

real question for me is at 91 percent occlusion, do I wear my welding helmet or should I put on the eclipse glasses with faulty CE rating?

Probably would be a good time to mow the lawn, should be cooler out right?

Eric, you are a wealth of knowledge. my memory of reading about capacitors is that manufacturing tolerances were broad/bad enough that high end makers like Macinstosh would have to test many capacitors to find ones with the range tolerance they needed. Basically they would cherry pick the capacitors with the closest ratings and the rest went to the general public, like me running a Radio Shack for five years. Microfarads, picofarads, all this not so useful info learned.

I remain in awe of those of you willing to poke around in a/c units, tv's, refrigerators, washing machines, etc without getting zapped. Some of those big caps can give you quite the jolt. Was never sure quite how to dissipate that stored energy.

A capacitor at least has a number on the side of it. Resistors? boy try reading all those funny little colored lines...

 

[wngsprd]

69 going to 91, chance of T-storms this afternoon.

It's so dark outside this morning, pretty sure the eclipse is here already...but the nice weather lady on TV says 2.44pm is our max point. Hope the clouds stay "partly" as is the forecast.

Eric, thanks for the capacitor explanation...always like to learn more about electronics and electricity.

 

[riptides]

69 outside this AM. Should be an interesting day. LOL.

Nothing on the plans, will watch the grass grow and take it easy. Need food, so grocery shopping is on order.

Have a great day all. Be safe. Don't look up too much today and strain your neck. And be super careful about your eyes.

 

[Thomas]

57F clear sky mid 80's for high humidity inching upwards.

Good time at tractor pulling event yesterday...7+ hours worth... we got second place w/JD A.
None of the brides went so you know what that meant.

Getting ready head down the road to the grind,sure wish weekend would slow up to enjoy more.

Enjoy the day all.

 

[daugen]

Thomas, would love to see a pic of your JD A pulling. Have a good Monday

 

[ronjhall]

Need to pour first cup of coffee. 62° with cloudy skies this morning. Heading to 86° with chance of thunderstorms. Great day yesterday. Aunt lives on a small lake. Their back porch overlooks this lake. Lots of birds to watch. Had planned to visit river and watch boats. But yesterday was the annual Port Huron Float Down. Not a good place to visit during this time. Still a nice day to sit on the porch and relax.
Wife has a doctor appointment at noon today. We probably be on the road when Eclipse is at it's peak (80%) here. Driving into the sun. Should I turn around and go the other direction to avoid the potential for eye damage? May not have to worry though. Because it's calling for clouds all day.
Thomas, Unsupervised Play. :drink:
Drew. at least you did cut back some.
Good Morning All.

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 72˚ heading to 99˚ even with the partial sun eclipse. I need to take off quickly to use the Kubota and forks this morning to move 48 150 pound picnic tables under the tents.

 

[Bird]

I have an appointment with one of my eye doctors at 10:45 a.m. this morning; out to get out of there just in time for the eclipse.

 

[ronjhall]

I have an appointment with one of my eye doctors at 10:45 a.m. this morning; out to get out of there just in time for the eclipse.

Be careful.

 

[PJSprog]

PJ would get a kick out of that site; they seem to cater to folks repairing electric guitars and amps...

Thanks, I'll have to check out that one. I usually get all my vacuum tubes and electronics stuff these days from either Parts Express or MCM Electronics.

 

[PJSprog]

72°F and partly cloudy today, going up to 90° today. Weather forecast for today doesn't look so good for all those people who came to the STL area for eclipse viewing.

Got a whole lot of nothing done this weekend. Saturday morning was lost to work and a trip to see a friend. Sunday was supposed to be a quick trip to the driving range to work on the golf swing, then spend some quality time with the string trimmer and loppers. Instead, we left the range and headed north up the Great River Road to Hardin IL to get some of those delicious Calhoun County peaches. Got a peck of those, a 1/2 peck of honeycrisp apples, some various jams, apple butter, and fresh corn. We stopped in Grafton on the way back and had lunch at a nice little sidewalk bistro, then walked around town visiting a bunch of small shops and antique stores. Wife loves that stuff, and noted that it's been quite a long time since we had a day like that.

Brought my welding helmet to work with me today, just in case the weather actually permits some eclipse viewing. Did a lot of giggling over the last few days at people panicking about finding those glasses at the last minute.

 

[lostcreekranch]

good morning all. Happy Eclipse Day for the US. They are making this out as very unusual, but only for here, total eclipses happen somewhat regularly in other places, other hemispheres. I read that when the sky goes black, animals react in interesting ways. Birds stop singing.
Bees buzz louder. Cows and horses head for the barn. And when the sun comes back out, there is supposed to be quite the braying from all animals celebrating/discussing the return of the light.

real question for me is at 91 percent occlusion, do I wear my welding helmet or should I put on the eclipse glasses with faulty CE rating?

Probably would be a good time to mow the lawn, should be cooler out right?

Eric, you are a wealth of knowledge. my memory of reading about capacitors is that manufacturing tolerances were broad/bad enough that high end makers like Macinstosh would have to test many capacitors to find ones with the range tolerance they needed. Basically they would cherry pick the capacitors with the closest ratings and the rest went to the general public, like me running a Radio Shack for five years. Microfarads, picofarads, all this not so useful info learned.

I remain in awe of those of you willing to poke around in a/c units, tv's, refrigerators, washing machines, etc without getting zapped. Some of those big caps can give you quite the jolt. Was never sure quite how to dissipate that stored energy.

A capacitor at least has a number on the side of it. Resistors? boy try reading all those funny little colored lines...

Just remember "Bad beer rots out your guts but vodka goes well".

BBROYGBVGW - Black Brown Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Violet Grey White

The most popular one, that we learned in the USAF, is now not politically correct.