Toppy.org.uk

[andyfras]

I recently fixed the above. The problem was capacitors in the external PSU. 2 x 1500uF @ 16V were significantly bulging. When I initially checked the voltage on the PSU plug, it showed 12V, but when it was plugged into the unit, it struggled to make 5V. All working again now.

The most difficult part was opening the PSU which was glued together. I patiently worked around the join with gentle squeezing using water-pump pliers. Then, once it started to open a gap, gentle leverage finished the job.

I had also opened up the Xtrend, and was very impressed with the build quality and ease of access.

[jimi]

Good job I've used a similar technique but with a vice to crack open different sealed units.
I'm still surprised at the number of capacitor related faults on "modern" (2000 ? onwards) consumer electronics. Offshore a lot of the electronics I worked with were much older 70/80's stuff, capacitor problems were pretty rare, in rare even on newer equipment. The majority of offshore equipment was in use 24/7.