thefurmanuk
Vu+ Newbie
My 18month old box just died, I am going to open it up and have a look tonight. Has anyone taken a pic of the board with the faulty capacitors?
Duo / DuoLE Vu-duo is Dead
- Thread starter snellie1972
- Start date
thefurmanuk
Vu+ Newbie
Ok just found the pics on page 6 http://www.vuplus-community.net/board/threads/vu-duo-is-dead.3616/page-6#post-59262
Hi,
Same problem here. First I noticed the red light problem after switching off my VU+ Duo for 2-3 weeks. When I turned it on, it only showed the red light. Because I was busy, I did not waste much time. Accidentally, after a few hours I noticed that the receiver did start, so I just used it.
Today I arrived and got the red light again (power failure in the house), but this time it would not start by any means.
I exchanged the capacitor as described (see page 6) with one I had in a PCB from some old device. I tried to do it properly and unscrewed the whole motherboard, only to find that my soldering iron could not melt this new tin-less solder. I went on and chopped off the broken capacitor and soldered the replacement one (220uF / 25V) onto the legs of the old one.
After assembling the receiver, it started normallly. I believe that this was the cause for the harddisk to not work properly after a few days on standby. When I tried to access the media player, the box would hang for ever and needed to be restarted. I never had that in the beginning and thought perhaps it was the aging harddisk. Let's see if it works OK now.
By the way, it was mentioned in the first few pages, that computer monitors are not recognized properly during startup. That is correct and the only thing I really dislike about this receiver: I have to disconnect my Asus 22" monitor whenever I boot the receiver, otherwise it hangs in a boot loop. After starting (the LCD display shows a channel name), the monitor can be connected just fine.
Cheers and thanks for the great info about the capacitor: my broken one looked just perfect - I would have never suspected it to be broken just on visual inspection!
vma
Same problem here. First I noticed the red light problem after switching off my VU+ Duo for 2-3 weeks. When I turned it on, it only showed the red light. Because I was busy, I did not waste much time. Accidentally, after a few hours I noticed that the receiver did start, so I just used it.
Today I arrived and got the red light again (power failure in the house), but this time it would not start by any means.
I exchanged the capacitor as described (see page 6) with one I had in a PCB from some old device. I tried to do it properly and unscrewed the whole motherboard, only to find that my soldering iron could not melt this new tin-less solder. I went on and chopped off the broken capacitor and soldered the replacement one (220uF / 25V) onto the legs of the old one.
After assembling the receiver, it started normallly. I believe that this was the cause for the harddisk to not work properly after a few days on standby. When I tried to access the media player, the box would hang for ever and needed to be restarted. I never had that in the beginning and thought perhaps it was the aging harddisk. Let's see if it works OK now.
By the way, it was mentioned in the first few pages, that computer monitors are not recognized properly during startup. That is correct and the only thing I really dislike about this receiver: I have to disconnect my Asus 22" monitor whenever I boot the receiver, otherwise it hangs in a boot loop. After starting (the LCD display shows a channel name), the monitor can be connected just fine.
Cheers and thanks for the great info about the capacitor: my broken one looked just perfect - I would have never suspected it to be broken just on visual inspection!
vma
Stregatto
Vu+ Newbie
Hi all ,
I just signed in to say thank you !!
I had the same problem , box stuck on red light .
I did a search with google , found this thread , replaced the capacitor as you described ,
and voilà , my Vu Duo is like new and works perfectly .
Thank you very much again , you are great !!
I just signed in to say thank you !!
I had the same problem , box stuck on red light .
I did a search with google , found this thread , replaced the capacitor as you described ,
and voilà , my Vu Duo is like new and works perfectly .
Thank you very much again , you are great !!
Hi all
Just a big thx to all involved in this thread because you saved my VU Duo who was stuck since friday on red light. c807 component changed and Vu Duo back to life, without even need to reflash it. Cost : 0,24 euros ;-)
You're all champs and once again many thanx for sharing your experience and giving all photos, explanations, references of the component et tricks
Best Regards
zed
Just a big thx to all involved in this thread because you saved my VU Duo who was stuck since friday on red light. c807 component changed and Vu Duo back to life, without even need to reflash it. Cost : 0,24 euros ;-)
You're all champs and once again many thanx for sharing your experience and giving all photos, explanations, references of the component et tricks
Best Regards
zed
to board !
Armageddon
BH Lover
Fixed one of my friends box, replaced c807 with an 330uF / 25V. Works perfectly again. Thanks everyone!
and how to act Putty gives the resulting table
BCM73250010
012
K1
K2
K3
K4
K5
Shmoo Version=3.6
DDR Freq=0x0000018E
%00000001%
RC1=0000000F
WC1=FFFFFFFC
RC2=00000013
WC2=FFFFFFF6
G=00000000 R=00000011 W=FFFFFFF9 00000040
K6
F
angelofsky1980
BlackHole Driver Specialist
If it's the only string you obtain from your box seems that CFE (the box BIOS) doesen't start correctly.
Ask for warranty repair because you've done something wrong.
Thanks for all the posts. In my case one of the voltage regulators (IC U801) burnt out (Vu+Duo). The regulators on my box are Z1021AI.
I assume that the associated capacitor, C807, may be faulty and have caused the problem and so I will replace this component as well.
I have a number of questions:
1. Does anyone by any chance have any Z1021AIs? I'd be happy to pay. It seems these chips are not that easy to obtain in small quantities, for a reasonable price, in a reasonable time.
2. The Z1021AI is specified at 4.5V to 16V. I notice that a number of posts on this thread mention the Z1212AI and assume that there are Vu+Duos with this component instead (which is specified at 4.5V to 27V). Could I replace the faulty regulator with either of the parts (bearing in mind that the other two regulators on the board are the Z1021AI). i.e. is it important to keep them a balanced set of 3?
3. I assume that the cause was overheating (we leave the box on all the time - we will correct this behaviour in the future!). Should I replace all three pairs of capacitor/regulators in case the other two paris have been stressed?
Rob
I assume that the associated capacitor, C807, may be faulty and have caused the problem and so I will replace this component as well.
I have a number of questions:
1. Does anyone by any chance have any Z1021AIs? I'd be happy to pay. It seems these chips are not that easy to obtain in small quantities, for a reasonable price, in a reasonable time.
2. The Z1021AI is specified at 4.5V to 16V. I notice that a number of posts on this thread mention the Z1212AI and assume that there are Vu+Duos with this component instead (which is specified at 4.5V to 27V). Could I replace the faulty regulator with either of the parts (bearing in mind that the other two regulators on the board are the Z1021AI). i.e. is it important to keep them a balanced set of 3?
3. I assume that the cause was overheating (we leave the box on all the time - we will correct this behaviour in the future!). Should I replace all three pairs of capacitor/regulators in case the other two paris have been stressed?
Rob
thanks pege63.
I will be replacing the voltage regulator too (U801). I was wondering if U802 and U805 (together with their associated capacitors) may have also become stressed and that it would be good practice to replace them at the same time. i.e. if I've had temperature problems that has led to one failure then there's a good chance that the other two regulators have also suffered even if they haven't yet failed.
I will be replacing the voltage regulator too (U801). I was wondering if U802 and U805 (together with their associated capacitors) may have also become stressed and that it would be good practice to replace them at the same time. i.e. if I've had temperature problems that has led to one failure then there's a good chance that the other two regulators have also suffered even if they haven't yet failed.
Big thanks! I replaced the C807 capacitor with a 330 uF 16V capacitor.
Didn't have any expectations for this hack to work out but it really did!
Findings along the way:
* The old capacitor was marked with "-" signs on the side facing the hard drive. The new capacitor was marked with "0" signs. After reading up on the new capacitor it turned that the marked side ("0") was minus.
* I detached the old capacitor by waggeling it (sorry if that is unreadable in english...).
Didn't have any expectations for this hack to work out but it really did!
Findings along the way:
* The old capacitor was marked with "-" signs on the side facing the hard drive. The new capacitor was marked with "0" signs. After reading up on the new capacitor it turned that the marked side ("0") was minus.
* I detached the old capacitor by waggeling it (sorry if that is unreadable in english...).
YipMan
Vu+ User
What do you need ?
1. Tool for soldering and soldering iron.
2. Electrical pliers for removal of old capacitor.
3. New capacitor : 330uf 25v 105c Panasonic FC Low
Process explanation
1. First you need to cut away old capacitor. Be careful not to cut to much as you will solder new capacitor on leftover pins from old capacitor.
2. Prepare your sholdering tool. When ready, apply soldering iron on the tip of the tool.
3. Grab new capacitor and put it on the base of the old capacitor. Make sure that the negative polarity in connected to the white part of the old capacitor base. Negative polarity on capacitor is labeled with “-” signs. Put some soldering iron on the pins of new capacitor and you should be done. Please check pictures below if you are not sure.
4. Power on the receiver and hope that it will boot without any problems. It is recommended to replace old capacitor before red light appears. If you do not, you can risk failure of not only capacitor but also nearby transistors. In such case new capacitor does not help.
1. Tool for soldering and soldering iron.
2. Electrical pliers for removal of old capacitor.
3. New capacitor : 330uf 25v 105c Panasonic FC Low
Process explanation
1. First you need to cut away old capacitor. Be careful not to cut to much as you will solder new capacitor on leftover pins from old capacitor.
2. Prepare your sholdering tool. When ready, apply soldering iron on the tip of the tool.
3. Grab new capacitor and put it on the base of the old capacitor. Make sure that the negative polarity in connected to the white part of the old capacitor base. Negative polarity on capacitor is labeled with “-” signs. Put some soldering iron on the pins of new capacitor and you should be done. Please check pictures below if you are not sure.
4. Power on the receiver and hope that it will boot without any problems. It is recommended to replace old capacitor before red light appears. If you do not, you can risk failure of not only capacitor but also nearby transistors. In such case new capacitor does not help.
. Search on Forum for Solo red light.