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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: klx300r on May 11, 2020, 11:48:22 PM
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so last night while digging to find something else deep in the man cave storage vaults I found my original light weight Amiga 500 power supply! Mint condition no yellowing at all so of course first thing is to take it apart to look for the dreaded leaky caps BUT to my surprise everything looked like brand new SO grab a spare 500 MB that I had bought for parts many moons ago and fired it up just fine.....left it on for hours with no problem..let it cool down and did same and no magic smoke or bad smells
.......elephant in the room question is do I replace the caps or leave it all original and just use the PSU .... 2 schools of thought from two electrical technician/engineer buds....one (engineer) says if it ain't broke don't fix it as caps, mainly all made in China nowadays, he wouldn't trust with a $5 toy never mind a classic Amiga...other (technician) says just replace them since caps are cheap and easy to replace..
so what say my fellow amigans on this issue ? :-\ ?
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so last night while digging to find something else deep in the man cave storage vaults I found my original light weight Amiga 500 power supply! Mint condition no yellowing at all so of course first thing is to take it apart to look for the dreaded leaky caps BUT to my surprise everything looked like brand new SO grab a spare 500 MB that I had bought for parts many moons ago and fired it up just fine.....left it on for hours with no problem..let it cool down and did same and no magic smoke or bad smells
Since you did a visual, smoke, rinse and repeat, I would say you're good to go. Electrolytic caps will bulge after a while and you would have spotted that.
.......elephant in the room question is do I replace the caps or leave it all original and just use the PSU .... 2 schools of thought from two electrical technician/engineer buds....one (engineer) says if it ain't broke don't fix it as caps, mainly all made in China nowadays, he wouldn't trust with a $5 toy never mind a classic Amiga...other (technician) says just replace them since caps are cheap and easy to replace..
so what say my fellow amigans on this issue ? :-\ ?
I'm a proponent of "IIAB, DFI" also. And yes, beware the Chinese illusion! ;D
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@ giZmo350
yup I agree I've always been an IIABDFI kinda guy ;)
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Thanks guys, that's helpful for me too. I've kinda been on the fence with my external PSU's for ages as they all just keep on keeping on.
the external PSU i had for my GVP HD8+ had quiet cap squeal for years, but it finally actually "just stopped working". this thread has reminded me i need to do something about that!
what worries me are the glued up monstrosities that are the A600/1200 and CD32 bricks.
but i like IIABDFI, as it appeals to my inner sloth.