Fortecstar 5100 Ultra

[weirdo]

My Fortecstar seems to be dead :(
Just walked into the shed to check and there's nothing on the display.
When I pull the plug and reinsert it 8888 briefly shows up and then nothing.
Any idea's anyone?

cheers weirdo

[Ocean]

I would check the power supply first....you should find 5,12 and 30 volts (amongst others) on the plug attached to the mainboard.

I can't recall (an often used line of late !) if the supply voltages are screen-printed on the power supply board - have a look, the voltages should be within 10% or so of these markings. If any particular voltage is missing or low I would suspect a faulty capacitor (very common).

The power supply could be stopping due to some other fault, try the receiver with no LNB connected etc...these power supplies will run with the output disconnected from the mainboard - (unplug it) - and see if the voltages appear on the plug.

In many cases switchmode power supplies can be repaired by simply replacing some electrolytic capacitors, something you can probably do yourself.

Take care as both 240VAC mains and roughly 340VDC are present on the power supply PCB.

[weirdo]

Thanks Ocean
Box is only about 5 months old so should be still under warranty.
Just trying to see if this is a common problem or if anyone else has had this occur.
I'll give jason a call after Easter.

cheers weirdo

[weirdo]

Box is back!
It was the powersupply (you were right Ocean) replaced under warranty.
Thanks Jason.

[weirdo]

Box is dead again! :mad:
Looks the the powersupply shit itself again. But this time it's out of warranty.
Took the box apart and saw the fuse was gone so I thought, goody goody this will be an easy fix. But no such luck. After putting in a new fuse there were still no voltages on any of the ribbonlead prongs.
Does anyone know what the 'usual' component is that fails on these powersupplies? A visual examination didn't really show any culprits to me.
Any advice appreciated?

[simmo]

Ocean is a legend on these boxes, no doubt he will reply shortly! Mine hasd never missed a beat....but now I have said that..........

[weirdo]

weirdo calling Ocean, weirdo calling Ocean! :)
Trust me to get mine fixed under warranty only to have it fail again 6 months later! Surely they would have to have used some crappy components.

[Ocean]

Switchmode power supplies exist because they are cheaper to manufacture than transformer/linear supplies....copper and steel is far more expensive than a few solid-state components.

When I had two hands I spent a vast proportion of my workshop time repairing these (horrid) things.....it's not a case of using "crappy components" - ALL switchmode supplies are "iffy" - some of them are on the edge of blowing up "out of the box". NOW I DON'T FIX ANYTHING.

It is likely the controller IC is stuffed - and, by the way - the WORST thing you can do is replace the fuse without checking critical bits first !

Any TV repair shop worth its technicians should be able to repair it, or send it to Jason who has/had a good techo bloke.

It shouldn't hurt much !

[weirdo]

Thanks Ocean,
I was hoping to have a go at replacing something myself this time around.
Might have a look at this controller IC (if I can find it :) ) otherwise might ring Jason and see how much for a new powersupply. Just hope I get more than 6 months out of it this time :rolleyes:

[bassett]

Unfortunatly like a lot of things, Power supplies in a lot of things are the bare minimum, and as cheap as possable. The question is , would you be prepaired to pay, a high price for a torridial wound power supply, Increased price,weight, and running a lot hotter, But far more reliable.

[weirdo]

Rang aDigitalife today and got told they no longer stock parts for these boxes. They won't/can't even get parts in. :-( So much for after sales service
On closer inspection today I noticed one of the caps was it bit bulged so I'll try and replace this first and see how I go.

[Ocean]

Unfortunatly like a lot of things, Power supplies in a lot of things are the bare minimum, and as cheap as possable.


Precisely, ol' dawg.:)

[weirdo]

Yep, put a new cap in today and it's up working again. :-)
I'm becoming a real geek/nerd! lol

[knucklehead]

goodonya!

[Ocean]

Well, there ya go !

I still have large amounts of repair spares - R, C, Solid State devices etc. - people only have to ask for availability.