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ThePCGuy

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2003
Hey everyone, just had to post what I just finished working on. As you all know I tinker while trying to learn (I have alot to learn) and try to do my best to repair what I can with what I know.

First Project HP f1503: I had previously been given a HP f1503 15" lcd monitor (along with a MAG 15" that I previously fixed). The monitor came with no power supply or vga cable. I was able to pick up a cable from a friend, and the powersupply from the mag is interchangeable with the f1503 so I was able to power it up. Upon turning the monitor on I noted that the picture looked great, however the on screen display would turn on and randomly adjust settings and weird/crazy things. Well after a whole bunch of mis-diagnosing (first thought it was a stuck button on the control panel, then I saw a bad spot in the ribbon cable that goes to the vga unit from the control panel (repaired that), etc.) I finally found the culprit. It was the power button. It's a simple momentary push button power switch that is common on many electronics. Well I didn't want to place an order for just that button if I could help it. It just so happens that my good friend had a Sony CD-Player that had recently died (7 years of wood working use). I keep all electronics so I can salvage what I need, then dispose of. Well I found that the radio had many of the buttons that I needed (I only needed one). Well I de-soldered one from the radio and soldered it in the HP monitor. It's working beautifully. Now I just need to order a secondary power supply so I can use both monitors.

http://thepcguy.myvnc.com/jim/projects/PB090011.JPG
http://thepcguy.myvnc.com/jim/projects/PB090012.JPG
http://thepcguy.myvnc.com/jim/projects/PB090013.JPG
http://thepcguy.myvnc.com/jim/projects/PB090028.JPG
http://thepcguy.myvnc.com/jim/projects/PB090029.JPG

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Second Project - Epox 8rda+ - Search for a couple 1500uF 6.3V caps: A couple of months ago I purchased a dead Epox 8rda+ from a member here at ocforums.com. I had a couple of boards to repair at the time so I ordered all the capacitors I needed for the 8rda+ too. Somehow I mis-calculated and was (2) 1500uF 6.3V caps short. Well it's been sitting up in my closet for some time now and while I was tearing apart the pieces from the sony radio, I saw a few 330uF 10V caps. Well I had a spare parts board with a few 1200uF 10V caps. I soldered one of each (1200uf + 330uF = 1530uF 10V) in parallel to each other and connected them to the board. I then powered on the board and noted the voltages in the Bios. It booted without issue. Now I simply need to load up an OS and test it out for stability. I do plan on ordering two normal 1500uF 6.3V caps in the future, but I didn't want to just order 2 caps when shipping is like $6.00 minimum.

http://thepcguy.myvnc.com/jim/projects/PB090014.JPG
http://thepcguy.myvnc.com/jim/projects/PB090017.JPG
http://thepcguy.myvnc.com/jim/projects/PB090019.JPG
http://thepcguy.myvnc.com/jim/projects/PB090022.JPG
http://thepcguy.myvnc.com/jim/projects/PB090023.JPG
http://thepcguy.myvnc.com/jim/projects/PB090027.JPG

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Eitherway, just thought I'd share my little projects with you. I've got more in the works, but those haven't started/nor finished yet.

Take care, stay warm, have a Merry Christmas,
- Jim
 
Last edited:
::Scratches head::, you want me to post this on the front page? It's not really that appealing is it? If you really want me to, I'd be happy to help. What do you need me to do?

- Jim
 
I somehow feel, tacking on caps like that is not a good idea if the leads are long. Maybe a few tests will tell us if it makes a difference. There are several tests one could run, i.e check for stability under elevated temperatures, see how RF pickup affects it and check if it overclocks o.k or not.

With a few more experiments, this would make a nice writeup. I would also suggest that you try different voltage and uF values to see how things are affected by playing with those numbers.
 
I'll see what tests I can run. This was a totally temporary setup just to see if the board was worth investing more time and a bit of cash into. I'm testing it with an old Athlon T-bird 1Ghz cpu. I'll see what she's got.

- Jim
 
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