DIY Cap Kit Question

[keefyboy]

Just for reference purposes,

If my arcade monitor's showing symptoms of needing caps replaced, wouldn't it be possible to just examine the caps and replace them with better-spec caps?

I just bought an Atomiswave Japanese cab, and it has a Wei-Ya monitor. It was made in 2003, so it's not *that* old, but 10 years from now, I'd like to still be enjoying it. Unfortunately, no one sells a cap kit for it. Fortunately, I live right next to the electronics capital of the world in Akihabara, so a range of capacitors is readily available. In the US, Mouser Electronics and Newegg is your virtual Akihabara, I just get to see it in-person. 

Just figgerin' that if I have a 125V-10uF cap and I replace it with a 250V-20uF cap, it will work. More expensive than necessary, but won't create a black hole that destroys the Universe.  And in this case, it's a given that we're talking about replacing no-name caps with high-spec ones.

Thanks all! 

[gazz292]

up the voltage rating, but keep the capacitance rating,

i.e to replace a 125V 10uf cap, use a 250v 10uf cap,

only thing to check is if the higher voltage cap will physically fit,

[RayB]

Just want to mention that 2003 is right around that whole "bad cap" scandle that affected pretty much every electronics manufacturer. So it's not too new to have problem caps.

[keefyboy]

So what caps do I need to replace? All of them?

That seems unlikely - the few cap kits I saw pictured in no way had every capacitor - just the cylindrical ones, and not very many at that.

I'm going down to Akihabara, and there are a few shops there that sell nothing but caps. No wire, no resistors, no switches, just caps and only caps. I'd like to get a decent DIY cap kit put together so I can replace the caps before everything else gets here. Unfortunately, I have a Wei-Ya M3129D. Unfortunate in that cap kits are unavailable, and recommendations for which caps to replace are non-existent.

I checked the monitor manual, and there's no circuit diagram or cap list.

[grantspain]

its the electrolitic capacitors that cause problems,lf you want to be a total pro with the chassis then you remove each cap one at a time and read them with a capacitance meter and then replace as necessary

always try to get 125 degree caps if possible and go for known brands-not some cheap chinese crap

mind you its possible to buy chassis for about 100$

[grantspain]

btw you should join arcadeotaku forum as there are lots of awsd/e3 owners

[keefyboy]

I've been through the arcadeotaku forums, and to be honest, they're too purist for my tastes. I feel comfortable here. 

I bought my AWSD with the sole purpose of gutting it to be a MAME cab - to them, that's high sacrilege. I've already ripped out enough of the JAMMA harness to give most of them a heart attack. 

Can't get 125 deg caps - 105 is the best I can get, but then again, I saw caps today that would make audiophiles (*ptooey!*) wet their pants. Grabbed a bunch of Nichion caps to replace the blown caps in two Samsung monitors at work. At least they're not 85 deg caps.

I can't decode the brand of caps in my AWSD/Wei-Ya. I assume they're not Japanese caps. But trying to desolder all of them is a rather Herculean task - there's at least 50 cylindrical caps between both monitor boards, so knowing which caps are likely to flake out would help. With the monitors at work that are blown, it's the DC ripple voltage caps that crapped out, so I really only need to replace those, not all electrolytic caps in the monitor. But they were built with Chinese caps that had a reputation of performing *well* below spec.

[dataman19]

have you tried Mouser http://www.mouser.com
http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=10+uf+160V+Electrolytic
or Digi-Key:  http://www.digi-Key.com
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll
..
Both of these resulted in plenty of 10 uf Caps...
..
Note you should use 160V Caps in a CRT Monitor ReCap..
..
LCDs have their own peculiarities..
..
Good Luck
Dave