CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

gcom007 · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:50 am Post subject: Changing out caps...

So I've had this Barco 1208s/e for about 9 months now, went through some troubles with it at first that got ironed out quite easily with experience and even with some of the crappiest looking tubes you can imagine, I'm getting a great picture. Now that said, I've got new tubes to swap in when I finally get some time and I'm thinking about other general cleanup procedures. I've heard of swapping out caps in places as well as resistors that just get a bit more worn out over time.

I've got a descent amount of experience with this sort of thing in the audio world and can handle a soldering iron efficiently. Anything you guys might recommend to improve things at all? I read somewhere that replacing all the caps on the neck boards can help add a bit of punch.

Also, how hung up do people get on cap quality? I know in the audio world you've got a lot of people swearing by one thing while plenty of others cry "snake oil." I'm just curious what y'all think about this sort of thing. I've gotta get this thing up and running in tip-top fashion by the start of hockey season (early October). My Wings have a Cup to defend!

Meanwhile, it's almost 4 AM and my last year of college starts in about, oh yeah, 4 hours! Damn CRT projectors...

Edit: Here's where I read about some basic mods...thoughts?

http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9300349&&#post9300349

Ile · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:28 am Post subject:

Upgrade few 85 deg caps to 105 deg from smps, it improves reliability.
http://www.curtpalme.com/docs/Barco_FSB04_SMPU_Capacitor_Upgrade.pdf

Swapping rgb amp caps wont make big difference, maybe if some of those are really bad you can see some difference. To see difference in PQ it's needed to upgrade whole rgb signal way and power rails filtering, it takes lot of time and there is no specific instructions for this.

Find good tubes, that would improve PQ more than any tweaks. Very Happy

Nashou66 · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 16171 Location: West Seneca NY

I would change out all electrolytics with new higher temp caps maybe go up a bit in voltage ratings and use Panasonic FC or FM series caps(low esr), i read in the archives that the Vertical baord could use them if you have a shaky image or squigglies.
here is also a good general post on caps in SMPS's http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=91060

Basicaly if your ambitious change them all out, they age and get weak even if not in use over time, just look at the data sheets on caps they have self lifes too.

Athanasios

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 3:07 pm Post subject:

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 3:15 pm Post subject:

I personally don't believe in it, mind you Kal does. He changed a bunch of caps that worked fine in his old BArco 800 SMPS and claimed that convergence stabilized noticeably.

Nashou66 · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 16171 Location: West Seneca NY

tommo2 · Joined: 03 Jun 2006 Posts: 226 Location: Ireland

Nashou66 · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 16171 Location: West Seneca NY

**kal** · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:01 pm Post subject:

Z-Photo · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:12 pm Post subject:

Depends on the caps used and how old they are and the storage life of said caps.

The ones in kal's 800 were old used and dry.

I would recommend you swap out the big ones on the SMPS as general house keeping - and agree with Ile on the rgb board (after having done many with a wide variety of different caps - tant / FC/FM etc) and even the MP rgb board - leave those alone unless you find a leaky/dead one.

Pete

gcom007 · Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:11 pm Post subject:

Interesting set of opinions coming out here. As an audiophile in the music listening world and music making world, I can attest to quality improvements from tweaks and whatnot. My electric guitar rig is full of boutique pedals, updated vintage amps and mass market stock pedals that are modded to make a bad sounding good idea sound, well, good. I've been blown away by what a few caps and resistor switches can do. I think I'll definitely hop on the SMPS switch as it's been a little iffy in terms of convergence drift. Granted, I'm more anal than I realize, but I'd like to not have to realize this at all. I'm kinda debating about trying Eismann's mods at some point too. They're intriguing...

Z-Photo · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:10 am Post subject:

Greg will give you 200% increase (in what i have no idea).

If it bothers you - get a cap checker and run through the boards - check the video path and swap out the ones that are iffy or just of a bad make (what I did - replaced all the marcon caps) to new high temp low esr.

not much money and it is fun to solder for hours.

Pete

gcom007 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:26 am Post subject:

PhoneTech · Joined: 29 Aug 2008 Posts: 21

I am aching to get my hands dirty on my BD 801s. I read in this topic that replacing the caps on the neckboards improves the stability of the convergence and also make the image sharper. Will there be a big differnce? My machine has almost 10.000 hours on them, but the tubes are still (R 7.5 / G 7.5 /B 6.5) in pretty good condition (I think they are replaced)

I am pretty handy with the soldering iron. What kind of equipment do I need to get to started? Do I need a L/C meter for instance?

Z-Photo · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:08 pm Post subject:

Best answer

DEPENDS Smile

If the PJ has old/dead caps that dont function the way they are suppose to then it can make a huge difference - if they are ok (or just crap marcon caps) the the impact will be small.

on the newer e/s models barco went to better caps as oem - but I have seen a HUGE variety in caps that were factory installed. unlike NEC (nice expensive caps there) it seems that Barco used either what they had lying around or what they could get the cheapest - until the later models where the good stuff was installed more.

Nashou66 · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 16171 Location: West Seneca NY

Another question is how long you want to keep your PJ? If you plan on keeping it for a very long time change out most caps. It isnt that hard in most cases and you get addicted to doing it and knowing your helping your PJ last longer has an nice feeling on its own.

Athanasios

PhoneTech · Joined: 29 Aug 2008 Posts: 21

With a dedicated HTPC connected to it, I use it a lot more (race driver grid rocks on the big screen). I think I will burn the tubes completely before switching to a projector capable of projecting 1080p.

So I guess I will keep using it longer. I especially want to remove the little vibrating convergence on the screen. This does not happen on 720p50hz but a tiny bit on 720p60hz. So I guess by replacing some components, I can get a sharper and more stable image.

But don't actually know where to start. Replace the caps on the neck boards? Or the caps on the power supply?

Z-Photo · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:26 pm Post subject:

For a 801 - uses Kals approach (he had a thread) for swapping out caps -

his issue was more on the main power supply caps (if I remember correct) for that PJ.

gcom007 · Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:34 am Post subject:

Nashou66 · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 16171 Location: West Seneca NY

Id stick with the panasonic FC or FM series caps as they are low esr and High ripple current. that place doesnt carry them look at mouser or newark.

Athanasios