Color Classic flyback transformer smells like fish

[krye]

No joke. It smells like fish. I've had this machine for over a year and it's never smelled. All of a sudden, there's a strong fishy odor coming from the back. I popped the case open and sniffed around. It seems to be coming from the flyback transformer. Is this a sign of bad things to come?

 

[Byrd]

I know what you mean It's usually a sign the flyback is failing, the housing develops cracks and arcing results, which heat up the glue and plastic surrounds.

 

[krye]

Other than the smell, CRT functionality seems to be fine. There's no distortion of intermittent failures. I've heard you can coat the flyback in corona dope to stop it from corroding. I can get a bottle on Amazon for $11. Do you think it'll be OK if I coat it in corona dope, or should I look into finding a replacement?

 

[Byrd]

Regardless of insulating the flyback (which will stop the smell!), it will eventually fail. It doesn't sound like there is a huge rush for the repair, but I'd look around for a replacement flyback.

 

[BlastoiseBlue]

Sorry, but it seems your flyback is infected... It will need to either be washed thoroughly, or replaced. :c

Haha, sorry man, I had to, but best of luck with getting it fixed! Here's to hoping.

 

[krye]

Last night I was attempting to replace the hard drive that just died. I had the CC running for a while with the cover off. I didn't smell anything. I got up pretty close to the flyback, as close as you'd like to get while it's running, and I didn't smell that weird smell. I wonder if it only happens when the cover is on. Or maybe it's the fan that's burning out. (If that's possible). I didn't get the chance last night to run it again with the cover back on. So I'll check it again tonight.

In any case, I had two LC 520 boards that I think are dead. The flybacks look exactly the same. Anyone have any experience swapping them?

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Flybacks are notoriously tricky to remove properly - have you done this before? You need a lot of heat and a good solder vacuum - and no prying - to get it out. I would seriously consider waiting till she blows right up, but if you want to see if this makes your problem go away, it might be worth a try.

 

[krye]

I'm a soldering Ninja, so no problems there. I'm going to wait until it let's the smoke out. I'll swap it with the LC520 flyback when need be. I found a post from 10 years ago from a guy who put a 157-0149 flyback from his LC575 in his CC and it worked. The same flyback is in my 520, so it should work.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

I never can keep track of who can do what on this board, so I default to noob suggestions if I don't remember - I'm not trying to talk above or below anyone.

It's good to hear you have that under control.

 

[techknight]

fish/dead fish smell is usually indicative of leaking/bad capacitors. I know that scent anywhere... if the flyback was bad, you would smell ozone, not fish.

 

[krye]

I think you're right. It let it run a little while longer and sniffed around again. Now it smells like it's coming from underneath the analog board by the AC inlet. So it could very well be caps and not the flyback.

 

[techknight]

yea you basically need to replace the 20 or so electrolytics that are on that board, i forget how many are there. but they all need changed. if you smell dead fish you can take a bright flashlight and look at the legs of all the capacitors that are at least not sitting flushmount, and if you see "gunk" on one or more legs of the cap, its time to go.

 

[krye]

I finally got around to recapping my Color Classic, but unfortunately two of the pads came off the board and now the board is toast. I thought my LC 520 board would work so I popped it in, but the machine doesn't turn on. I wonder if the analog board has gone kaput too.

 

[uniserver]

just because a pad is gone does not make it toast,

you can pm me and i can bring it back to life for you.

 

[uniserver]

sometimes if you slide the Main board in and out really quick then start tapping the keyboard power button it will come on.

its a funny CC thing.

 

[James1095]

90s camcorders were notorious for that. Open the tape door and take a whiff, if it smells like fish, the thing is pretty much a write-off. Those things had an obscene number of SMT electrolytic capacitors in them. and they were a nightmare to work on. Particularly the compact VHSC and 8mm type.

 

[krye]

I tried the trick several times and couldn't get it to come on. At one point, the green LED on the front came on, but it didn't boot.

 

[James1095]

I finally got around to recapping my Color Classic, but unfortunately two of the pads came off the board and now the board is toast.

That's really not that big of a deal. You just find the nearest point the lifted pad connected to and solder a jumper wire to the capacitor stuck on the remaining pad. I've had a few cases where the leaking cap dissolved the pad to the point that there was nothing left.

 

[krye]

I though abut doing that. I'll maybe tackle that this weekend.