th0mas Posted March 24, 2006 Report Share Posted March 24, 2006 Hi,First of all, thanks everyone for an awesome project, and thanks SmashTV for an awesome service - I love the boards!!!Onto my question:I've noticed that:-I only have 1 capacitor marked 102- the parts list on SmashTV's website does not include anything identified for C7Am I to assume the one 102 capacitor is for C3 and leave C7 empty? (despite there being a C7 capacitor in the board livemap on Smash's website)Also.. how bad is it when a ceramic cap starts to well, seemingly give off a translucent plastic? Is it fried? It happened a bit on my core module, and the module appears to work fine (voltages test fine, etc).Cheers,Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moebius Posted March 24, 2006 Report Share Posted March 24, 2006 Onto my question:I've noticed that:-I only have 1 capacitor marked 102- the parts list on SmashTV's website does not include anything identified for C7Whoops - seemingly some documentation/ kit error there.. itwill be fixed in the near future :DAm I to assume the one 102 capacitor is for C3 and leave C7 empty? (despite there being a C7 capacitor in the board livemap on Smash's website)Yup, do this - C7 is part of the audio input and if you don't use it, leaving the cap out isn't going to give you problems.Also.. how bad is it when a ceramic cap starts to well, seemingly give off a translucent plastic? Is it fried? It happened a bit on my core module, and the module appears to work fine (voltages test fine, etc).Hmm.. this is something I should see - I'm more convinced it's mechanical stress / heat related effect. Ceramics are hard to destroy and even with some damage in the outer coating it should work and continue to work fine.Moebiusp.s. Anyone seen "manually tuned" ceramics in RF circuits? Sawed from the middle.. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th0mas Posted March 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2006 Thanks for the quick reply!!regarding the ceramic cap, if I don't get the expected voltages I'll post pictures, otherwise I'll assume it's okay - I'm pretty sure it's just a bit of heat stress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaicen Posted March 25, 2006 Report Share Posted March 25, 2006 Does it look like caramel or honey?? I'm thinking it could be a bit of stray flux from the solder. Ceramic caps are virtually indestructable at the temps they're soldered since they're formed under high pressure/heat, so I think you should be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moebius Posted March 25, 2006 Report Share Posted March 25, 2006 Does it look like caramel or honey?? I'm thinking it could be a bit of stray flux from the solder. Ceramic caps are virtually indestructable at the temps they're soldered since they're formed under high pressure/heat, so I think you should be ok. Heh - Good point!! ;)Moebius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th0mas Posted March 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2006 Does it look like caramel or honey?? I'm thinking it could be a bit of stray flux from the solder. Ceramic caps are virtually indestructable at the temps they're soldered since they're formed under high pressure/heat, so I think you should be ok. nope, more like white plastic-y.I'm just about done my power supply, so I'll let ya'll know if I'm getting the right voltages or not. Thanks for the reassuring words regarding the durability of the caps, makes me feel a bit safer :)Cheers,Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stryd_one Posted March 25, 2006 Report Share Posted March 25, 2006 The way I see it, if some mystery thing is oozing mystery juice that may or may not be poison, I'd be inclined to ensure it's safe by throwing that dodgy thing away and using a new one :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernLightX Posted March 25, 2006 Report Share Posted March 25, 2006 I've had a few old ceramic caps (brownish colour) lying around, and used them for bypass caps on a DIN module. When heated for the first time all of the disks became a litte wet all by themselves, and on the newspaper I had lying underneath the boards actually was a little wet spot. I don't believe it's broken, I think more of a protective coat or something that got heated away...Cheers, Alex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th0mas Posted March 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 Well, it appears not to be a problem, because MY SID WORKS!@#!@#! :)Thanks a lot for the replies.Now for something to make your blood run cold:Yesterday, when I was soldering my SID module, I took my SID chip out of it's case to check the version and ensure that it is a 6581. Being in an uberfocus, I then placed it on the desk and continued working on the SID module until it was done (including posting the messages from above).This morning, I find my SID chip face down under the chair next to my desk, pin's bent all over the place. I think I rolled over it with my chair. :oYet this is the SID that is powering my synth, so all's well that ends well I suppose :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stryd_one Posted March 27, 2006 Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 :o Good thing you don't weight a bit more eh ;)I remember the days before PC's had ZIF CPU sockets, we used to see buggered pins up on so many x86/x87's... Funny, not once did any one of them ever fail to work once the pins were straightened.... Provided none of them snapped off of course :)Beef stew, however, is absolutely guaranteed to bugger the chip up permanently. The only things that work better are Coca-Cola, or a solid EMP. So, I would like to issue the following warning to all MIDIBoxers: [glow=red,2,300]Do not eat stews or curries while drinking coca cola and playing with your thermonuclear weapons, while handling your core modules.[/glow]..oh, and keep a piece of antistatic foam around to sit your chips in ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Therezin Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 I've had a few old ceramic caps (brownish colour) lying around, and used them for bypass caps on a DIN module. When heated for the first time all of the disks became a litte wet all by themselves, and on the newspaper I had lying underneath the boards actually was a little wet spot. I don't believe it's broken, I think more of a protective coat or something that got heated away...Cheers, Alex.Could that just be condensation forming on the ceramic coating, due to the cap being hotter than the air around it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernLightX Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Could that just be condensation forming on the ceramic coating, due to the cap being hotter than the air around it?That would be very strange, the cap wasn't that hot at all, and the air wans't damp either. It's actually pretty arid in my house... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Therezin Posted March 30, 2006 Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 That would be very strange, the cap wasn't that hot at all, and the air wans't damp either. It's actually pretty arid in my house...Ah well, just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stryd_one Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 Guys... What's the cap worth? What's your health worth?You have no idea what the stuff is, let alone what it could do to you.Just throw it away and get a new one. FFS, if it's that big a deal, I will pay for the new cap myself, just to make sure you stay healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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