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The capacitors on the printed circuit boards in the EDC-55 degrade over time and leak liquid electrolyte. It is very corrosive and it attacks the copper traces, eating them away. They become unreliable or fail altogether, resulting in intermittent operation, picture noise or system failure. How the damage progresses depends on temperature and time, but it seems to be a universal event with these units. The correction involves removing the capacitors and cleaning away the caustic liquid. Then the damaged circuits are repaired, tested and the new tantalum capacitors are installed. This type of capacitor is made from a rare earth metal with special properties and are much more expensive than the common foil type. The benefits are they aren't as sensitive to thermal break down, they have a longer life, a better moisture tolerance and have no liquid to leak out. Click on the picture to go through the various steps of the repair. |