Pansat 9200HD Repair

[drloverb]

The power supply of my Panny seems to have gone out. I know, pretty common. I'd like to fix it myself. I have the basic skills and know what the parts are and where to get them. Total under $15. My only obstacle is getting the board completely detached from the chassis. Three wired straps go from the board to this chassis. CN3 was easy to remove. CN1 required a bit of prying with a small flathead. It's CN2 that seems soldered into place. Have any of you been able to detach this strap without unsoldering the pins? It'd be much easier to do the cap replacement if I could hold the board freely.


Thanks.

 

[polgyver]

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/275235-anyone-else-getting-pixelation-2.html perhaps you can replace the capacitor without reaching the bottom side of PCB - see the photo in the last reply to this post

 

[drloverb]

thanks polgyver - I can get to the underside of the board but it being tethered to the chassis makes things awkward.


one fellow PM'ed that he had done the job even with this hinderance but others say they had detached the board … yet they haven't said how!

 

[polgyver]

Some pictures, also for educational purpose, would be nice... I just guess that you can not reach with soldering tip under the board to unsolder the cap. I assume you made sure it is the cap which is faulty (I almost ruined my Viewsat cutting off the diodes, which later proved to be OK). I also would like to share an idea (which maybe deserves separate post) - how to check parts without complete desoldering them from printed circuit board. We know, that just one end needs to be separated for proper check (measurement) - to avoid influence of other parts on board. The trick is to find a copper path ending solely on the part terminal, then clean (scratch gently) it shiny with the knife on 3 mm length, cover it with tin (solder), and then cut a narrow gap in the centre of this tinned path. Takes less than a minute. Measure the part; if shorted, open or out of right value, replace it. If the part is OK, just bridge the gap with more solder. It looks more elegant that PCB with de-soldered and re-soldered parts. Cheers, polgyver

 

[drloverb]

The strap in question is the white one (CN2). The multi-colored one (CN3) comes off easily. (Hopefully the image attached here. I'm still new to this site.)


None of the caps show any bulging. The others who have done the repair have simply replaced all of them. One-by-one checks weren't worth the effort (as migold writes in the #9 post on the Coolsat 8000 thread). Lo and behold the unit powers up!


Yes, I can get to the underside but having that last strap attached is cumbersome. I'd have an easier time if I could unplug that last strap. I'm looking for that one answer.


Thanks.

 

[polgyver]

If you really, REALLY must separate this board from the rest of the receiver (and I assume the other end of this ribbon wire bundle can not be unplugged from the other board), then you should separate the wires with the knife, and cut them in different places (lengths from the end), stripe the plastic ends, tin - solder the ends and later re-solder.The benefit is that you can have easy access with voltmeter or ohmmeter to the solder points. Even opening of one solder joint gives you possibility to use ampmeter. But, before such a serious "surgery", do some ohmmeter check of diodes and capacitors. Keep in mind, that Schottky diodes have apparent resistance much lower than regular silicon diodes. Cheers, polgyver

 

[drloverb]

Thanks for working with me, polgyver. I'm trying to find someone who's done the job on this model. I don't really have to separate the board but why not ask before I jump in?

 

[migold]

I had to change some caps on my 9200HD last year, and I thought that the white ribbon cable was pluggable/unpluggable on at least one end. It is not easy to tell by looking, except by close examination, and the connector is a tight snap fit. Of course, it is possible that when they run out of connectors at the factory, they may have hard-wired (soldered) some of them into the boards on both ends... Look for a possible separation between the plastic form on the pc board and the plastic form holding the ribbon cable wires. If they are one piece, it does not unplug; two pieces, it should unplug.

 

[drloverb]

Thanks for the tip, migold. Both ends of the CN2 look like one-piece. I have two 9200HD+ units, both blown power supplies. The one I'm working on was made after the PVR mod. Maybe Pansatusa DID run out of the CN2 pair on this unit.


OK, so I'll do the rebuild on what I have. That's what I wanted to know. Good to have an old hand for advice.


You and I have somewhat similar configs. Same BUD. I slave my two DVB receivers to a Drake 1824 and a Motorola 905 4DTV sidecar. Pointing done by the Drake while polarity/skew by the Motorola. The sidecar does a better job with the fine tuning. All work great for me. I like the Manhattan RS-1933 for its scanning but have fond memories of the Pansat for picture quality (even with its tendency toward freezing).


I'll order the parts on Monday.


Much appreciated.

 

[migold]

Good Luck! I keep my Pansat 9200HD in the bedroom for occasional use there, and to sub for the Azbox in case... I really like it.