Hi guys,
Over the past years, like many C-Band crazies here in Europe, I've been using an Echostar LT-8700 receiver to turn the dish (using an AJAK H2H mount with 10 ft. Unimesh dish, range from 65 West through 75 East) and also to turn the polarizer for ultimate perfection receiving extremely weak stations.
However, there's one thing that keeps occurring time and again: something goes terribly wrong in the 230 Volt power part, causing not only the fuse to blow but also some kind of power surge most likely between C18 and R18, causing the entire track on the motherboard between R9 and T1 to melt
away.
After replacing the melted line and of course the fuse the receiver then works normally for up to a year when the same mishaps reoccurs. This has been happening in a number of copies of the LT-8700 in different locations and leads to the assumption that there must be something in the power part that slowly looses it's value over the years and thus causes a voltage to become too high at a certain point.
Most recently we thought we were lucky because only the fuse had blown, but once it was replaced a few days later the receiver blew up once again. But then again, the mere replacement of the melted track and introduction of a new fuse somehow resolved the problem again for the time being. But of course we would like to resolve this problem permanently but we have no idea what to replace. The elco's don't seem affected, and also it seems rather illogical that replacing the fuse would cause this major shortage while repairing the erased track that was wiped out by that shortage suddenly makes the receiver work OK again for up to a year. We really have no idea where to start searching for a solution.
Does anyone else have such experiences or an idea what the cause might be? The receiver is about 20 years old and it seems likely that there is some part that, after 20 years, somehow looses it's original value even though that doesn't explain why after reparing the track the receiver will then work again for up to a year.
Over the past years, like many C-Band crazies here in Europe, I've been using an Echostar LT-8700 receiver to turn the dish (using an AJAK H2H mount with 10 ft. Unimesh dish, range from 65 West through 75 East) and also to turn the polarizer for ultimate perfection receiving extremely weak stations.
However, there's one thing that keeps occurring time and again: something goes terribly wrong in the 230 Volt power part, causing not only the fuse to blow but also some kind of power surge most likely between C18 and R18, causing the entire track on the motherboard between R9 and T1 to melt
away.
After replacing the melted line and of course the fuse the receiver then works normally for up to a year when the same mishaps reoccurs. This has been happening in a number of copies of the LT-8700 in different locations and leads to the assumption that there must be something in the power part that slowly looses it's value over the years and thus causes a voltage to become too high at a certain point.
Most recently we thought we were lucky because only the fuse had blown, but once it was replaced a few days later the receiver blew up once again. But then again, the mere replacement of the melted track and introduction of a new fuse somehow resolved the problem again for the time being. But of course we would like to resolve this problem permanently but we have no idea what to replace. The elco's don't seem affected, and also it seems rather illogical that replacing the fuse would cause this major shortage while repairing the erased track that was wiped out by that shortage suddenly makes the receiver work OK again for up to a year. We really have no idea where to start searching for a solution.
Does anyone else have such experiences or an idea what the cause might be? The receiver is about 20 years old and it seems likely that there is some part that, after 20 years, somehow looses it's original value even though that doesn't explain why after reparing the track the receiver will then work again for up to a year.
