figured out low signal is the (cap C848) 1000uF/10V/105c needing replaced.

[Saltire]

with the help of another DK user it is figured that the weak signal fault on my sat box is near enough 95% likely to be the fault of a blown or semi blown Capacitor "C848" (1000uF/10V/105c) needing replaced on the VU+DUO, Correct or Wrong, whats your opinion ?

So, as I have a perfectly good soldering iron and so on then I thought I would try and replace this cap myself before passing it to someone else to do it if I just cant do it which I probably cant or wont be able to do with shaky hands, .

Anyways, for starters, can someone confirm, the caps, am I right in saying the striped side/leg of the cap is the negative polarity which obviously goes to the minus sign on the motherboard, correct or wrong ? and obviously the other leg would be positive+ going to the + sign on motherboard, correct or wrong ?

Lastly, I am struggling to get nice clear pictures of where exactly this cap is on the motherboard, does anyone have any images of this they can show me or even links to somewhere that does show nice clear pics of it bearing in mind its on a genuine (not clone) VU+DUO box please ?

Would really appreciate some help here chaps as I dont want things to really go wrong big time.

Cheers. p.s, just waiting a couple of days for some higher quality panasonic ones coming in the post, they were only like ?1.40 for 4, so cant complain eh.

[DOUGALMCD]

Striped side of leg is negative. The capacitor C848 is to the one o clock position from the C807 capacitor that can fix or partly fix red light problem. Here is picture of C848.


Vu Duo C848.JPG

[Saltire]

Striped side of leg is negative. The capacitor C848 is to the one o clock position from the C807 capacitor that fixes red light problem. Thanks to oasisngn for picture. Obviously legs cut and soldered on this pic is an easier way than disassembling box to do proper job.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]412721[/ATTACH]

Thanks mate, Pictures a good one too, cheers for that, I am thinking now I will leave it for the expert to do, not so confident now, LOL, trying to juggle a magnifying glass, soldering iron, solder and cap all at one time, I can imagine how that will go, hahahahaha, LOL

[cactikid]

yes leave for an experienced welder ,ahh the dam good red light fix.

http://www.digital-kaos.co.uk/forums/showthread.php/326327-VU-Duo-Red-Light

[Saltire]

yes leave for an experienced welder ,ahh the dam good red light fix.

http://www.digital-kaos.co.uk/forums...-Duo-Red-Light

, just been laughing at that old red light post years ago man, , thank ~~~~ I got that sorted back then man, was funny reading through it all and
now we have the other cap C848 at fault for the weak signal, possible another couple of caps too, all depends, so we shall see, just waiting on the caps
coming in the post just now, and I know someone that is willing to get the box going, so fingers crossed the old girl still has plenty life left in her yet

[Saltire]

so the caps for the weak signal have arrived now, its just a waiting game to get the job done, fingers crossed and touch wood for luck

(C848) is a 1000uF 10V 105C cap, plus some other related caps near that one on the board can effect the signal too, plus they can use those same caps, so I am glad I bought 4 x panasonic ones, better quality than the ones that are a few pennies cheaper.

[Saltire]

Got this excellent VU+DUO pdf schematic drawing sent to me from a friend on another forum who I think is on here too, hope this helps a lot of people

(its a PDF type document by the way, so you will need adobe to open it).

Anyone who wants it will need PM me their email address so that I can send it as it doesnt have the option to do that in here on the open forum, cheers.

[Saltire]

Sorry, I meant to update this thread and forgot, been too ill actually.

By the way, This was all done with no thanks to me and all due thanks to someone else who
was a total pleasure to even talk to letalone deal with

So the VU started to give the stuck on red light issue again and only way to
get it back on and start up was to heat it up a little with a hairdryer inside etc.

The c807 cap that had previously been fixed/fitted year or two ago was removed and tested
but it turned out to be fine, however, another new one was put in anyway.
But still no joy with regards to starting up though.

Then a cap near the C807 (I think) turned out to be faulty so replaced that along with another next to that too.

Box now boots up no matter whether its power cable out/in from cold, flicking on/off rocker switch
at the back or simply just using standby as Is 99.9% always the way its used anyway, so yeah, success at last
on that front

As for the Weak Signal, that was fixed by replacing the C848 cap with a 1000uF 10V 105C one, there were another
few caps next to that too that were swapped out I think with the same caps too, pretty sure it was the same type
and rating of caps but as it wasn't me that done it I would have to ask obviously, but I'm sure it was the same rated caps
that were used.

I havent tested the box yet through my poor health but have been told the signal is like 98% etc depending on what
channel the box is on of course, and the box goes on/off from cold and everything, so fingers crossed its fine, yeah man

I am in two minds whether to even try it just now anyway until these contractors come out to replace the full satellite, aerial
and cabling as its kinda flerked up man as mentioned in another post I made, plus the fact the guy left the faceplate hanging
off the wall and everything, so I may be better just waiting until Tuesday when they are meant to be coming to do that work
before even trying the box, eh ?

More I think about it now the more I think unless the contractor agrees to high quality LNB and Mesh dish etc then I may cancel
them fitting anything and force the council and contractor to fix the communal system as I aint accepting no garbage pure pants
quality parts man, and lets face it, its not rocket science, the communal system worked all this time, so that says to me that
maybe (just maybe), the contractor cant be bothered figuring it out, if they need access to the adjacent properties then so be
it, thats not my problem, as I say, its hardly rocket science, if I was fit and healthy and had the testing equipment I could do
the job myself, I know I could and I am not even a Sat/aerial Tech guy, its cables ffs, as I say, everything always worked fine
before, so I just cant undertsand why not now.

I will see though.

[Saltire]

UPDATE

Just tried the newly fixed VU+DUO and its working fantastic, yeeeehaaaa
SO HAPPY MAN

Signals are up there in the 90's on some channels and the sliightly weaker ones
are still up in the 80's

That's a massive jump from 66/67 etc before the repair/s.

So thank goodness for that, and that proves one thing, the Box is now fine AGAIN
touch wood for luck, , and also the Satellite dish and twin feeds are fine as both
tuners are in use, well for now anyway unless the missus greets at me too much
and wants pishy Freesat back plugged into the TV, LOL.

As I said before, this is all thanks to someone elses expert work in solving things

Great Stuff.