This video explores the effect of DC Bias on Class II MLCC Capacitors and why once you’ve deployed a ceramic capacitor in your circuit, the capacitance may not be the same as the specified value. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMNwBKOIGfs SDGEE #066 – MLCC Capacitors Schematic for the Capacitor Tester Above is the schematic…
This video describes a DIY Vacuum Pick-up tool for picking and placing parts from an SMD component tape. The basic design for this tool involves using a vacuum pump and a solenoid to control the vacuum to a handpiece under control of a foot pedal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FnGqH_WkL4 By applying vacuum to…
I recently purchased a used 10A Carroll & Meynell Variac from eBay for use in the lab, however the variac often caused the 32A B-curve MCB in the consumer unit to trip due to the high inrush current of the variac core. To prevent this from happening and to add…
Reviewing a YZXstudio LCD USB Power Monitor ZY1262 sent in by Franky Tong at 99centHobbies.com This uses an interesting ADC from Microchip Technology – the MCP3421 with a single channel low-noise, high accuracy delta-sigma A/D converter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpRN6XXX7WQ
In this video, Steve disassembles a Cambridge Audio A4 Integrated Amplifier which he rescued before it was thrown away. The amplifier is refurbished with new electrolytic capacitors and a clean inside before performing a modification to make the dials on the front panel glow. The video of the…
In this video, Steve builds a 6 digit LED clock from some Kingbright SA23-12SRWA 7 segment displays and a Microchip PIC18F26K20 microcontroller. You can build one for yourself with the schematics posted under my LED clock page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov27rac0tP0
In this video, Steve performs a Hi-Fi Amplifier repair and teardown on an Acoustic Solutions SP101 Hi-Fi Amplifier that displays Error U52 or U53 on the display. The amplifier is unable to store tone and balance settings and doesn’t always respond to changing the volume with the rotary encoder. The…
In this video of a Samsung LCD TV repair, Steve investigates the cause of some odd picture quality issues on a 46″ TV. Primarily the TV seems to have lost any colour depth, brightness and contrast, yet the controls have very little effect despite the backlight output not being affected.…
In the following videos, Steve performs an LCD monitor repair on a faulty BenQ 19″ Monitor that would not power up correctly and regularly displayed the ‘Auto Adjust’ message. The Peak Atlas ESR70 meter is used to test suspicious electrolytic capacitors in the power supply. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgpo406pJzE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HjaKBd9yU8
In this video Steve interfaces the DC-DC converter circuit with a Microchip dsPIC33FJ16GS502 microcontroller to create a microcontroller-based constant current LED driver. The dsPIC33FJ16GS502 microcontroller has four analogue comparators which allow expandability to 4 independent constant current channels. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcble4aiNlw