Coolsat 6000 (clone) power supply

[dougbrown]

OK, as some of you may know already I picked up a "New" Coolsat 6000 about 2-3 months ago. After some initial setup problems and help from everyone here I was able to ge tthe thing going and was happy enough with it. This weekend I decided to do a little sky surfing, but when I hit the button on the remote the Cootsat started to go nuts on me. The display went all green and white, the audio went all static on me. I tried turning off the power a couple of times, but to no avail. Then it happened, everything went black including the unit display panel. Suspecting the power supply I popped it open, On the power supply board I found one capacitor that was bulging and another that looked like it has been leaking. Does anyone have any experience with repairs on these power supplies? Or does anyone have a replacement power supply available? Capacitor problem have been very common on PC the last several years, looks like the cap manufacturers have found an alternate market for their defective junk.

 

[gabshere]

don't know if this will help but Sat Av listed a power supply for the coolsat 4000 when he had his last sale for like $1 . you could try pm'ing Brian about it and see if he can provide an answer and maybe still has the power supply. it would probably be the simple solution

 

[SpiffWilkie]

If it's the capacitors and you have a little soldering experience, you can replace those for very cheap (just make sure you don't reverse them!). If you can't find a replacement power supply or it's expensive, I would give that capacitors a shot first.

 

[pedrogarcia]

Your description does not sound solely a power supply fault and it is unlikely to be just a capacitor problem. Clone Power supplies rarely are the same as the original, post a picture of yours for comparison before you buy. Better still repair the existing because if there is a main board fault the chances of repairing that are slim

 

[eurosport]

OK, as some of you may know already I picked up a "New" Coolsat 6000 about 2-3 months ago.......looks like the cap manufacturers have found an alternate market for their defective junk.

2 or 3 months and it blew up already? I've heard of lower quality "seconds" but this would definitely have me more than a little hacked off! I guess the warranty, if it had one was probably only for 90 days anyway. Maybe there's some warranty left?

 

[dougbrown]

I've been trying to come to grips with this disaster, I checked the Clone PDF from Coolsat and there is little doubt in my mind that I have a clone. As things stand now the unit will not power up at all. This and the nature in which it died led me to believe that the power supply had failed. At least it was my hope that it could be the power supply and that there might be some way for me to salvage the device.I had just purchased a pair of Sonic Voom headphones even. If it was the power supply I could find some way to use an old PC power supply if worse came to worse. I can see no other physical problems with the motherboard or power supply other than the capacitors I've already mentioned. At least it was only $50 including shipping and I can chalk that up to experience, but the worst part is having to start all over again with another box.

 

[pedrogarcia]

Check the Power supply Volts output to the main board are correct, and diodes are always the most suspect

 

[dougbrown]

I did have a chance to check the power supply output voltages, these were all at least close to the voltages listed on the main board. So It must have been some other component. I'll re-examine the main board again. Are there any physical signs when a diode has had it? Thanks Pedro.

 

[pedrogarcia]

Firstly be careful there is 110v live section of the power supply board, usually about half of it and it is normally outlined.

I'm afraid mostly diodes show no physical signs when they dead. Just desolder one end and check forward and reverse impedance, one way must be extremely high.


Not sure where you checked the power supply output voltages,. If these are still correct check there are no dry solder joints on the mainboard input socket

 

[AcWxRadar]

I did have a chance to check the power supply output voltages, these were all at least close to the voltages listed on the main board. So It must have been some other component. I'll re-examine the main board again. Are there any physical signs when a diode has had it? Thanks Pedro.

Dougbrown,

If you read the voltages with a standard voltmeter, they might read close to what they should be, but still be bad. Without the filter caps, there may be a lot of AC ripple. You should measure them with an oscilloscope to be certain.

I think I would replace the suspicious capacitors just to test it. You can get replacement caps at Radio Shack very inexpensively.

As for a defective diode, if you measure across one with an ohmeter and read a direct short, that is bad. To get an accurate reading, you actually must remove the diode from the circuit to test it. On the RX1K scale, a good diode should read approximately 700 ohms one way and infinity the other direction. You won't often see any physical evidence, however.

There are several components that I have located for the true Coolsat power supplies that I have found to be defective before. I cannot say that the clone PS board is going to be the same, but you might look into these items:

IC51 Fairchild TL431ACLP-LF (programmable voltage regulator)

Q22 C945 NPN transistor

PC81 KODENSHI PC-17K1, K2, K4 Photocoupler

Q21 Digi-Key Corp TIP42C-ND PNP Si power transistor

IC81 IRIS-A6351, IRIS-A6151, IRIS-A6359 or IRIS-A6131 Integrated switcher.

I have found IC51 blown apart before.

Radar

 

[Smith P.]

I did have a chance to check the power supply output voltages, these were all at least close to the voltages listed on the main board. So It must have been some other component. I'll re-examine the main board again. Are there any physical signs when a diode has had it? Thanks Pedro.

Bad sign . If you have experience with repair of such device or has other CS6000 you could continue from this point. But I would doubt it will go especially if you have DMM only. I would help you, but you are too far from Bay Area to manage it easy.

 

[dougbrown]

Any one interested in a dead Coolsat....cheap

 

[dougbrown]

Clone wars

I've been looking for a cheap replacement for the old dead clone and came across this receiver on ebay XRICA

Has any one encountered one of these and if so what do you think of it?

 

[AcWxRadar]

I've been looking for a cheap replacement for the old dead clone and came across this receiver on ebay XRICA

Has any one encountered one of these and if so what do you think of it?

Doug,

I don't know. It has a really cheap price, but I haven't ever heard of that brand before. If I have, I don't remember it. I cannot provide any advice on that one.

I am really in love with my Coolsat 5000's. I have two at home and one at my cabin and my brother also has several 5000's. The 6000's are the next step up. Like I mentioned, they are both discontinued, but there are still plenty out there on EBay. Here is an example, it was the first thing that came to the top of the list when I searched.

Coolsat 6000

The price isn't as cheap as the XRICA that you found, but I can vouch for the operation of these Coolsat receivers. I think you would be more happy with one of these. You had a bad experience with one, but your experience is not common. These receivers are more reliable than that. Mine have been going for years with solid operation and excellent reliability.

Don't forget to check the sponsors for what they have available new.

Radar

 

[pedrogarcia]

Feedback from buyers looks good. This make receivers is in Europe and the mid east but this model is clearly made for the American market with the composite video. In Europe we have the Scart output and Mid east just RCA.