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i-Fi volume control malfunction


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Good for you dbert!!! Great that your iFI works again!!!.

For those who have channel problem (e.g. one working while the other not). You will have to check the condition of the capacitor sandwich inbetween the board. If i not wrong, there a 6 x 470uF 35V.

Be careful when desoldering the capacitors. Those soldering pad is horrible!!! (TOO SMALL FOR GOOD CONTACT and might come off easily if not handle with care)

Capacitor to use? Panasonic FC series or Nichicon FW series. Not the best money can buy but value for mone

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Great news dbert...

Hopefully this is the solution. I just ordered the caps you described and have them replaced by a technician as I don't trust my soldering skills...

Will post later to let you all know if it works for my as well.

can't wait to use the IFI again..

regards

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Digikey did not have any Panasonic “FC’s” for the 35volt locations. The 25 volt Panasonic FC was available. I wasn’t ready to trust Nichicon yet and I wanted to get the order going so I ordered all Panasonic NHG series.

The 35 volt "Nichicon FW" audio series are available from Digikey but they don’t have any 25 volt versions available.

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=493-3178-ND

and the 25 volt "Panasonic FC" is at;

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=P10289-ND

Probably best to split manufactures and just order these if you are going to order from digikey.

BTW... 48 hours now and still good.



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Thanks for the tip dbert!

Anyone had any experience with XICON caps? Is that brand decent? I ordered the replacement 4700uf a while ago from parts-express.com. Before I attempt to order more to replace all the caps in the amp I just want to get some feedback on the XICON brand.

Thanks!

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These are the list of capacitors found inside

4700µF 35V x 4

4700µF 25V x 1

470µF 35V x 6

10µF 25V x 3

1µF 50V x1

100µF 16V x 2

220µF 35V x 2

22µF 100V x 2

TOTAL of 21 Capacitors

I counted all the caps and only found 2 of the 10uf 25V cap. Did I miss the other one?

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dbert, when you saystill good? Does that mean your volume control is working fine as well?

I need to change all capacitors in order to get the volume control working again

Yes. My symptoms were as described in the first couple posts back on page1of this thread. Random volume/balance.

I am not convinced it’s fixed even though it’s working fine (72 hours now). Three years ago when I replaced the dock it worked for quite a while and I thought it was fixed, but then it started again.

I can’t suggest everyone run out and change their big capacitors and all will be well. None of the caps had visible problems until I looked at it a couple weeks ago. I dug it out of the garage and saw the electrolyte leaking from the top of the large 25 volt one.

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I've finally replaced all the capacitors. Before that only the 5 big capacitors were replaced.

All capacitors used were from Nichicon KW series and ES series (for one Bi-Polarized capacitor only)

And WOOOOOO!!!!. The sound really open up!!!! Clear and Sweet.

BTW, what type of adhesives are you using to hold the capacitors in place? Can the hot glue gun do the job.

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Hi all, I have this system and am really disappointed in its deterioration. When it was working the sound was fantastic. Now I have the random volume/balance problems. I replaced the dock and it did nothing to solve the problem. I presume I have the capacitor problem.

Here's the thing: I'm not qualified to do this myself (at least not without a really good video tutorial of the process--I don't have any electrical tools). I'd love to pay someone a reasonable fee to do this for me. I really love the sound of these speakers and paid a lot for them. I want them to go back to working like new.

I'm in Massachusetts. I live near the CT border by the Sturbridge where I90 and I84 meet. I work in Waltham (nearer to Boston). Is there someone who could do this work for a reasonable fee? If so, you can reach me by email at my first name (the first 4 letters of my user name here) at affectiva D0T com

Or if I must do this myself, can someone speak to the likelihood of a newb being successful?

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Hi RichSad,

Following the break thru of Dbert I ordered the caps he replaed at Digikey, as outlined by Dbert and shipped them over to the Netherlands (Cost USD 30.00).

Received the package yesterday and googled for an experienced electronic mechanic in my neighbourhood (yes, like you I don't trust my solding skills). This will morst likely cost me another US50, but it is worth the money if my IFI is back in business.. Don't do it yourselves if you think you're lacking technical skills. The canges of you breaking things is bigger than fixing it.

Brought the subwoofer in this morning and hopefully he is able to finish it today, otherwise Monday.

I will report back with the outcome, so fingers crossed..

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Picked up my subwoofer today. The mechanic replaced the 5 big ones.. Connected everything and YYYEEESSSSS worked like a charm again...

So happy, after a couple of years new life in my IFI, THANKS DBERT!!!!!!!!!! Everything works nicely.

I owe you...

Gents, replace those crap capacitors and enjoy your system as it was originally designed for..

Again many thanks to Dbert.

Klipsch, are you following this, the solution was so easy, you guys should have stepped in, which you FAIL to do... So bad.

It costed me about USD80 to get the system working again.

I hope Klipsch makes a gesture to all of us here for keeping us in the dark and not stepping up to the plate. I will send Klipsch a separate email to express my dissatisfaction. As I still view this as their problem and their responsibility...

Guys, go and replace those 5 big caps. It worked for me like a charm..

Dbert, yr the KING - So happy!! :-)

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ofmg!!!!!!!! it worked. I just replaced those 5 capacitors. dbert you are the boss!!!!! im blasting my ifi's rite now. :)

now i read earlier that this volume control problem started after leaving the speakers in standby. I would leave mine in standby over night every night too.

should i just turn them off from the back now?

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@Rad09, are you a handy electrical person or a newbie? I really want to fix my iFi system but I don't have soldering tools. Way back 35+ years ago I used to mess around with simple electronic circuits, and I can certainly ID the capacitors, but I am not sure I have the right skill set to attempt this myself.

Hoping someone reading this with the right skills is in Massachusetts and would be kind enough to help me with this. I would pay for such help!

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I've soldered a bit before but i'm not a pro by any means. The process took me about 10-15 minutes.

you can do this for your self pretty cheaply.

1.) 15-30 watt soldering iron (low wattage is needed to keep your board from being damaged by heat. this is like 10 dollars.)

2.) desoldering braid (to clear the holes once the old capacitors are removed

3.) very thin solder. i used .015 diamater

you can get all that from radio shack for prob 15-20 dollars.

once you remove the board and identify the capacitors you can apply the gun to the nubs protruding from the board to melt the solder and simultaneously tug gently on the capacitor and remove both ends one at a time. (when pulling out the first lead you can twist the capacitor a bit but the second lead will come out much faster if you re straiten the component before hand)

( i also replaced my capacitors one at a time to prevent confusion.)

once the capacitor is removed you need to apply the soldering braid to either of the holes with old solder still in them. use the gun to gently grind the tip into the hole with the braid between the gun and the board for about 5 seconds

insert the capacitor and with the gun melt the solder on the side of the board with all the nubs. be sure the capacitor has no wiggle to ensure a solid connection.

and you can repeat this process for all you capacitors.

I'm glad to help any ifi user.

also my question still stands about whether i should leave my ifi's in standby overnight.

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Glad to hear this is working for others.

Because these were so large I trimmed off a majority of the nubs on the bottom with some flush cut diagonal pliers first.
Just to remove some of the lead and the bulk of the existing solder on the bottom side.

I then heat “say” the positive lead as I put pressure towards the negative lead.
When the solder is melted you can tilt the cap and pull existing lead thru the pcb a ways. Then I heat the other lead and put some pressure the opposite direction. Just walk them out one lead at a time. It can take a few back-and-forth’s on each one.

I took them all out so I had more room to work cleaning up the holes and putting them back in. You just need to remember which side is positive and which is negative (with stripe). Also, when they are removed there is a little “+” symbol printed on the board under the cap showing polarity.

I also use soldering braid to try to remove as much old solder as I can. Removing the old solder and opening up the holes is always the hardest part for me. Remember to be gentle going back in as you don’t want to force it and break the pad away on the board.

See if there is some television repair guy still around. Look for some armature radio folks. They almost always have the tinkerer in their midst with the skills to do this. Put an ad on craigslist. I’d love to tell you to do it yourself. It’s not really that hard, but if you haven’t used the iron before you may want to find some junk motherboard or other electronic part and remove the caps and clean the holes there first. There is a lot of general soldering technique info on the web.

I’m not going to risk putting mine in mute mode. I’ll just turn it down. I mounted a knob on my dock. It’s not real attractive but it’s much easier than the partial wheel.



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Any know what are those yellow box things found in the PCB? Looks like Metallized Flim capacitors (Polyester or Polypropylene)

People out there. Any helps on the above? Are those Metallized Flim capacitors?

If YES, any review on WIMA MKP or EVOX RIFA series of flim capacitors?

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