I had my Panasonic DMR-ES10 DVD recorder repaired, due to similar bad capacitors -- the same issue as found on the classic JVC machines from 2004-2005 (DR-M10, M100, MH20, MH30, MH300). So, for all the JVC haters out there, or JVC doubters, know that bad capacitors are not limited to JVC equipment. Indeed, it afflicted companies like AMD, Sony, Panasonic -- they were all hit by this cheap Chinese crap several years ago (circa 2003-2005, give or take).
As I've mentioned in other threads on this forum and elsewhere, it's actually a complicated story that involves corporate espionage and bungled reverse engineering. A Chinese/Taiwanese company stole incomplete Japanese cap specs, replicated them poorly (and without knowing the cap specs were incomplete), and then undercut their Japanese "competitor" (the theft victim) to gain OEM part sales. The faulty electrolyte formula used in the bad caps causes the creation of hydrogen gas, which must escape the enclosure, causing it to bulge or expelling the contents (leaks). Some of it is also due to the use of undersized caps (low voltage), which can bulge, leak or even explode when strained and forced to pass higher currents than they were designed to maintain. Or in some cases, higher currents than they can handle, even if they were rated for the higher volts. For this reason, it's often safe to replace the caps with slightly larger ones, which can help with the longevity of your unit. It's even been reported to help keep down the heat coming off the boards, simply by using larger caps.
Continuing...
Here are my
BEFORE images of the recorder, taken shortly after it stopped working. It had been running and plugged in almost daily for about two of three years when it failed.
Look at the three visible capacitors in this photo. Notice the one in front with leakage, while the other two are perfectly flat and shiny -- no leaks, no bulges:
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Here's a close-up of that leaking capacitor.
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From another view, you'll also notice that it is bulging, albeit only very slightly. Sometimes a bad cap bulges, sometimes it leaks -- and sometimes it does both! If you don't see the rounded bulge right away, analyze the shadows. That's not bad photography, but instead the result of light fall-off due to the rounded and bulged top.
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Here's an even closer top view of the bulged surface. Compare it to the flat, smooth shiny cap above it.
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Unfortunately, I had to put the unit back in service immediately, so to date I have not photographed any
AFTER images, to show the new caps. Maybe someday I can afford to remove it from the rack, between projects, and take it apart for some new photos.
Understand that the repair work was not performed by a special tech shop, a JVC service center, or anywhere else that most people would suspect or give as their first guess as to who I used. It was fixed by the video lab tech at a local commuity college, who worked in the broadcast communication program. He charged about $25-30 bucks, and it was done in about 20 minutes. It's been working perfectly for almost three years now, since the fix! Students in the lab had the same knowledge, and I would have used one of them had the instructor not been able to spend time on it.
Hopefully these images will further illustrate the JVC issues.
