Panasonic DMR EH55 leaking capacitors, noisy output?

[pthebest19]

Hi, recently I bought this DVD recorder off eBay. The seller said it was in good condition.

I tried to use it as a passthrough and I noticed the picture was extremely noisy. I'll put a short clip recorded from the Playstation 2 menu, but the same goes for VHS and Laserdisc capturing.

This recording was made with the YPbPr output, but the same happens with composite and S Video output. Also, both composite and S Video inputs in every port have the same problem.

Then I opened it, and I saw two leaking capacitors inside, nothing else (except dust) seemed wrong. I'll also attach pictures of the caps.

So here's my question. Are the failing capacitors the reason why the video output has noise?

[hodgey]

Would highly suspect those capacitors to be related to the issue yeah.

[dpalomaki]

While the effect they have would depend on their location in the circuit, they certainly are not doing your image any good and they should be replaced. (The more common issues were with surface mounted caps, these appear to be through hole radial lead mounting. Generally easier to replace if you are into DIY. )

If a couple have failed, others may not be far behind and checking with an ESR meter might help identify if there are more that need replacement.

Are they in the power supply portion of the circuit board?

However, you may want to exercise your ebay return/refund since it obviously is not in "good condition" - if it is not too late. There may be bigger issues than a couple leaking caps and you will not know that until you dig into it.

[pthebest19]

I got a partial refund, which should hopefully cover the cost of buying new caps.

I posted pictures. Can you see where the leaking caps are located? I see a bulging cap on the power supply board, but the leaking ones are not.

[dpalomaki]

Cap_1 along the right edge and Cap_2 just left of center MIGHThave some orange stuff leaking out of the top? But I cannot really tell form the photos.

Keep in mind that failed caps do NOT always leak or bulge.

Did you post other pictures?

[pthebest19]

They do have orange liquid leaking out of the top. Maybe it's not easy to see from the pictures, but I saw them.

[dpalomaki]

At least the service manual is available for download from the internet.

[RobustReviews]

I think it's all been covered, but without instrumentation, you can't really determine the health of capacitors, I'm sure dplaomaki like myself has seen many, many caps that look perfect but are really cattle trucked.


They're funny things.