How much damage have I done to my VHF?

Cardo

Cardo

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I have an Icom IC-M601 on the boat. I recently managed to rather daftly wire it up to a 24v supply. It was turned on for a few seconds, until some smoke was noticed, at which point it was turned off and unplugged. The error was then realised.

Back on 12v, the VHF seems to be working normally. I've opened it up and the only damage I can see is a large capacitor that looks a little worse for wear, but hasn't perished completely.

I can replace the capacitor if need be, but I can't decide whether it's worth fettling with if it's working.

Thoughts?
 
telford_mike said:
Often with electrical stuff the smoke you see is just accumulated dust burning off - it doesn't necessarily follow that you've fried any components.
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The capacitor in question has definitely taken a hit, as it's slightly swollen and there's a tiny bit of fluid around that's clearly come out of it. Bit like a LA battery overcharging.

I'm wondering whether the capacitor in question is there to protect the rest of the VHF from numpties like me?
 
Cardo said:
The capacitor in question has definitely taken a hit, as it's slightly swollen and there's a tiny bit of fluid around that's clearly come out of it. Bit like a LA battery overcharging.

I'm wondering whether the capacitor in question is there to protect the rest of the VHF from numpties like me?
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At the least, I would replace the capacitor.
It will probably fail at some point.
It may already be giving less filtering, so might be risking performance.
Can you read the value on it?
 
Much of this sort of gear is rated up to around 18volts toallow fro charge voltage fluctuations, so it will have been subejeted to between 25 and 50% overvoltage. If the capacitor is bulging and leaking, then it is on the way to failing. Other components may have survived intact, or maybe not.

As has been said, its an important bit of safety gear and you dont want it failing at the beginning of a trip, or more likely at the crucial moment when you REALLY need it, so best to get it checked.
 
You can do nothing, in which case that capacitor will fail, probably before too long, and the radio will stop working or work poorly.

You can replace that capacitor, in which case the radio will probably be ok, but there's a risk it won't.

You can get the manufacturer to look at it, and they will almost certainly say it's not repairable as small consumer electronics isn't worth repairing and even if it was they don't know what else has been damaged.

Or you could just replace it now and put it down to experience.
 
AngusMcDoon said:
You can do nothing, in which case that capacitor will fail, probably before too long, and the radio will stop working or work poorly.

You can replace that capacitor, in which case the radio will probably be ok, but there's a risk it won't.

You can get the manufacturer to look at it, and they will almost certainly say it's not repairable as small consumer electronics isn't worth repairing and even if it was they don't know what else has been damaged.

Or you could just replace it now and put it down to experience.
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:eek:
What a ridiculously wasteful point of view.

Manufacturer, Icom, have previously repaired damage caused by the previous owner. Certainly not a "Ah well, just replace it" attitude from them.

I think I'll get hold of a replacement capacitor and replace it if things go down hill, or if I get the urge.
 
AngusMcDoon said:
You can do nothing, in which case that capacitor will fail, probably before too long, and the radio will stop working or work poorly.

You can replace that capacitor, in which case the radio will probably be ok, but there's a risk it won't.

You can get the manufacturer to look at it, and they will almost certainly say it's not repairable as small consumer electronics isn't worth repairing and even if it was they don't know what else has been damaged.

Or you could just replace it now and put it down to experience.
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Cardo said:
:eek:
What a ridiculously wasteful point of view.

Manufacturer, Icom, have previously repaired damage caused by the previous owner. Certainly not a "Ah well, just replace it" attitude from them.

I think I'll get hold of a replacement capacitor and replace it if things go down hill, or if I get the urge.
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I think you are being a little hard on Mr McDoon to describe the points he made as "A ridiculously wasteful point of view" :D

Some people might be concerned that the set may let them down at an inopportune moment because of the over voltage and that the best option is to fix with new. It is not necessarily wasteful to replace an item of safety equipment which many people regard a radio as being that may be compromised.
 
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC said:
The probability of failing has been increased drastically,
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On the contrary, I would argue that it has been successfully stress tested !! Of course the capacitor should be replaced ASAP before it possibly explodes and dumps its corrosive contents all over the circuit board. It sounds like an electrolytic and you can probably make a reasonable guess of its value even if you can't read it. It's unlikely to be too critical.
 
Err so how can such conclusions be reached that its "ok" if so little detail has been given. It would take some time to fry a 16v (as presumably that is what it is) cap on 24v... So I'm not sure I believe that it was just a couple of seconds, unless something else is going on. Most voltage regulators can tolerate around 25-30v before you kill them so the 3.3/5v logic stuff should all be ok. Have you tested to see if it still has output? RF output stages are sensitive to stuff like this. Do you have a pic of the damage?
 
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