John. I shouldn't really post this on this thread, but wondered if you would be prepared to help with a blown Isomagic. I built a power supply and in bits on the floor it worked perfectly and sounded great. I re-boxed it, turned it on and "bang" the fuse in the PS blew and blew 2 (what I assume were SMD caps) next to the earth braid. I now only appear to have power to right side of the board. I wondered if it had taken out the voltage regs ? Is this an earthing problem. If a picture would help I will post it on the S700 mods thread.
Hi Puffin,
Its very hard to say what’s happened to your DAC, but at a guess I would say you reverse connected your PSU after rehousing it, + to - and - to +.
There’s a slim chance that if you replace the damaged caps the regulators might be OK.... give it a try. If not, then obviously the Regulators will need replacing - and hopefully that’s all.... or possibly the caps have blown due to over voltage – I don’t have an IsoMagic S700 here, but I would guess they where 16V caps – what’s your input voltage to the PCB?
Don’t panic or loose too much sleep, If worst comes to worst you can send to me in HK and will I have a look FOC,
John
Its very hard to say what’s happened to your DAC, but at a guess I would say you reverse connected your PSU after rehousing it, + to - and - to +.
There’s a slim chance that if you replace the damaged caps the regulators might be OK.... give it a try. If not, then obviously the Regulators will need replacing - and hopefully that’s all.... or possibly the caps have blown due to over voltage – I don’t have an IsoMagic S700 here, but I would guess they where 16V caps – what’s your input voltage to the PCB?
Don’t panic or loose too much sleep, If worst comes to worst you can send to me in HK and will I have a look FOC,
John
Hi John,
I have been following this thread with much interest as I have been trying to buy a dacapo from ebay, but from what you have been saying i may be better to wait until your new dac is released.
Do you have any details of where the new dac can be purchased from when it is released?
Thanks
Steve.
I have been following this thread with much interest as I have been trying to buy a dacapo from ebay, but from what you have been saying i may be better to wait until your new dac is released.
Do you have any details of where the new dac can be purchased from when it is released?
Thanks
Steve.
Hi Steve,
Yes I would recommend to wait until the new DAC is released; it will be far superior and still cheaper then the typical second hand Dacapo prices on EBay (I bought a complete system last year from EBay including the DC for comparison)
The new DAC will also support USB & 192 KHz SPDIF – and where the Dacapo has 2 DAC’s per Channel (simple Balanced DAC), the new DAC will have 64 DAC’s per Channel!
The enclosure however will be smaller and cheaper (simple extrusion), not like the Dacapo’s expensive wood design.
To keep the cost low, it will be sold via Direct Internet sales only - 30 day home trial - right of return (Minus all shipping costs).
John
Yes I would recommend to wait until the new DAC is released; it will be far superior and still cheaper then the typical second hand Dacapo prices on EBay (I bought a complete system last year from EBay including the DC for comparison)
The new DAC will also support USB & 192 KHz SPDIF – and where the Dacapo has 2 DAC’s per Channel (simple Balanced DAC), the new DAC will have 64 DAC’s per Channel!
The enclosure however will be smaller and cheaper (simple extrusion), not like the Dacapo’s expensive wood design.
To keep the cost low, it will be sold via Direct Internet sales only - 30 day home trial - right of return (Minus all shipping costs).
John
Hi John,
Would the FPGA power requirements still be too much for a Da-Capo with DC PSU?
If a new filter isn't in the pipes would there still be a chance of a D.I.C as I am stuck with only a dual clock lock which precludes me from attaching to other devices I have...
I am sure a lot of da-capo and ordinal owners could be in the same boat.
Lastly I was wondering if you got round to changing your capacitors as I would really appreciate your input re- which caps (types/makes) to place where in the circuit.
I have Cardinal, Da-capo, DC PSU...
Thanks Again
John
PS still looking forward to seeing your new products
Would the FPGA power requirements still be too much for a Da-Capo with DC PSU?
If a new filter isn't in the pipes would there still be a chance of a D.I.C as I am stuck with only a dual clock lock which precludes me from attaching to other devices I have...
I am sure a lot of da-capo and ordinal owners could be in the same boat.
Lastly I was wondering if you got round to changing your capacitors as I would really appreciate your input re- which caps (types/makes) to place where in the circuit.
I have Cardinal, Da-capo, DC PSU...
Thanks Again
John
PS still looking forward to seeing your new products
John. A few posts back you said that you would be prepared to have a look at my isomagic board that I managed to screw up.
I see now that when I was re soldering the wires to the power supply I inadvertantly connected the Br & Wh wires to AC not DC !
WIll you send me a Pm with where to send the board ?
Rob.
I see now that when I was re soldering the wires to the power supply I inadvertantly connected the Br & Wh wires to AC not DC !
WIll you send me a Pm with where to send the board ?
Rob.
I had three dacapos in turn I think. The final one was 24 bit with the clock locked cardinal. I heard all of the filters bar the 20 bit and far preferred the 24 bit filter.
I now have the PT dacapo II cdp - which is the dacapo, dc and cardinal but all in one box and all battery powered with an updated and balanced design. It beat my old dacapo by some margin.
I think only a handful were ever made. I would be very interested to compare it with the new dac.
I now have the PT dacapo II cdp - which is the dacapo, dc and cardinal but all in one box and all battery powered with an updated and balanced design. It beat my old dacapo by some margin.
I think only a handful were ever made. I would be very interested to compare it with the new dac.
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Is there anyone who think about DIYing RCA output of Dacapo into XLR? I would like to get benefit from my pre amp which has XLR input
My Cardinal at this moment has a minor problem. I was wondering if some one is suffering the same?
when I turn it on, the CD tray automatically come out, the display screen shut off, a noise from the motor could be heard.
If I turn it off , then turn it on again, press EJECT button to close the CD tray, Cardinal works as usual.
I would like to point out that the problem happened sometimes NOT all the times????
I did check the Cap, there is no leaking at all
I am looking forward to your advice
My Cardinal at this moment has a minor problem. I was wondering if some one is suffering the same?
when I turn it on, the CD tray automatically come out, the display screen shut off, a noise from the motor could be heard.
If I turn it off , then turn it on again, press EJECT button to close the CD tray, Cardinal works as usual.
I would like to point out that the problem happened sometimes NOT all the times????
I did check the Cap, there is no leaking at all
I am looking forward to your advice
Looks like this is the place to come to with our DaCapo ills. I got mine down from the attic again recently and was very much enjoying it until the right channel dropped out.
I have replaced all the caps as recommended on this forum but the problem still remains.
Can anyone advise on what to check/replace next?
Many thanks,
Andy
I have replaced all the caps as recommended on this forum but the problem still remains.
Can anyone advise on what to check/replace next?
Many thanks,
Andy
Hi Andy,
Its sad to hear of so many Dacapo’s failing now – stuck in your loft all those years – wow what a waste!
The fact that you changed the capacitors will not help if the PCB has already been damaged. The intention of replacing the capacitors is to prevent the PCB damage in the first instance.
When the electrolyte leaks it can be hard to tell with an untrained eye – typically any exposed Gold / Copper such as the PCB Vias which thru-connect the top and bottom layers of the PCB are eaten away – the Gold / Copper appears Black, rather then shiny Gold (the Dacapo PCB’s where heavily Gold plated). Once the Vias are eaten away, it’s the Vias Rim / Edge of the via that is effected first, the electrical connection between top and bottom layers is lost – and the unit will fail.
The fact that you have lost one channel strongly suggests one of the supply rails has failed - this could be caused by the leaking electrolyte - check the supply pins to the OPAMP’s (Pins 4 & 7) this should around +/- 15V and also that you have +5V on pins 6 & 7 of both of the SMD LM317 closest to the Screened DAC module (these supply the L & R DAC sections within the screened tin).
The production PCB files for the next generation Dacapo will be released after Chinese’s New Year (around Feb 12th), so I expect that the New Dacapo will be in pilot production around June…. I would not recommend spending too much money repairing the unit – the NEW Dacapo is vastly superior…
JohnW
Its sad to hear of so many Dacapo’s failing now – stuck in your loft all those years – wow what a waste!
The fact that you changed the capacitors will not help if the PCB has already been damaged. The intention of replacing the capacitors is to prevent the PCB damage in the first instance.
When the electrolyte leaks it can be hard to tell with an untrained eye – typically any exposed Gold / Copper such as the PCB Vias which thru-connect the top and bottom layers of the PCB are eaten away – the Gold / Copper appears Black, rather then shiny Gold (the Dacapo PCB’s where heavily Gold plated). Once the Vias are eaten away, it’s the Vias Rim / Edge of the via that is effected first, the electrical connection between top and bottom layers is lost – and the unit will fail.
The fact that you have lost one channel strongly suggests one of the supply rails has failed - this could be caused by the leaking electrolyte - check the supply pins to the OPAMP’s (Pins 4 & 7) this should around +/- 15V and also that you have +5V on pins 6 & 7 of both of the SMD LM317 closest to the Screened DAC module (these supply the L & R DAC sections within the screened tin).
The production PCB files for the next generation Dacapo will be released after Chinese’s New Year (around Feb 12th), so I expect that the New Dacapo will be in pilot production around June…. I would not recommend spending too much money repairing the unit – the NEW Dacapo is vastly superior…
JohnW
Dacapo: to repair or not to repair?
Hi, John w
I have been monitoring this thread with great interest over the last few months in an attemp to gather all information that i can regarding Dacapo failure and the possibility of repair. I have a Dacapo, DC and an Ordinal(my first DAC). The DC and ordinal are showing no signs of capacitor leakage(to the untrained eye) however the Dacapo is obviously in need of repair(please see pictures) From information on this thread i have contacted a company who are happy to carry out the repair and change all the capacitors over to Rubycon ZLH, the fee for this(Dacapo,Dc and cards only) is just over 200 pounds, my question is, should i go ahead with this repair? If the repair is successfull and all caps are changed could something else fail? Would i be wiser to wait for the release of your new Dacapo? Guidance would be appreciated. I have cherished this DAC for the last 10 years and would be heartbroken to never hear and feel it's effects again.
Kind Regards, Steven.
Hi, John w
I have been monitoring this thread with great interest over the last few months in an attemp to gather all information that i can regarding Dacapo failure and the possibility of repair. I have a Dacapo, DC and an Ordinal(my first DAC). The DC and ordinal are showing no signs of capacitor leakage(to the untrained eye) however the Dacapo is obviously in need of repair(please see pictures) From information on this thread i have contacted a company who are happy to carry out the repair and change all the capacitors over to Rubycon ZLH, the fee for this(Dacapo,Dc and cards only) is just over 200 pounds, my question is, should i go ahead with this repair? If the repair is successfull and all caps are changed could something else fail? Would i be wiser to wait for the release of your new Dacapo? Guidance would be appreciated. I have cherished this DAC for the last 10 years and would be heartbroken to never hear and feel it's effects again.
Kind Regards, Steven.