As I begin to fumble my way into repairing old Pioneer SXs and such, I read everywhere that those who know what they're doing are careful to NOT remove boards, but only to gently twist or turn them over and such.
I understand. But, really? Do any of you folks just get out the wirecutters and cleanly remove boards from amps, to more easily work on them? That would be my preference.
Any tips regarding this?
Thanks in advance!
Doug
I understand. But, really? Do any of you folks just get out the wirecutters and cleanly remove boards from amps, to more easily work on them? That would be my preference.
Any tips regarding this?
Thanks in advance!
Doug
cut the wires...never. If it is disconnected by cutting the wires, fault finding becomes very difficult. The board will be made accessible to the extent necessary.
Sometimes this can be done by opening the lower panel/cover in amps.
Gajanan Phadte
Sometimes this can be done by opening the lower panel/cover in amps.
Gajanan Phadte
No, I have absolutely no reason to do it that way. ANy time I do have to disconnect a wire, I ALWAYS make a chart of where it goes. And CUT??? NO way. I can desolder it or otherwise disconnect it.
The only thing you can do easier by removing the board is to change a part, but unless you are restuffing a board, to cut a bunch of wires, replace one small transistor, then restore all those wires, is way more work than necessary.
I spend a lot more time taking voltage readings and such than I do swapping parts, and believe me, it is darn difficult to take meaningful readings when the board is removed. And if you are chasing a difficult problem, all that extracting the board, changing some part, putting it back together to see if that fixed it... too much. You may find a bad part, and some other bad part will not be revealed until you fire it up with the first new part installed. How many cycles of board removal and replacement would you want to go through before giving up?
The only thing you can do easier by removing the board is to change a part, but unless you are restuffing a board, to cut a bunch of wires, replace one small transistor, then restore all those wires, is way more work than necessary.
I spend a lot more time taking voltage readings and such than I do swapping parts, and believe me, it is darn difficult to take meaningful readings when the board is removed. And if you are chasing a difficult problem, all that extracting the board, changing some part, putting it back together to see if that fixed it... too much. You may find a bad part, and some other bad part will not be revealed until you fire it up with the first new part installed. How many cycles of board removal and replacement would you want to go through before giving up?
Hi Doug,
I sometimes do remove boards in order to do extensive work on them. First you take lots of digital pictures and make certain you show every wire. Then, unplug or desolder each wire carefully - never cut a wire!
Once the board is out, take more pictures that show the orientation of every component. You can delete the pictures later. Once you are finished, reinstall the board and reconnect the wires. Now this is very important, you must route each wire the way it was originally. The routing (lead dress) of wire keeps signals apart, and it does matter. Do one board at a time.
If you are merely doing a repair, there isn't a reason to remove a PCB assy. Also, be very, very aware of your soldering iron tip. Dial cords go "PING!" with the slightest touch of an iron tip or sharp edged tool. You really do not want to break a dial cord - trust me on this.
Finally, do not dive into something like this without training. Internet modifications are often not effective and may even affect the reliability of equipment. So if you are just going to try some of these "easy" modifications out. Please just stop and either get trained or take your equipment to someone who is formally trained in doing this type of work. I've seen too many wrecked stereos already.
-Chris
I sometimes do remove boards in order to do extensive work on them. First you take lots of digital pictures and make certain you show every wire. Then, unplug or desolder each wire carefully - never cut a wire!
Once the board is out, take more pictures that show the orientation of every component. You can delete the pictures later. Once you are finished, reinstall the board and reconnect the wires. Now this is very important, you must route each wire the way it was originally. The routing (lead dress) of wire keeps signals apart, and it does matter. Do one board at a time.
If you are merely doing a repair, there isn't a reason to remove a PCB assy. Also, be very, very aware of your soldering iron tip. Dial cords go "PING!" with the slightest touch of an iron tip or sharp edged tool. You really do not want to break a dial cord - trust me on this.
Finally, do not dive into something like this without training. Internet modifications are often not effective and may even affect the reliability of equipment. So if you are just going to try some of these "easy" modifications out. Please just stop and either get trained or take your equipment to someone who is formally trained in doing this type of work. I've seen too many wrecked stereos already.
-Chris
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