M-TECH DVB-T2 decoder dead now repaired

A friend of mine called me to pass-by his place to check out his Decoder which was faulty, I passed by and the decoder was dead as dodo.

Usually in electronics dead symptoms are mostly caused by power supply, therefore I suspected problem with the power supply.

I did not have my tools with me and therefore I did not open the decoder on site, back to my workshop I opened it and the first thing I did was scanning for any sign of stress (blackened area or burnt components).

Everything looked good and I was about to pull my digital meter to do some voltage testing when I noted a capacitor on the secondary side of the power supply which had it top slightly swollen.

As I said previously and I repeat again, any capacitor with swollen top is usually faulty, this usually happens when the working voltage of the capacitor is exceeded.

MK-328 Multi component tester (Transistors NPN PNP MOS, Capacitor ESR, Inductance, Resistor, diodes)

This meter is an intelligent semiconductor device analyzer, it can measure most of the diodes, bipolar

Transistors, Junction/MOS FETs and low power thyristors. It automatically identifies the type of devices and Pinouts, measures the current gain HFE, gate threshold and FET junction capacitance, a typical application is to pair two transistors or identify an unknown SMD device.

Test clips can be connected any way round, the

Pinout can be identified and displayed on screen vs. test clip numbers. Beside the semiconductor device analyzer, this meter can also work as a RLC/ESR meter, the RLC/ESR accuracy may not be able to compete with the professional one, but it definitely meets the needs for most of the applications. A 9V battery (part number 6F22) is used for this meter.

14 inch China Television sound OK but no picture

I got this phone call from a client who wanted his television checked by a technician, I passed by and I found the TV was ON but there was no picture on the screen (dark screen) but audio was present and very clear.

I opened the TV on site and the board was covered with one inch thick layer of dust and therefore decided not to disturb it lest it cause havoc in the customer house.

But I did some scanning using my set of natural tools in the name of eyes and I was able to see two big capacitor with top slightly swollen.

Ramtons toaster model RM/195 dead, now working

I received a phone call from one of my neighbor who wanted to know if I repair bread toaster, he was right because toaster repair is not my area of specialization.

This is because I decided from the word go I will not be a jack of all trade but master of none and therefore my area of specialization is TVs, Monitors,DVDs, SMPS.

Being my neighbor I decided to see if I can be able to help bring his toaster back to life and I requested him to drop it at my place so that I can check it in the evening as I usually have another full time job.

Came evening I found the toaster already waiting for me, I applied power, pressed down the push down plunger and nothing happen.