FAULTY USB Double Socket thing | Can I FIX It?

[@acidhelm]

The blue disc thing is indeed for surge protection. It's a metal-oxide varistor (MOV) which normally doesn't conduct. But when the voltage across it gets high enough (usually 470V in the UK and Europe) it starts conducting and shunts live to neutral. That makes the surge go through it and back out on neutral, instead of going through the things that are plugged in to the sockets.

[@StezStixFix]

Thanks acid! That makes perfect sense, appreciate the explanation! 👍

[@kevingoodsell9269]

I recently had a line voltage smart thermostat blow up in a storm. Inside I found a metal oxide varistor with catastrophic damage. I don't know if it was there for surge suppression, but it sure looked like it took the brunt of a surge.

[@weeardguy]

@@kevingoodsell9269 Most likely it was there for surge protection, as that's a MOV's only purpose. But they have their limits and can only absorb so much without critical failure. Those specifications are usually stated in the datasheet, where you will find how long the surge can last, how high the voltage can be and up to which point it can still absorb the surge without any damage (because they also filter out short surges/spikes that can be caused by other equipment or the surge from a lightning strike that wasn't close enough to do a lot of damage, but did sent a peakvoltage down the mains) Even if they do suffer critical damage, I read a lot of stories here in The Netherlands that even though the PCB has blackened around the MOV and the MOV has vapourised almost completely, the circuit behind it has remained intact.

[@erzengel7572]

In Germany we say 'Überspannungsschutz‘. 🤓😀

[@Stefan_73]

Very nice. Would have replaced all 3 caps. In my experience it does not take too long till the others follow the fate of the broken cap.

[@jelly4jesus]

Just taking a moment to appreciate the insane editing that must have taken place for the various “plugs” and noises!

[@kevb1816]

Excellent vid! Fixes suspect looking Amazon special PSU then tests it using a very expensive looking phone. Gold! 😂

[@johnyoung8483]

I think it said Costco on the label

[@BritishAdam]

That's an extremely accurate 5 volts. Not often I see a straight exact 5.00 on a multimeter!

[@StezStixFix]

Yeah, it was nice to see such a steady voltage. It looked like it was well built... It means my multimeter is in good order too!

[@TheCustomFHD]

​@@StezStixFixa actually good pure usb powersupply would output 5.20V (5.25V is usb standard MAX), which counteracts voltage drops in the cables and connectors! But yeah, in terms of clean 5V, this is perfect.

[@weeardguy]

@TheCustomFHD There are USB power supplies that output a steady 5 Volt when no load is attached, but slightly raise this when current is being drawn, it just depends on the design.

[@nordtendo]

Steve, I think the high pitched intermittent sound was the PSU, possibly a switch mode supply, shutting down when sensing the short on the capacitor. Then restarting and locked in a loop making the high pitched sound each time it shut down.

[@billysmidway7032]

Exactly what I was going to type. I work on classic era arcade games and in every switch mode power supply (SMPS) the circuit will “chirp” audibly when it’s trying to feed a dead short. As Steve did correctly, disconnecting the power supply from the rest of the circuit, the SMPS can now feed power to the meter. I have yet to find a shorted electrolytic that didn’t have some external damage. Tantalum capacitors are notorious for shorting and sometimes blowing up and spreading conductive powder all over the boards. Steve obviously finds many surface mount capacitors that are shorted too. I also think Steve should replace the other 2 capacitors and get 3 of the correct physical size but I’d also suggest the bigger voltage tolerance like 25v instead of only 10v for a 5v circuit. Get a good brand like Nichicon. I learned to trust them over other brands since there are too many cheap caps that don’t survive very well in arcade game cabinets running long hours every day.

[@123mikeyd321]

That thing looks good and bad. I like the way the surge protection is genuine, and on a separate board. And they have a BS style fuse for the USB, Your repair is 100% approved (I'm an electronics engineer) Strange the 3 electrolytics in parallel like that though and like you said, going short circuit is odd. By the way, couldn't see it clearly but I think the Black/White mains is Live/Neutral in the style that the USA does it. White for Neutral and black is one of their colours (they also have red) for Hot/Live.

[@imaginitivity7853]

Being paralleled like that, couldn't he just have either: a. Left out the dead cap. (For slightly lower performance, I presume they're there for surging to current hungry devices on plug in). b. Simply used one larger cap of 1500 uf?

[@EdGeorge555]

I do a lot of soldering, and I caught myself holding my breath as you went to turn on your extractor fan! LOL!

[@Ni5ei]

I lit a cigarette as soon as the fan was running.

[@gaspump]

Correction: the plug counter final result was 22. You said it once during the rap but didn't count it. Happy new year and thanks for the great content, Steve.

[@why_wait]

Rap is added in after the video so makes sense

[@chrisrobson8540]

even though you dont have an i-fixit deal nice of you to give them a (pause for deep voice change) plug😉

[@gordonmilner9473]

Everyone who repairs old kit as a hobby has had one of these moments Glen. Are we being irresponsible by risking increasingly rare machines? Should we leave it to the professionals? Well, it’s not like there’s an army of those any more. Like it or not, we are that army. Learning this stuff is hard, but realistically, it’s us or landfill. You did good. Not pretty and you’d do it differently next time, but you did good. I say “not pretty”, but that trace repair work under the microscope was superb. I’d love to see more of that. Kintsugi is still beautiful even if you were the one who broke the pot.

[@djisgod9904]

I have just found your channel. I love the combination of device repair and hip hop !

[@saucyjack940]

"lets bring it close to the microphone" *unleashes the unbridled sound of space.*

[@Effect2o]

Very cool!! Man I really want to get into this kind of thing. Fixing random electronic stuff. How fun!! Keep up the good work!

[@tlxdman]

these outros are just getting better and better!

[@willm9747]

G'day Steve, just found your channel and I love the content. Cheers Bill from Sydney.

[@ISquishWorms]

Stick around this channel is a fun watch.

[@RetroJack]

G'day from Auckland, NZ!

[@gary-sx1sb]

Hey buddy. Just starting out and would really appreciate a setup video. What soldering iron and heat gun do you use, what multimeter, microscope, cameras, what storage you use, testing equipment. Many thanks and awesome videos. Gary

[@PTguitars]

Great troubleshooting. I started saying "continuity" like you do ... Happy New year

[@ProximoNovio]

Thank you for the video. All the big channels took the rest of the year off. Thanks for something to watch

[@boredoftherings2438]

Enjoyed the video, excellent fix. I thought capacitor initially, great deduction in finding fault. Thanks Steve. Have a great new year

[@zedcarr6128]

9:50 It's always best to choose the voltage rating of an electrolytic capacitor as close to the voltage it is smoothing, rather than fitting the next voltage up. Because the dielectric in electrolytics is produced by the voltage on the plates, it's best practice to fit the closest voltage ones you can. Nothing bad will happen using the next voltage up like a 25V, but say, using a 63V capacitor on a 5V rail may cause problems in the future.

[@JacGoudsmit]

I wouldn't have put the not-broken caps back in. Chances are that they are close to shorting out as well. Also, it looks like they are all in parallel so I might have just put a single 1500 or 2000uF instead.

[@eacosnypher9648]

More good quality caps in parallel is better than a single cap. Paralleled caps have reduced impedance, reduced ESR and ESL, reduced ripple current per cap, etc.

[@drewman230]

Thanks for the videos Steve.

[@yanghao8351]

I had the same thing happen to a USB power strip last year. The radial capacitor bulged and its top opened up. I replaced it with a capacitor that has a slightly higher voltage but same capacitance and it works fine again.

[@davidwilliams706]

I've got one of these bought from Costco. I've found it very difficult to get a plug into the 13 amp sockets. Almost as if the shutters are way too tight. Needs a good thump. Usb side is really good though.

[@hotlavatube]

Congrats on finishing the Fixmas series. You'll never be free of the glitter...

[@GregoreeZee]

Good save Steve.

[@kajingberg7187]

Thank You for making 2024 a little better! Happy New Year from Kaj in Stockholm!

[@ronny332]

Strange thingy thing. Electrolytic caps normally don't short out, even when they dry out. Maybe a manufacturing issue from the start, where the foils were mechanically damaged and/or too close together. Happy New Year!

[@bobmchenry7993]

Hi you could have used any value above 560uF as they are only smoothing capacitors

[@castlecodersltd]

Nice one, very enjoyable. Thank you 🙂

[@НиколаПитерский-о5ц]

Всем здоровья и удачи в новом году! Люблю этот канал . Извините что не знаю английский 😊

[@-TheSingularity-]

I have an old Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin, with the old iPod 30pin connector, that no longer powers up, it’s a bit faded, but yours if you want it, sound quality was awesome and I think I’ve seen people modify the original connector, I have tried Bluetooth adapters but didn’t work very well, like I said, yours if you want it.

[@B-System]

That chirp you were hearing was the sound of the 5V switching supply trying to start up, discovering it was shorted, and giving up immediately, so, whatever the aural equivalent of 'well spotted' is.

[@rickseiden1]

At 6:26 you can see the top of the left most capacitor has some dark stuff on it. That was the one that was bad.

[@keithnsearle7393]

That was a very good fix there. Funny how that caps were not bulged up at the tops.

[@Phil-Sands]

As soon as I saw this one I said to myself that it was definitely going to be a capacitor, great video as always.

[@justonwinchester1178]

I'm sure someone has already mentioned this, but you need a ball of blu-tac on your mat to stop the small components from pinging into the stratosphere when testing..

[@AJComputerServicesUK]

Nice fix squire, Happy New Year to you & yours!

[@dreamcazman]

There is a heap of space behind the board so I would suggest the caps could've been installed on the backside, all new too as I wouldn't trust the existing ones.

[@PeterFalconII]

I like your probes where did you get them from?

[@pengwin_]

Good Repair!

[@spatbee]

very efficient fix, good intuition.

[@biggusnippus]

The ABSOLUTE HERESY of leaving Dave out 😂

[@ISquishWorms]

Agree Dave is part of the team and quality control.

[@peterferguson2344]

Great job 👍 and a great video too 😁

[@CliveMcCabe]

Your fault finding was amazing. Great job. Very logical

[@electo99]

you should change all 3 if one has gone great vid

[@Inugamiz]

Maybe is the reflection but at 3:32 you can see that cap is discolored on the top.

[@deathbyteacup]

I must admit to being a bit anxious watching this one 😅

[@StezStixFix]

😁 all safety precautions adhered to stringently on this one 😬

The entire thing looks sus AF :D

[@_arhoj]

Ste showed that 240V who’s boss

[@gamingenius]

@@StezStixFix I know it's gotta be the depth of view aspect of the camera but every time you pointed at the open live parts of the board I did squirm a bit.

[@santajimi]

Because Dave wasn't there to supervise, right?

[@jonlott3147]

Should have put the new one in place of old one. That one gets most surge from power supply and would benefit from higher V cap.

[@NightlyHigh]

I really appreciate how you've been able to "tone down" the beeping sound of the multi-meter. I love your videos, but the beeping sound has been just way too loud.

[@aaronwilliams4669]

Please tell me where you got the grinding pen, I’m in the US, thanks a bunch.

[@3DPFactory1]

Thank you for all the great content this year. Happy New Year to you, yours and everyone else. Looking forward to more of your awesome and entertaining fixes in 2025! 🎉

[@terrym1065]

Capacitor! Who'd of thought that? 😊

[@arch1107]

i would have bet it was the board with the transformer those capacitors are there to filter?

[@DogToffee9]

In da club on the end credits completely cracked me up! 😂

[@FerrybigGaming]

The power supply is a flyback power supply. It has a control chip on the primary side , which gets slowly charged via a large resistor into a capacitor. Once it has enough juice to start working, it activated the main switching element. This induces a voltage on the secondary and auxiliary windings. The auxiliary winding charger the control chip so it can stay running. In this case, the output was short circuited, the voltage on the secondary was now around 0V instead of 5V. Because of how a transformer works, the auxiliary winding also had a low voltage. As the chip started, it depleted the energy stored in the capacitor and shutdown, instead of continuing to run. This kind of behavior has a side effect of limiting the power it outputs in a dead short, reducing the fire risk

[@MikeB_UK]

After much research, shorted electrolytics are usually caused by "electrical stress". As you would know by now the usual failure mode is the electrolyte drying up or leaking out over time resulting in lower capacitance and higher ESR. I guess the shorted ones must have had some electrical trauma that punches through the electrolyte gap and sort of welds the 2 electrode foils together.

[@wesjb94]

The Steve/50 crossover was fire

[@Gribbo9999]

Do you really plug a plug into a plug or is it a socket, Steve? Another great fix mate.

[@comm4nd3rch31f]

i did wonder how you would test for 5volts while it was plugged in 😁 i must admit i was expecting a loud crack and some burning of plastic,electrickery can be very finicky 🤣🤣

[@blockbuster8154]

Well done!

[@jam9468]

Outro song killed me 😂

[@StezStixFix]

😁

[@Canterhood]

Pure gold.

[@michaelbritz5981]

this video has to be re made Steve sorry but Dave wasn't in so re do it hahaha. love the content as always love from South Africa. more videos please love when you take broken things and fix them sooooo satisfying.

[@Druid_Plow]

Only time I've ever seen an electrolytic cap that was internally shorted was back in my 10th grade electronics class, and they were intentionally shorted to help teach us diagnostics. We of course decided to learn how to reproduce the fault, and made a game of 'who can shoot the can across the room the furthest' The whole room smelled of burnt peanut butter for like a month. 😂

[@laurigardner6227]

Sooo... Electrolytic capacitors when they are dying or dead can give off different sounds. As they use dielectric materials which expand or contract as they charge and discharge, this physical movement can create a noise, often described as a popping or crackling sound.

[@104d_3rr0r_vince]

Those green caps with the gold stripe are the worst. 4 in a row on a new motherboard. 1 on the dremel charger. 1 on a joypad.

[@ChrisShUK]

The last half a second at the end made me spit my drink out laughing. Thanks Steve

[@Manu-Official]

Drinking game: Take a shot every time Steve says ''SOLID'' Pro-tip: avoid HDMI replacement videos.

[@billysmidway7032]

Good thing you weren’t drinking every time he said “plug” 😂

[@leomorse7605]

You needed to put back the solder you removed from the track as it was bolstered up to carry 4.2A

[@plan7a]

The surge protect light seems to be a bit intermittent after the repair, it was always on (I think) during testing - before the repair. Could this be an indicator of some kind to show when it is shorting or under strain? Just wondering. (Before it (the thing itself) stopped working was one or more USB's in use, it might be that what was charging/being used shorted out and it was constantly on to show it was protecting?). No idea, just some thoughts on the matter. (The fizzing was probably identifying the blown cap?).

[@donmrx]

Every day stez posts a new video is a good day

[@alejandronan607]

I want a Monkey Island count as well! You have excellent taste on 90's game it seems :) love the vid happy new year!🎉🎉🎉

[@MFLtd]

Hey Steve loving the videos, I have a couple of things you could try and fix that I’m happy to send in but don’t have a way of messaging you direct 😢

[@mitchyk]

I spotted that cap had failed at the start. What do I win? lol You'll learn to spot things like that with lots and lots of experience.

[@frankurmom8741]

I got the same "thing". Best grinding pen for $12 ever.

[@RobertWardJones]

Do you have a video of your music production work flow? I'd be interested.

[@Graham_Wild]

Happy new year Sir/ Looking foreword to more videos in 2025.

[@neiladamson1161]

If there was 5v into the board, and no other connections in or out, what was the chip on the USB board for (or doing there)?

[@garymucher4082]

I have seen Electrolytic Capacitors shorted before, but usually they are bulged as well... But they do short all the same. Of course you realize how the last one was the culprit. Always the last one... SMH

[@JLiznuts]

Bro! I love that shirt!

[@eduardosantana2470]

muito bom LOL, impossible not to say pure .

[@erosnemesis]

How do you manage finding so many things that are broken! I swear nothing in my life ever seems to break.

[@TheSoapyJew]

Hook it up to 5V and see if it makes the noise and make it a part of a song!

[@TheNITRO68]

I want more your style music video end credits in a compilation brilliant keep up the great content and HAPPY 2025 mate from Australia 🇦🇺

[@ghost-retro3733]

In 30 years, I have only ever had a electrolytic go short once (in an Amstrad Shy digital box).

[@joelkist6493]

Nice work. Electrolytic capacitors usually short or reduce in effectiveness in my experience.

[@kittyhawk9707]

Where has Dave gone ?? 14:18 .. ok no worries ..lol

[@why_wait]

Went out for smokes

[@CH11LER.]

Hey bud, I have a echo dot gen 3 which will only light up with a red light. I would love to send you it. Do you have a po box or something?

[@baggiesjoe1608]

Bending the big ones over has always been problematic to me :)

[@t0nito]

It will only be a matter of time before the other 2 caps fail as well

[@darrengurney9265]

What`s that phone Steve? I like that it has a small lcd on the backside

[@nemesis2264]

Looks like a Samsung Galaxy S24 with a smart view case.

[@Abauto84]

We got told to do this with PC repair at college. Process of elimination works every time 😁

[@presc13nt]

C'mon man ! Album drop, when ? 🙏🏻

[@acehart2]

Awesome video

[@franciscobueno9686]

You are the best man

[@Khodeus]

It’s ALWAYS the last one.

[@watchvideos9104]

Holy plug

[@colinhopech]

Great stuff mate you make this channel very funny class 👏

[@Alan.Moffat]

Any chance you can fix my milwaukee m18 brushless saw..... I've stripped it twice now I still can't find the fault 😢😂