Smart Garage Door Power Supply PSU Repair. No info or schematics, can we fix it?

[@gordthor5351]

I really like how you leave no stones unturned and always tell us about every detail, like removing the ferrite beads and why we should put them on the new diode. You are the best I have seen on KZbin my friend. I am learning a lot from all of your videos and I never left with any nagging questions at the end because you cover every nuance. Highly intuitive people like you make the best teachers, because you always explain the "why".

[@jaccole1005]

Richard your channel is brilliant. Been in electronics for many years and I enjoy watching your videos immensely.

[@ivanviduljevic]

I love how you do repair videos, i can see all the measurements you take on DM, how you find parts, check compatibility, phenomenal videos! Keep up and looking forward to new videos.

[@gongrec8124]

Nice work and good way of charging clients for the work done. Thanks again

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Thanks. The PSU is about €150 to replace and he got it back much quicker than ordering and waiting for a new one, so he was happy with that.

[@gordthor5351]

I always check the fuse even if it visually looks good. At least 3-4 times I wasted a lot of time scratching my head looking for the problem, when the fuse burned near the end and out of sight of the glass window. A fuse should theoretically burn on the weaker smaller surface area, but I have even seen fuses shaped in an hour glass figure burn out at the thicker end, rather than the narrowed middle that is visible. It only take a couple seconds to hear that beep and know for sure that the fuse is conducting current.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Exactly - miss a simple thing like that and it will come back and bite you on the bum sometimes

[@Catstorm99]

That "beep" nearly caught me out, sounds like a fluke chirp for a diode. I am used to a continuous tone for a short.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

@@Catstorm99 Yes, that is something the Fluke does better than just about anything else in diode mode - one blip for diode junction and continuous beep for short

[@daz41262010]

great repair Richard and what attention to detail :) love the fault finding process :)

[@khx73]

Good repair, thanks for the video. I'm still only about half through my 30 year old roll of Kester 63Sn/37Pb solder. 😀

[@g8sbs944]

another good video as a ham radio op iv been into electronics for over 50 years aaaahhhh im showing my age lol im 72 BUT still learning thanks for the tips and tricks

[@ziggyironic]

Brilliant, thanks for sharing.

[@BjornV78]

6:30 The brand is Stannol, it's a well known brand, and one the brands here in Belgium, that is still available with lead in. I use the 60/40 mix, the one that you have is with 1% copper, voor a lower resistance of the solderings, but works the same as the plain 60/40 mix.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Actually the guy who gave me that roll is Austrian, I guess he must have got it somewhere in Europe. He no longer solders as he says his eyes are not good enough any more so he gave me quite a bit of stuff. The version with 1% copper he gave me seems to work well, I like the 0.5mm gauge and it will go into my stash of leaded solder

[@BjornV78]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair , i use that type for years and works so nice. In fact, i order last night another roll of 500gr 0,7mm to have enough stock for the day leaded solder isn't widely sold anymore. For the moment i order it online from a local electronic parts shop, but for how long that is possible, i dunno. Grtz

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

@@BjornV78 Where did you order that from? I might get another 500gr roll myself (if they post to Spain/Canary Islands). In the UK it is £118 for 500gr (from RS UK)!!!!

[@BjornV78]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair , Hi Richard, i just send you a email with more details. Grtz

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

@@BjornV78 Cheers

[@marcellipovsky8222]

Nice, simple, straight forward. Thank you for your time!

[@khx73]

18:52 - That is most likely for a version with a center tapped transformer and the option to power from 120v

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Yeah that make sense. Thanks for the suggestion

[@hullinstruments]

Looks like some type of standardized “jellybean” industrial psu…. Made especially to fit on a “din rail” system next to PLC’s and stuff like that. Those types of supplies will often have several different types of outputs…. sometimes both linear and switch mode in the same Suply… Spanning a wide range of voltages.… That makes them fairly interchangeable and able to work with many different types of systems or parts. Like industrial Legos that can be purchased separately then arranged specifically how you need it on a din rail system to accomplish pretty much anything. I’ve seen stuff like that at places where they have a bunch of different garage doors or big automotive bay doors, and then some central control box in an office somewhere. That can be controlled by someone watching a monitor or answering calls from the specific doors. Kind of like the front gate in a gated community. How you would push a button and the operator could check the monitor and buzz you in. Din rail control cabinets are always fun to design or troubleshoot because they’re always unique.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

That sounds exactly how it was being used. The guy who brought it in was saying something about an automated garage door system and TV monitors. He is not a native English speaker and my Spanish isn't good enough for technical discussion. We have a lot of gated communities here so what you say makes perfect sense. It's the first time I recall seeing a single power supply with both linear (AC) and SMPS (DC) in one unit.

[@alibali4445]

Nice one

[@seeithappen1]

Easy does it, thanks for showing this one.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Yeah, quite an easy one with a bit of experience. This is a very common mode of failure in Switch mode PSU

[@malcolmboyley2334]

Good presentation thanks

[@jonathanrose456]

How do the ferrite beads work to reduce noise?

[@andypdq]

Hi, just come across your channel, thanks for taking the trouble to make these videos, you know your stuff and you're a great communicator. I'm not a professional but I always have a go at fixing my own devices when they fail, most I win, some I lose, but it's interesting and I always end up learning a little more. Down to earth videos like yours and Sorin's are a great help, subscribed I recognise the accent, bet you can't get oatcakes on Gran Canaria!

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

andypdq I feel honoured to be mentioned along with Sorin! That's 'Electronics Repair School' if anyone doesn't know his channel. It's nice to see you recognise my accent, most people think I'm a Scouser. I confuse the locals here when I greet them with 'Hola Pato' We can get most things here including mushy peas, pork pies, scotch eggs, crumpets, Wrights pies and Greggs sausage rolls. About the only thing we can't get here is bad weather. But oatcakes we have to smuggle over in our underwear 🤣

[@andypdq]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair You and Sorin are old school. Use knowledge to hack when it gets the job done quickly. The customer is happy, they get their cheap device returned working quickly, rather than having to wait for weeks for standard parts to arrive. I sincerely hope you always use calibrated fuses...

[@twobob]

solid catch

[@fwflyer78]

Nice work!

[@MrProtector65]

Thank you, learned a bit more, Regards. 😀

[@diyelectronicsguy]

Excellent videos

[@ElectroWorkshop-]

Good day I have a smps that has a unstable out put I have tested the fullbrigde to see if it was fluctuating but it seems stable I just wanted to know how we would go about testing the ic that generates the signal for the transformer to achieve the output. Would I use a oscilloscope and place the probe on the gate of the MOSFET?

[@muhsen61]

Do you have 300 volts on the big capacitor?if yes check the optocupler

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

DANGER - EVERYONE PLEASE READ THIS!!! *IMPORTANT WARNING* Do NOT connect the ground lead of your oscilloscope to anywhere in the high voltage (controller/mosfet) side of the power supply!!!! The ground here is not safety ground it is HOT GROUND and if you connect anything grounded to it there is likely to be a loud bang. This is very bad for the PSU, your oscilloscope, and your underwear. In severe cases it may result in a new pair of trousers! The only time you can connect an oscilloscope here is if the scope isn't grounded (for example hand held meter scope rated for high voltage use CAT III/IV etc) or you have the device under test (PSU) connected to mains via an isolation transformer. And even in those cases, still don't do it unless you understand the risks and KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING. How to fix unstable PSU Find a datasheet for the controller IC, that should help you. Usually unstable output is not caused by the controller chip itself. Look for bad electrolytic capacitors on the output voltage(s) of the PSU. Also there is often one or more small electrolytic capacitors (typical 10uF 35V or similar) on/near the Vcc (power) pin of the controller IC. Test it/them with capacitance and ESR meter, or better still just replace. The problem could be the opto-isolator but that is not so common. It could also be the voltage reference (typically a LM431,TL431,KIA431 or similar chip near to the opto isolator). It is possible to find bad resistors/capacitors/zener diode in the feedback circuit around the opto isolator as well, but this is less common. I made several videos on unstable PSU - they should help you, check out the play list here: kzbin.info/aero/PLQ_OzNEYrepVLDfbGpAEoPQ7MgNukIxmi I also made a video 'how to test TL431': kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqeqlpuvjLGGbpI

[@مصطفىالربيعي-ت8غ]

Very useful vid as usual, can you please do vids on washing machine electronics card full automatic and PSU of Dell or HP (servers) PCs SMP power supply. Many thanks mate

[@digo8167]

My local electronic store only sells leaded solder to "professional companies" now.. for us plebs only lead free. So i have to order it from China or USA (Mouser for example) as well

[@khx73]

Wow.. that's pretty lame. Are they afraid people are going to eat it? 😀

[@janaltensen902]

yup, same here, however i found a reliable supplier from poland, so no customs and shipping to germany was reasonable

[@ronaldbalusdan4136]

these diodes can be salvage from computer power supplies, keep it sir

[@Mark_C1]

Could this one be a boomerang if the motors it is driving are stg?

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

I asked the guy who brought it in (not the owner) to check for shorts on the 18V dc output before connecting it. He isn't an electronics tech but he is confident enough to do that.

[@hullinstruments]

Be interested to see you experiment using various in circuit ESR testers to check components besides capacitors in circuit. The KZbinr “diode gone wild“ showed in one of his ATX repair videos… he used the ESR tester to check all kinds of different types of components in circuit. It takes a little experimenting and trial and error… But I’ve had pretty good luck with it once i knew what to watch out for and what it can and can’t do. the high frequency output allows me to check individual components without getting false readings from neighboring parts.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Have you seen the videos where i use an ESR meter to find short circuit mosfets or DRMOS in multi phase VRM? kzbin.info/www/bejne/jX7LoX6Ibt1qgsk kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnPPfJqKrsmDoZo I've also used it to measure inductors on some videos

[@bayandamabuza6587]

How much this repair cost a client, roughly Maybe to even repairing two capacitors, What's a fair charge

[@apollorobb]

I use Kester 60/40 leaded solder all the time and it isn't harder to find but it is more expensive as is everything now days Luckily i have like 40 lbs. of it so I have a lifetime supply lol. And i buy nothing off ALI too many fake components. I cant bring my self to charge a customer using those parts

[@Dutch_off_grid_homesteading]

Heya 1 more happy client

[@ford1546]

the two ferrite ringerb on the diode transistor are to reduce high frequency noise

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Thanks for the info.

[@ford1546]

Desoldering guns often have sharp tips that can easily damage the PCB. why not round the edge of the hole? factory should have done it. I have a Wellerman desoldering station and the tip is too sharp

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

What is the point of stocking up on Chinese low quality solder with god knows what as a flux so you don’t have a clue what you are breathing in when you use it. When you can buy good quality 60/40 solder with no problem at all from CPC. I prefer to buy solder that comes with a safety sheet that’s more expensive than cheap junk which could bugger your lungs big time. you can bet the china stuff would not pass UKAS. Even said i still use a extractor unit with great partial and fume filtering.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

All I can reply to that is to say I am using solder bought from AliExpress and elsewhere on all my videos and it does appear to work rather well, even on camera. I honestly can say I never bought 60:40 solder that 'didn't work properly' from anywhere. BTW what is UKAS, I'm not familiar with it, is that a local thing and does it have and relevance to me? Regards extractors, I was working (in the UK) in a large component level repair workshop 40 years ago with well over 100 engineers and there was not a solder fume extractor in sight, yet I am still here with no adverse effects. To be honest I am more worried about dying of old age than from solder fumes, on my countries average I have about 20 years left. Any ideas how to avoid that one, because I really would like to stick around indefinitely.

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

@@LearnElectronicsRepairMy mistake UKAS is the body that now looks after the UkCA which is the new CE make, UKCA is what I meant to type. I've worked in electronics manufacturing and research and development since 1976 for my sins and as you say there was not much in the way of ventilation or flume extraction. But now I'm a lot more careful with what I breathe, and I won't use solder where there is no statement on what's In the flux. So I'll stick with multicore and the like. Which comes with a material safety data sheet (MSDS) as your health is not very high up in their priorities in China. I hung on to leaded solder for as long as possible, but aerospace and medical in the end went lead free.:-(

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

@@TheEmbeddedHobbyist Ahh I see. Same as you there was no special ventilation or fume extraction when I worked in electronics repair workshops - even in the government funded Skill Centre where I took my City & Guilds. I guess the point I was making is that having worked in very large repair shops 40 years ago, if there was some hazardous exposure involved (like asbestos for instance) we would all have heard about it by now and court actions would have already happened True, the fumes come from the rosin flux not the lead solder. I use an old CPU fan with a cowling to blow fumes away from me when I am doing stuff like reballing. One good thing about living in the Canary Islands now is our outside air quality is a lot better than the UK was (apart from if we get a very dusty Calima). If I visit the UK I actually notice the difference for the first few days, everywhere in town smells like standing on petrol station forecourt. Officially I have an average chance of living a couple of years longer here just from not being in the UK, though there are no doubt a number of factors contributing to that statistic. 🙂