Date   : Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:23:32 -0500
From   : jules.richardson99@... (Jules Richardson)
Subject: Dead BBC B

Alex Taylor wrote:
> Not forgetting that exploded X2 caps don't actually affect the running
> of the unit - they just smell when they're warm.

I'm starting to wonder if it's worth my while building a little box with those 
particular caps in, and which sits between the AC input and the unit being 
powered. I've seen so many of those caps fail on so much equipment, and it 
might just be easier to do the RF filtering "further upstream" so I don't end 
up having to dig inside various PSUs again a couple of decades* down the line...

* assuming natural IC death hasn't rendered all these vintage systems useless 
by then anyway :/

> I've had it happen so many times that during the
> last one (in a model B) I just carried on typing while the smoke
> poured out.

Yeah, BTDT too. My B+ just has a note on top to say it no longer has those 
caps present in the PSU - it was in frequent use for backups when they died, 
and I never did quite get the tuits together to replace them after that work 
was done.

cheers

Jules