If your Elite 510/610/710 - and the earlier 520/620/720s - works fine when you turn it on but starts to go hinky on its reliability once it has warmed up, you still have a shot at getting that sit remedied for a very nominal fee - or nothing, if you know what you're doing and are an electronics professional. Those models were improperly soldered at the factory on their PS boards. Those PS boards took years to go bad, but now that the constant barrage of expansion and contraction of the too-thin solder joints has started its inexorable journey towards taking down your set, the clock is ticking. You don't have much time.
One thing is very important, and I can't stress it enough: STOP USING YOUR SET NOW. Things could get much worse if you do. That means NOW, even if you are watching it right now. A deadly spike caused by the bad solder joints currently on that power supply board could be getting ready to be produced by a connection that is getting ready to separate as we speak, and that spike could take out one or more of the boards downline. One guy who called me had kept using his set for months with these intermittents happening, and eventually both the converence and the deflection boards went out, both in an instant. The set would not turn on again, and built-in indicators on the circuitry showed 3 boards now needed attention. With 3 boards to now have to deal with, he decided not to get his set repaired at all, due to the now tripled expense. His set was now totalled. It tears my heart out when one of these fine machines goes down for the count because of misuse - continued use when it's obviously hurt - and is then DNR'd by its owner. That all could have been avoided by taking action promptly rather than continuing to tempt fate, on his part.
Send me an email requesting it, and I'll send you back an emailout on how to remove it, what it costs, how to wrap it and send it, where to send it, etc. I can't divulge certain aspects of all this on the net here, must keep some of it close to the vest. Will be glad to tell you personally, by email or on the phone.
I will tell you this much - I charge $275 for the resoldering op, you pay the shipping both ways. That's less than it costs to get a replacement board from Pio and have a local Pio warranty station install it.
Keeping the same board in your set rather than replacing it is the way to go, IMHO. That way the voltages it was set up with originally, stay the same. If you get a replacement board, those voltages can be very different, affecting the precision of settings downline. Voltage regulation only has to fall within certain parameters, so different PS boards will produce different sets of voltages. The PS board and your set are now a matched pair. The best way to retain your precision in downline sets of settings, is to keep your original board in the set, the one your set was originally set up at the factory with.
To find the PS board, follow the power cord from the wall. It will lead you right to it. Use the big bubble-wrap to send it rather than the small stuff, and box it in an oversized box for the journey.
Mr Bob
www.imageperfection.com
[email protected]
