Repair of 2413S PLM When the Power Supply Fails

[Brian H]

Yes C1 was the 100uF/6.3V one you where trying to find a replacement for.

I temporarily jumped F1s pads so I could measure the unregulated 12 volts on one I was baking in after the capacitor changes. As F1 is the unregulated 12 volt feed to the serial port connector.

 

So far I have not had large globs of glue on the LED. On mine I was able to gently pry it free from the side of the case and remove the PCB. Then gently cut off the glue blob on the LED off.

 

Now if anyone has a better way to remove the glue. I would also like some tips. I have a 2456S3 recent hardware ApplianceLinc with a giant blob of glue holding the LED and covering a possibly bad 30 volt zener diode or shorted cap in the 30 volt supply.

[dexterdom]

I registered on this forum just to thank you. I replaced the caps per your instructions and revived my dead 2413S PLM. To be honest, I thought I killed the PLM with my de-soldering efforts but it survived my butchery and lives on

Mental note: I really need to get a decent solder sucker!

 

Side note:

I've read about how this PLM runs a little on the warm/hot side so I took a pic of the unit (cover off) with my FLIR thermal camera. Seems to be a hot trace emanating from the transformer. This was taken after I replaced the caps.

 

 

 

 

[fordohio]

Have been reading this thread on capacitor replacement--I replaced the caps on 2 different 2443 access

points--still no green led when I plug the device in.  I can tap the set up button and get the green led to blink but

it just keeps blinking for a long time.

 

Any other ideas on what my next move could be??  Put in all 5 caps and all seemed to go ok?  These were both

ver 2.5 and had signs of caps leaking.

 

Thanks for all of the good info on module issues.

[Brian H]

Where you able to use the capacitors listed in the thread or comparable ones?

[fordohio]

Yes, I ordered the ones listed from Mouser--and swapped out as described on earlier posts.  Is there a schematic available

for the 2443 module or power supply circuit?  I replaced the 5 electrolytic caps only----fairly straight forward--did two of the 5 dead

units I have and each responded the same----too bad the isy doesn't link to these units by address so you could see that they are

responding---

[Brian H]

No there are no schematics of the 2413 series PLM modules. That where also used in the hardware version 2 2443 Access Points.

There where some in the Developers Manuals for the old power transformer based 2412 series PLM modules.

 

You may want to check your soldering closely. When I did one of my 2443 Access Points. I pulled out a plated through hole that one of the capacitors was soldered in. Basically I had no connection between the top run to the hole and the bottom run. I ended up using a small piece of #30 wire warp wire. To fix my goof.

Edited January 4, 2016 by Brian H

[MikeD]

Purchased in December 2012, my PLM finally died at a little over 3 years old. Because of the helpful information here I was prepared for this inevitable event.

 

PLM V1.7

 

For those who have not opened their PLM here is what it looks like after removing the serial board.

 

Here is a picture of the reverse side.

 

Original capacitor values were as follows.

C3: 6.8uf, 250v

C7 + C11: 100uf, 25v

C8: 10uf, 16v

C13: 10uf, 35v

 

I also discovered one of the antenna wires had a bad solder joint.

 

After performing a 'Restore Modem (PLM)' it is back in operation. Many thanks to the OP and everyone who contributed.

 

~Mike

[jerlands]

Thanks Mike... nice labeling job   I've heard other reports of bad soldering joints on PLM as well as other devices.  Really makes it hard to trust their quality control.

 

 

Jon...

[Brian H]

Thanks for the clear data.

In the v2.1 one I have C13 is also a 100uF/35V capacitor.

C7 and C13 are in the switching power supply and should be capacitors designed for that type of use.

I believe the ones they used where general purpose versions.

Edited January 4, 2016 by Brian H

[MikeD]

Hi Brian,

 

I purchased all my caps from Mouser over a year ago using the OP's recommendations. Got a few of each and am sure glad I did. Was a little confused when I opened the PLM and found different values. I elected to keep the same values as originally installed, just with upgraded voltage ratings. As a result I have several extra 10uf / 50v caps. No biggie since they were inexpensive.

 

I wanted to make others aware of the changes and to be prepared when they attempt the repair. Would have been extremely dissapointed if I was unable to complete the repair due to a lack of parts.

 

~Mike

[Brian H]

I imagine some users with the new or some new values depending on hardware version. Could get confused.

 

Do you happen to have the part number of the 100uF/35V one?

 

Folks trying to update the original hardware 1.0 are in for an even bigger surprise.

Looks like they originally only used one 10uF/35V and no coil for a Pi filter and it didn't work.

So the capacitors and coil are all reworked into the circuit. Both 10uF/35V and coil are hanging in the air above the top side of the PCB and tack soldered to the PCB. Along with a wire to the back of the PCB. I never looked but probably a run cut there also.

[MikeD]

Brian,

 

Sorry, I do not have the p/n for a 100uF/35V cap. I used all the replacement caps specified in the original post. Only difference was I needed two of the 100uF/25V caps, Mouser p/n 647-UTT1E101MPD for C7 & C11 instead of the two 10uF/50V (as specified in the first post) for C7 & C13.

 

~Mike

[Brian H]

C7 and C13 are in the unregulated  main unregulated 12 volt supply. Normally it runs around 20 volts. So 25 volts still has a safety margin.

From what I have seen reported by members here. Different combinations of capacitor values and voltages where in different hardware revisions.

 

My Hardware version 2.1

C7 and C13. Are 100uF/35V Fujicon RK series capacitors.
 

Edited January 6, 2016 by Brian H

[dacross]

Thanks to everyone for the repair information when my PLM died.  Everything seems to work fine except the PLM doesn't seem to receive X10 commands any more.  Has anyone experienced this??  

[universe]

My new(used) 2412S PLM seems to send X10 commands but my ISY99i doesnt log incoming X10 commands (like from consoles or MS14As). I am planning to re-cap a new(used) 2413S (whose LED does not light) to fix this. I hope it's not the ISY99i causing the problem.

Edited January 7, 2016 by universe

[Brian H]

In the Tools Tab. Diagnostics choice.

PLM Info/Status Tab. What version firmware is in the 2412S?

I know one [maybe a few] firmware versions in the 2412S PLM. Do not process X10 properly.

Should not be a problem with the ISY99i. Mine was fine with X10 before retiring it for my ISY994i.

[madmartian]

Thanks to this thread, I know the Access Points (2443) are identical to the 2413s without the daughterboard. So I tried to "fix" my dead 2413s by simply removing the daughter and connecting it to the Access Point. I thought this should work since the main board is identical - same part number and everything.

 

Unfortunately when I try to restore the PLM, I get the errors "could not open config file to read" and "failed resetting the plm". I tried to view status of the PLM and ISY says it's not connected.

 

Things I've tried:

Unplug ISY, plug in PLM, plug in ISY.

Made sure all pins were seated in daughter board.

Made sure RJ45 cable was plugged into PLM (and ISY).

Green light is on PLM.

 

Any ideas? Do I need to reset the access point before connecting the daughter board? Or is the mainboard slightly different even though it looks identical and has the same part number?

[Brian H]

Hardware is the same. The firmware on a 2443 main board and the 2413S main board are different.

[madmartian]

Rats. Oh well. I found 4 of the 5 caps I needed at Fry's. I was wondering if there are any substitutes for the 10uf 16v as they do not stock that one. They also did not have the 10uf 400v but I assume the 10uf 350v I picked up will suffice.

[Brian H]

10uF at a higher voltage rating would be fine. Physically maybe a tighter squeeze over the 16 volts size.

10uF/ 350 volt would also be fine. As it is a higher voltage than the original.

C7 and C13 should be designed for a switching power supply. The newer hardware revisions. Have a 100uF/35 Volt capacitor in C7 and C13.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Brian H

[madmartian]

Thanks. I installed the 4 caps I found at Fry's and got the green light. So far so good. Unfortunately, any time I try to turn something on via the admin console, I get the dreaded "cannot communicate with..." error. Could this be the fifth cap that I didn't replace - the 16 volt one - or is it something else? I tried "Restore Modem (PLM)" three times and also rebooted the ISY. All caps are in correct orientation. PLM status shows "Connected" but Show PLM Links Table comes up blank after doing it's thing. Any ideas?

[Brian H]

C8 the 10uF/16V is on the output of a small 5 volt regulator. Logic supply I believe. Probably not bad.

Since the Link Database is on the Serial Daughter board. You may want to check the 8 pin male header pins on the main board are mating correctly with the female 8 pin socket on the Daughter Board.

[madmartian]

I gave up on the semi-repaired PLM and purchased a new one (v2.1 for the curious). The new PLM exhibited the same issues as the semi-repaired one. It appeared that trying to use the semi-repaired PLM had resulted in some corruption that would cause the Restore Modem procedure to run through four modules and then fail (though without an error) with no links stored in the PLM. I did an ISY restore (thankfully had a recent backup) and the Restore Modem worked - everything was up and running again. However, it had created duplicate PLM links in every module instead of replacing the old ones. Thus I had to do a Restore Devices to clean everything up. Turns out some of the link tables had old controllers in them anyway, so probably a good thing to do that after several years. All is good now. I realize now that my little experiment of putting the PLM daughter board on an Access Point might have resulted in the corruption and that the semi-repaired PLM might actually be working. Not going to mess with the working system now, though. I'll put the old PLM in a drawer and play with it in 2 years when the new one fails. 

 

I can't say enough good things about the support provided by Michel of Universal Devices in multiple emails. Most companies would have taken hours to respond and thus days to solve this problem. Michel rocks! One of the many reasons the ISY is the controller of choice.

[Michel Kohanim]

madmartian!

 

Thanks so very much for the accolades. It does mean a LOT to me and by extension to all of us at UDI.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[Harold]

A teeny bit more help. I did a dumb. I am replacing the large cap on the daughter board. I did not look at polarity first. My messing around getting the original cap off has obscured/destroyed the + sign. Can someone please tell me the direction of the positive terminal?

 

Referring to an earlier post: no problem with the glob of glue on the LED. Pulled right off the plastic.

 

Just FIY, there are the caps I finally purchased:

 

I was able to purchase all the caps from Mouser.

List revised by Harold

Original Part                                                New Part#
C3       Replace YICCON 6.8uF 250V cap with      ESX106M400AH4AA 10uF 400 volt
C11     Replace FUJICON 100uF 25V cap with     UTT1E101MPD 100uF 25 volt
C7,13  Replace SAMCON 10uF 35v cap with        EKY-500ETD101MHB5D      100uF 50V (2 of these)  ***HLH
C8       Replace FUJICON 10uF 16V cap with       UTS1C100MDD 10uF 16 volt   
C2D     Daughter board 100uF 6.8V                  EKY-100ETD101ME11D 100uF 10V  ***HLH

 

C2D is the daughter board cap.
 

Edited February 3, 2016 by Harold