David has created a movie to demonstrate how the capacitor is applied to the display board to fix the fluctuating dimmer problem. A 10nF capacitor is used.

The QuickTime movie can be found at:

http://www.empeg.com/DimmerFix.mov

WE ARE NOT SUGGESTING THAT THIS IS A SIMPLE USER FIX

If you suffer from this problem and are not electronics expert, please contact [email protected] and we will arrange to fix your player for you.

Rob

Here I am struggling for hours with surface-mount components, and David can do it in about six seconds. What a show off!

Added to the FAQ, thanks.

Yeah! Holy crap that was fast. Okay, i have a new benchmark to which i must achieve before i attempt the LED mods... *cracks knuckles*

any chance we could get this in another file format (avi, mpeg, ie anything other than apple's quicktime )

I've just encoded an MPEG-1 version of the file and sent it to Rob, but it'll be tomorrow before he can upload it to the server.

sweet.

Not too difficult. The longest part is taking the box apart.

My empeg's dimmer is now fully operational.

Engage!

Stupid electronics question. Are capacitors polarized? Does it matter which direction that thing is soldered into place?

It would depend on the type of capacitor. Some are, some aren't.
My guess is that the one in the video isn't polarized.

tony thre are no stupid questions.. and from my understand i dont belive so.. ive never really paid attention to it.. and everything ive done seem to work.. as long as the wires all conect to the right circut

Only if it is electrolytic (the bigger cylinder looking ones).

And if it is make damn sure they are hooked up correctly, they can sure explode nicely.

Only if it is electrolytic (the bigger cylinder looking ones).

...or tantalum (tend to be yellow-brownish-inverted-teardrop shape.)

Whoever gets a patent on a capacitor technology that is cheap to make, good stability, low inductance, unpolarized and can create large capacitances ( ie 500 microFarads) stands to make A Lot Of Money (tm). Electrolytic/tantalum capacitors are awful in many ways, but are still used because they are cheap and can create large capacitances.

Speaking of bangs, it's an interesting experiment to blow up a *small* electrolytic by reverse connecting it. I'd advise carrying out the experiment in a wooden box though, set up so you can shut the box before applying power. And you might want to ensure adequate ventilation too...

<offtopic> I remember Physics class at school. We got to zap things by prodding a fully charged .5 Farad capacitor at them, and then when that got boring, hooked it up to an 8000 Volt supply and stood behind the safety glass.
Heee heee hee - that started my lifelong fascination with mindless stupidity and explosions
</offtopic>

The MPEG version is at:

http://www.empeg.com/DimmerFix.mpg

NB The capacitor is not polarised in this case.

Rob

What are the symptoms you would see to indicate the need for this fix. The dimmer in my Mk2a is freaky in the sense that the VFDs luminance sometime doesn't correspond to the dimmer value. My Mk2 has no such problem.

Yes, I read the FAQ entry:

In reply to:

---

If, when setting your dimmer, the display seems to flicker erratically and select random levels of brightness, this is a known problem with some players.

---

however, my display doesn't flicker. Here is an example of what it does (my dimmer is set at 100% and 60% with lights on)

I get in the car and boot Empeg. Display is dim (not 100%). Turn lights on and display is brighter (should be dimmer). Turn off lights and display is now proper 100%. Turn on lights and display will now be proper 60%. After the initial wrong values following boot, turning lights on and off now result in proper luminance nearly everytime.

What I'm trying to say is that once the player is set to a value, regardless of wether it displays the proper luminance, it will not flicker. But, it is often the wrong luminance.

I will perform this mod no problem. I just want to know if I would be correcting the right issue. Thanks.

I changed the "and" to "or". Happy?

No. You just confirmed that I have some soldering to do.

when i play this movie I don't get any sound and it's really short. could you fix this for me? thanks

When I play the movie, I still can't solder that well.

Can you fix this for me?

you guys are just a bunch of babies in here.

it's really not that bad. Like I said, the toughest part was removing the four screws hold the fascia, removing the buttons, removing the lens, bending the tabs that hold the cover on, sliding the cover out, removing the 4 screws that hold the hard drive assembly in place, removing the hard drive assembly, unplugging the ide cable from the mainboard, removing the 4 screws that hold the display assembly on, removing the display ribbon cable from the mainboard, and taking the display assembly out of the case.

The soldering part was really not that bad - especially if you have a set of nice long tweezers handy. A good bright light, a fan, one or two beers later, and viola! I won't say that I was even close to the 7 second wonder, but I bet it took me no more than a minute to get it soldered.

So quit your whining! If you don't have the dexterity for the soldering pen, then email carsupport!

regards,

lothar

What could be more simple?

bending the tabs that hold the cover on

Sounds more brutal than necessary; there's a way to do it where you just "lift" it a little with a screwdriver, no deformation at all. There's even a video of how to do it, linked under Step one of the Drive Upgrade FAQ

/Michael

you guys are just a bunch of babies in here.

I hardly think I was whining. My issue is that these display boards are extremely rare. If I screw it up, I am in deep doo-doo. If you can tell by my updated sig, i simply took the drives out of the faulty Mk2a and transplanted them into my trusty Mk2 for a quick fix. Incidentally, this action fixed 3 problems with my Mk2a. Faulty dimmer, faulty drive cable, and rattling like a mofo in the car. Looks like I'll be using my Mk2 'till it's stolen or busted.

Rob, what, if not the drives, was the source of the rattle?

when i play this movie I don't get any sound and it's really short. could you fix this for me?

Would you like me to make the fix more complicated and noisey?

Rob

Rob, what, if not the drives, was the source of the rattle?

It was the bottom of the RioCar rattling against the bottom of the sled on one side. Perhaps my sled is installed slightly crooked (looks straight to me) but it only rattled on the left side. My sled is for my Mk2, so maybe there is a slight difference in sled designs or the Mk2a is slightly thinner than Mk2. I was going to try an fix it by putting that tape that feels sort-of like fabric over the bumps in the sled.

yes... perhaps gently "pry" the tabs with a flathead screwdriver sounds more politically correct. at the root of it though, you are really just bending the steel.

If you couldn't gather, the tone of my previous post was somewhat harsh and condescending <with a light dabbing of kidding around of course> - so some of the steps could have read as such.

I was merely trying to stir up some conversation about the experience that other brave souls are having with this fix.

regards,

lothar

p.s. LOL rob on the noisy and more complicated.

Rob, that's weird! Wow! My RioCar fits much tighter (almost too tight) into my Mk2 sled. Oh well, glad you found a fix! (kinda)

yeah, I think that would make it more believable...
I watched video a few times and it looks like it's been edited...I think it's a fake...just like the Zapruder film

ROFL!

So this refutes the "Lone Solderer Theory"?

There is a crossfade in there so you aren't sat there watching a lifeless display board while I try and pick up the cap with a pir of tweezers.

you could just bend the tabs on the top of the sled (the ones with the bumps on them) down a bit so that they hold the empeg tighter. You can probably even do that without having to take the sled our of the dash.

Not a bad idea but I'd sooner just install the proper Mk2a sled.

I knew it was a conspiracy...
I think we should expose it...

what he already admitted it...
that takes all the fun out of it...

The Mk.2 and Mk.2A sleds are identical, except the Mk.2 version is stainless and the 2A version is mild (zinc anodised) steel.

Rob

I am new to the BBS forums! So, i hope this message works.

My question is regarding the dimmer fix movie. My unit sometimes dims, and then sometimes is bright again. Is this the problem we are talking about here?

Thanks!

Please read through the FAQ first. The FAQ is at www.riocar.org , and the specific entry about the dimmer is here.

As you are new to BBS forums, I would recommend that you read through the entire FAQ, and then "lurk" for a while (read messages but do not reply). After you've got the feel for it, then post your questions or comments.

Tony Tony Tony.. I seem to remember you posting about 20 messages within five minutes of first finding this BBS!

Rob

Dang! That prompted me to look for Tony's first post, but the oldest I could find was from 27/12/99 09:38 PM... and he is already listed as an old hand!

What's up with screen burn?

I lurked for a week or so before I signed up with a username and made my first post.

I did, however, spout off on the mailing list right away.