Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-03-24, 08:06:
Unrealcpu wrote on 2021-03-24, 06:44:
Not with my soldering skills
Are those Nichicon capacitors in your pics? They look great.
I've been meaning to try replacing the caps in some of my sound cards but I'm not quite confident in my own soldering skills (yet). Any good tutorial videos or other learning materials that you can recommend?
It may take hours and hours of practice and knowing how to time the desoldering pump , working with the soldering iron to remove caps etc. You will need a good ultrasonic cleaner and electronic cleaner since ALOT of flux will be needed. I have a dedicated shop area just to solder and make PCBs etc. I make alot of different MISTER FPGA boards as well.
I removed the TEA2025B which is responsible for stereo output. This may have been the cause of my CT1740 FW 4.05 only outputting MONO. The card sounds unbelievable , as the original caps and I am sure when it came out of the factory is very muffled and not as detailed now as my Nichion gold audio recap, the boost in bass and treble is amazing as well. I just have a set of Logitech Z626 speakers with sub.
I plan on putting Nichion gold on everything Soundblaster pro , AWE 64 Gold and I will be doing 3 more CT1740 FW 4.05 Nichion Gold recaps and putting 1 or 2 on ebay.
It also sounds amazing with my MT-32 /SC-55 , emulation did not even compare before the recap and now is even better. I am comparing this to Mister FPGA 486 core Sound blaster /MT32 PI emulation along with DOSBOX.
With the price of the caps and labor this will easily mark up the price of a CT1740 by $150-200.00 as I have seen a CT1350 recapped with I believe looked like gold Nichion audio caps for $250.00
It takes me about 1 hour to decap, another 45 min to desolder all the holes where new caps would go and there is ALOT. Another 1-2 hours to ensure caps are placed accordingly and there is again ALOT of different Uf Cap values.
Cleaning usually takes me 8 min with my Ultrasonic cleaner since I use expensive cleaners detergents 25.00 a quart.
Also removing the 2025B is a PIA this alone may take 30min since pads can be damaged, and is suggested you use a multimeter for continuity after the removal
This was my first recap for a sound card that has a ton of caps and will probably be alittle faster this time for me.