The HVPS in my ECP 4100 released its magic smoke on Friday. It is one of the Spellman supplies, which has the case vents that allow the smoke to get out more easily. I replaced it with a Keltron supply I got off ebay a couple years ago. This supply seems to be working well, with slightly higher voltage (as evidenced by a slight shrinking of the raster).

Should I expect a shorter life out of this brand of power supply?
Has anyone been successful at repairing a Spellman HVPS?
I notice that Spellman is still in business (http://www.spellmanhv.com/index.asp ). Has anyone made an attempt to get support from them on this product?


-Dan

Supposedly the Keltrons weren't as reliable as the Spellmans, but Spellman treats their supplies as top secret and ultra valuable, so good luck trying to get support. They'll sell you a refurb gladly for $1000 or so..;)

If the smoke came from the sealed section, it's a throwaway. I've repaired the odd one that had low voltage section failures.

Thanks for the response, Curt.

I would assume that smoke would come from the unpotted section, as a result of winding insulation failure (shorted turns) in the switchmode stepup inductor in the potted section. The symptoms that appeared prior to the stink was a dimming and blooming of the raster (HV was getting shunted), although the focus (viewing the tube faces through the lenses) was still sharp. In any case, barring some solvent that would remove the potting (silicone?) I would assume that it's a throwaway.

-Dan

Well that would be a new one on me. I'm guessing that the silicone of the HV section broke down and the HV is arcing to the metal chassis.

Open it up, if it smoked that badly, it should be obvious where the arcing/burn is.