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Onkyo Tx-SR508 HDMI Issues - Board Cooked?

12K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  dealripper 
#1 ·
My TX-SR508 is just over 3 years old and has suddenly started having issues with passing ANY video to the TV display.

From a cold start, it will show for a couple/few minutes, then nothing. Multiple cables, so it's not a cabling issue. Doesn't seem to care whether it's passing video from a source, or even just the OSD from the receiver itself. Nothing.


A quick search (I didn't find an official 508 thread) shows mention of HDMI board issues with these things. I was assuming that was the issue before I found mention of it. Is this an easy fix? Are parts even available for these things? Or should I look for something else wrong?


*edit*

My continued search has turned up this thread about replacing capacitors on the HDMI board. I presume this is the same issue?
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1246078/how-to-diy-tx-sr576-tx-sr606-etc-hdmi-daughterboard-repair-for-dummies


Thanks!

Dave
 
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#2 ·
Congrats! Your HDMI board probably outlasted quite a few other 508 receivers. The options are to send it to a repair facility - which in this day and age as you know will probably cost more than the receiver is worth or you can DIY - or just route your HDMI from source directly to your tv and run optical/coax to the receiver since that portion of the receiver should not be affected. Or you might get lucky and find a replacement board on ebay. Or you could try some of the home-cooked fixes currently being used - as noted in that thread.
 
#4 ·
+1 on the 'non-Onkyo' option.
 
#6 ·
Well, it looks like my issues aren't chip-related, but rather HDMI SOCKET related.


I baked the board, even though these things aren't BGA chips. No real difference.


Then noticed that wiggling the HDMI out cable (lifting it up specifically) resulted in an on-screen image, while pushing down a bit did not. Hmmm.... took the board back out, looked at the port to see if anything looked amiss. No obvious signs of failure. So I ordered a pair of HDMI sockets and I'll just replace the output socket to see if that fixes it. Hopefully it does. The cable that I've had plugged in is a pretty hefty gauge, so I suppose it may have been straining the socket.


To be continued....
 
#7 ·

having the same issue here.  Trying to decide between returning it (bought it used at $130, the other features work), and having an engineer friend of mine try the repairs linked.  for anyone who does the repairs, does it also fix the heat issue?  mine is hot within 5 min of turning on.

 

Also if the repair fails, considering purchasing a 4x2 HMDI switch/splitter to basically replace the functionality of the board since they seem to fail all of the time.  Currently comparing the cost of these options vs buyng a new one + return shipping on the receiver and mic (bought separately)
 
#8 ·
Onkyo obviously has no incentive to fix problems that have been in there for years, because people keep buying them. I had an 876 (purchased 2008) that I finally was able to give away on the 3rd try -- the first 2 people simply didn't want it. It had warranty repair work done on it 3 times for a variety of problems, including needing a replacement HDMI daughtercard. The unit ran hot as hell. I'm wondering if the problems were heat related, at least for the 2nd and 3rd fix. The first repair was an entire channel popping the moment I fired it up the first time. I had already destroyed the packaging material, necessitating a fix instead of a replacement. I've never had a problem with the Marantz and Pioneer Elite receivers that I've bought since that time.
 
#9 ·
Dredging this thread up because this is the first Google hit for this issue and I wanted to let people know what I found.

The 508 already has the upgraded voltage capacitors, so the fix you see for other Onkyo receivers will not work, don't waste your time. I tried anyways as a hail Mary and it didn't help. I also did a heat gun reflow on the board to see if maybe that would work, but no luck.

While poking around with it powered on and the cover off I actually found the issue. There are multiple connectors in the receiver that use a kind of trapped wire type connector, and they are simply failing.

They are the little white connectors that you can push down and pull the black ribbon wire out of. There is one on the HDMI board opposite the HDMI connectors and a couple in various other places.

Simple fix I did was to desolder the connector and solder the bare wires directly to the board and I had HDMI again.

Might not be the fix for everyone, but there is a lack of stuff out there for the 508 and I hope this might help someone else.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Pete,
I tried your fix, but the receiver is making clicking sounds with the HDMI THRU indicator light flashing. Is there a particular way of soldering the five wires to the board? I see one is gray colored and the remaining four wires are black?
I removed the soldering and left the 5 wires disconnected from the HDMI board just to see if the clicking sound was due to my soldering the 5 wires incorrectly, but the clicking sound was still there with HDMI THRU light flashing, even without the 5 wires connected.
I then completely disconnected the HDMI board from the receiver and powered it up, but the receiver is still making clicking sounds and HDMI THRU light is flashing.
Do you think HDMI board and/or the receiver has become useless? There is a replacement HDMI board available from ebay at this time, but I am not sure if I should invest another $100 iconsidering the receiver is making clicking sounds even without the HDMI board connected.
 
#13 ·
Hi Pete, thanks for your response! I carefully resoldered the HDMI board wire exactly the way it was going in. I also found the other switch coming in from power supply giving the clicking sound. I took out the cables from the switch and carefully reseated them, but it doesn't work. So, I'm thinking something on the HDMI board is probably bad. I'm considering buying the replacement board, but hesitating thinking if it's worth $95 the seller is asking for it. I originally bought the receiver for $185 and having to pay more than half the price not knowing if it's actually going to fix the clicking issue is putting me in a dilemma.
I believe I might be just better off finding a nice deal on a similar working Onkyo receiver. There are plenty on ebay. I think I will just junk this one.
 
#14 ·
Any Onkyo on ebay has a substantial (nearly 100%) chance of having HDMI issues. Same for craigslist. Don't expect anyone to disclose that to you up front though. They usually sell theirs as soon as they notice it is starting to have intermittent failures and just hope you will not notice. Take it from someone who went down that path already.

Forget used Onkyo unless you can get it dirt cheap (we are talking less than $100), it still sort of works, and you intend to replace the HDMI capacitors yourself with mil spec temperature rated electrolytics from a reputable vendor, preferably stood well off the circuit board on leads rather than surface mount to reduce the heat conduction into the package.

The board is so hot it bakes the capacitors over time. The ones that are particularly susceptible are the 100uF electrolytics on the output of the local regulators, but they all get damaged by excessive heat so all bets are off on the actual longevity of the entire backplane of such a hot receiver even if you change all the HDMI capacitors with mil spec. Check out the capacitor temp ratings, they usually only rate for 1000 hours at max temp and never specify any rating at lower temp.

Newer Onkyo might be somewhat more reliable due to better power management (powering down unused ports) and smaller geometry transistors in the chips that use less power for similar performance, but unless you buy a new-ish flagship-ish model with whatever design fixes they have incorporated and lots of space and vents in the enclosure to cool that backplane, you should expect it will fail within 5 years no matter if it is new.

Recommend you heed my warning until Onkyo proves me and my 7 used/failed HDMI boards wrong (yes, all 7 of the receivers I bought used had already failed and I am in the process of repairing the 6 them that I kept, one by one). You have been warned!!
 
#15 ·
Hi Cheryl, thanks for your advise, I've indeed heeded to it. I'm unable to find a good HDMI Onkyo receiver for under $100. But, I have negotiated a lower price of $80 for the replacement HDMI board. I'm thinking I should get it and in case it still doesn't fix the clicking issue, I can resell it on ebay/craigslist for around $20 less. What do you think?
 
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