Replacing Electrolytics In My EMU-1820m

[LLL]

So my 11 year old EMU-1820m is freaking out... audible "pops" and "lack of hardware present", etc...

That means it's time to replace the little can caps!

Opened it up and sure enough, at least two of them were bulging.



I'm gonna be a busy solderer this holiday season (doing my amp too)...

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Replacing Electrolytics In My EMU-1820m

I thought I was the only one left using that stone-age POS! My EMU 1212 failed last year a little over 10 years since I bought it in mid 2006. I guess 10 years is its lifetime.

I replaced it with Steinberg USB interface, easier, more practical, no more undetected hardware or driver problem.

EMU appears to have ceased support for this soundcard cause they never replied to my email.

 

[LLL]

Re: Replacing Electrolytics In My EMU-1820m

I thought I was the only one left using that stone-age POS! My EMU 1212 failed last year a little over 10 years since I bought it in mid 2006. I guess 10 years is its lifetime.

I replaced it with Steinberg USB interface, easier, more practical, no more undetected hardware or driver problem.

EMU appears to have ceased support for this soundcard cause they never replied to my email.

Yeah apparently there's two 680uF caps (which you can see roughly in the middle of the pic; bulging at the tops) that are part of the power supply... these two particular caps go bad after approx 10 years of regular use.

I love this thing; always have. So much so that I had to source a PCIe-to-PCI riser card for my PC (and drill a hole in the case for the cable!) to get it to work with it after PC upgrading a few years ago.

 

[LLL]

Re: Replacing Electrolytic Caps In My EMU-1820m

Re: Replacing Electrolytic Caps In My EMU-1820m

Alright - success! Unit works like a charm.

So, in case anyone else out there has an EMU 1820m (or similar circuit), here's the schtick:

2 power caps (680uF 10v) go bad after about a decade; you should be able to see them bulging (but not 100% guaranteed).
The unit will do popping sounds and may also say "lack of hardware present bla bla"; you will lose strips in the Patchmix app.

- order some of these (I got mine from Mouser):

Mouser Part #:
667-EEU-FM1A681

Manufacturer Part #:
EEU-FM1A681

Manufacturer:
Panasonic

Description:
Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors - Leaded 680UF 10V ELECT FM RADIAL

- then remove the 2 bad ones (as shown by red transparent rectangle in pic):



- install the 2 new ones (as shown by 2x red dots in pic) - DON'T FORGET POLARITY! :



...and you should be good to go.

There are other similar-sized can caps in there that may have gone bad, but I haven't had that issue.