Hi,

My xbox was damaged due to lightning. It appears that one capacitor was
quite thoroughly fried.

There is a picture he http://nullset.myphotos.cc/xbox/jpg
(Look for C7G6 in the bottom right corner, next to the nice burn
mark....)

I want to solder another capacitor on the board in it's place, but I'm
not sure what the value of the old one was, or how critical that value
might be.

I believe that this part of the board has something to do with power
regulation, because of the large capacitor that is in the area.

Any suggestions?

--buddy

Buddy Smith wrote:
: Hi,

: My xbox was damaged due to lightning. It appears that one capacitor was
: quite thoroughly fried.


There is probably more damage than just the cap, if your xbox was zapped
by lightning. It will probably be more economical to buy a new one.

: There is a picture he http://nullset.myphotos.cc/xbox/jpg
: (Look for C7G6 in the bottom right corner, next to the nice burn
: mark....)

: I want to solder another capacitor on the board in it's place, but I'm
: not sure what the value of the old one was, or how critical that value
: might be.

: I believe that this part of the board has something to do with power
: regulation, because of the large capacitor that is in the area.

: Any suggestions?

: --buddy

"Buddy Smith" wrote in message
...
Hi,

My xbox was damaged due to lightning. It appears that one capacitor was
quite thoroughly fried.

There is a picture he http://nullset.myphotos.cc/xbox/jpg
(Look for C7G6 in the bottom right corner, next to the nice burn
mark....)

I want to solder another capacitor on the board in it's place, but I'm
not sure what the value of the old one was, or how critical that value
might be.

I believe that this part of the board has something to do with power
regulation, because of the large capacitor that is in the area.

Any suggestions?

--buddy

The link appears dead to me so I can't look. As someone else said though, if
it blew up a capacitor there's almost certainly much more damage.

wrote:
Buddy Smith wrote:
: Hi,

: My xbox was damaged due to lightning. It appears that one capacitor was
: quite thoroughly fried.

I already did buy another one I'm just trying to see if I can repair
this one for the novelty of it.

: There is a picture he http://nullset.myphotos.cc/xbox/jpg
: (Look for C7G6 in the bottom right corner, next to the nice burn
: mark....)

Oops, that should be:
http://nullset.myphotos.cc/xbox.jpg

--buddy

Buddy Smith wrote:
wrote:
Buddy Smith wrote:
: My xbox was damaged due to lightning. It appears that one capacitor
: was quite thoroughly fried.

I already did buy another one I'm just trying to see if I can repair
this one for the novelty of it.

Does it use an external power supply? If so I'd check that first to see
if it's putting out the correct voltages. If it has an internal power
supply, check the fuse that should be located somewhere near the line
cord input.

If the power supply seems OK, can you get the new Xbox apart? (You'll
void your warranty.) You might be able to determine the value of the
fried cap by looking at the same place in the new one. You can also make
voltage measurements at the same places in the new and broken ones to
see if there are other problems. Does the broken one even try to start
up (hard drive tries to spin up, power light blinks) or is it totally
dead?

: There is a picture he http://nullset.myphotos.cc/xbox/jpg
: (Look for C7G6 in the bottom right corner, next to the nice burn
: mark....)

Oops, that should be:
http://nullset.myphotos.cc/xbox.jpg

I agree that this part of the board looks like something to do with
power regulation. C7G6 looks like it _was_ a small ceramic? chip
capacitor, the same physical size as C7G7. The spot on the board looks
too small to be one of the larger chip capacitors like C7G8. It also
looks like that the traces that C7G6 was soldered to have evaporated
along with the capacitor. If up is north, I'm not sure what the trace
looked like on the south end, but on the north end, it looks like there
was a short trace from the capacitor to a via, which is a connection
between different layers of the circuit board. But it looks like
there's no metal there anymore to solder to. If you're lucky, the
metal is there and is just covered in soot. If the metal is all gone,
you might still luck out if this via went all the way through the board -
you'd have to take the board out and turn it over to know for sure. For
comparison, there is an undamaged via just north of the burn mark and
just south of the C7G10 label.

Another question is: what did this capacitor do? If it was just being
used to filter out high-frequency noise from a supply rail (which is
somewhat likely in a power supply), and nothing else is damaged, the
box may work reasonably well without it. But if it was in the control
circuit of a switching regulator, the box may not even start up without
it.

You might also ask in alt.games.video.xbox to see if anyone there has
fixed the same problem. There is a microsoft.public.xbox as well, but
I think the EULA lets the Redmond Hit Squad come after you if you
suggest opening up an Xbox. Googling for "xbox repair" also gives a few
sites that talk about common problems.

Matt Roberds

"Buddy Smith" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Buddy Smith wrote:
: Hi,

: My xbox was damaged due to lightning. It appears that one capacitor
was
: quite thoroughly fried.

I already did buy another one I'm just trying to see if I can repair
this one for the novelty of it.

: There is a picture he http://nullset.myphotos.cc/xbox/jpg
: (Look for C7G6 in the bottom right corner, next to the nice burn
: mark....)

Oops, that should be:
http://nullset.myphotos.cc/xbox.jpg

--buddy

Wow, that vaporized the pads and everything. Can you trace what it was
connected to? Pretty much any semiconductor in the circuit will be toast. I
have a feeling that xbox is a parts unit now, if any subassemblies even
survived.

wrote:

Does it use an external power supply? If so I'd check that first to see
if it's putting out the correct voltages. If it has an internal power
supply, check the fuse that should be located somewhere near the line
cord input.

It does use a separate power supply. I have confirmed that the power
supply is working properly (it even works in another xbox).

If the power supply seems OK, can you get the new Xbox apart? (You'll
void your warranty.) You might be able to determine the value of the
fried cap by looking at the same place in the new one. You can also make
voltage measurements at the same places in the new and broken ones to
see if there are other problems. Does the broken one even try to start
up (hard drive tries to spin up, power light blinks) or is it totally
dead?

It tries to boot up. I can see at least one fan stuttering, but it does
not boot successfully. It either won't come on at all or will come on
for less than one second before turning off and trying again.

I agree that this part of the board looks like something to do with
power regulation. C7G6 looks like it _was_ a small ceramic? chip
capacitor, the same physical size as C7G7. The spot on the board looks

This is indeed the type of capacitor that it was. I don't have the
other xbox apart enough at the moment to find out if it's the same size
as the larger or smaller of the chip capacitors.

you might still luck out if this via went all the way through the board -
you'd have to take the board out and turn it over to know for sure. For
comparison, there is an undamaged via just north of the burn mark and
just south of the C7G10 label.

There are two vias on either side of where the cap used to be that are
connected to it, so I do have a point I can connect to to replace the
cap.

Another question is: what did this capacitor do? If it was just being
used to filter out high-frequency noise from a supply rail (which is
somewhat likely in a power supply), and nothing else is damaged, the
box may work reasonably well without it. But if it was in the control
circuit of a switching regulator, the box may not even start up without
it.

I wish I knew what it did

ttyl,

--buddy

James Sweet wrote:

Wow, that vaporized the pads and everything. Can you trace what it was
connected to? Pretty much any semiconductor in the circuit will be toast. I
have a feeling that xbox is a parts unit now, if any subassemblies even
survived.

Quite nice huh?

The hard drive, DVD-ROM drive, and power supply are all fine. I have a
suspicion the power surge came over the ethernet line, since the power
supply has no visible damage and is working properly.

--buddy

Quite nice huh?

The hard drive, DVD-ROM drive, and power supply are all fine. I have a
suspicion the power surge came over the ethernet line, since the power
supply has no visible damage and is working properly.



That's a pretty good assumption, or the A/V cable from the TV.

James Sweet wrote:

Quite nice huh?

The hard drive, DVD-ROM drive, and power supply are all fine. I have a
suspicion the power surge came over the ethernet line, since the power
supply has no visible damage and is working properly.



That's a pretty good assumption, or the A/V cable from the TV.

I forgot to mention that i lost two NICs, a router, and the NIC on my
cable modem at the same time

--buddy