Replacing Delta 1010 capacitors

I began getting an obnoxious humming from my Delta 1010 box which wasn't affected by turning the volume up or down. It would be extremely loud at initial power-up then over the course of 10 minutes would diminish to nearly nothing. Then it got so the noise would not go away no matter how much warm up time. A little searching online targeted the capacitors in the breakout box. Seems that they can, and do at times, rupture and begin producing what I was hearing. I had the 2200 uF 16v and 470 uF 35v caps replaced. The friend that did the job for me said the original 2200 uF16v caps should have been 35v, according to what he could see from the electronics in the box. The online search also confirmed that. This is an early 2000's box. Hmmmm -- does that mean the early boxes were not designed correctly?

So, if anyone has a similar problem, it can be corrected. Just de-solder the old caps and solder in the new ones, taking care to match polarity. The leads are short so I probably couldn't have done it. He does that kind of thing for a living so he had access to the right kind of tools. The larger voltage caps he put in had to be laid on their sides to fit, but all is together now and sounding wonderfully clean. The noise floor is down to about -90dB.

Hmmmm -- does that mean the early boxes were not designed correctly?

They were probably designed correctly (it's not exactly difficult to spec the working voltage of the caps, after all!) but not assembled correctly. Or failing that, the specced caps weren't available and the 16v ones (which would be right on the edge of a +/- 15v spec) were fitted instead. Normally that would actually be okay, but if there's anything even vaguely dodgy about the caps themselves, then their lives might well have been shortened.

One way or another, it's a bit moot, really.

Or failing that, the specced caps weren't available

Most likely scenario. When this happens we try to fit the next higher voltage space permitting but it happens.

Most likely scenario. When this happens we try to fit the next higher voltage space permitting but it happens.

We?

You rule beyond belief. I have three Delta 1010's and I've sent one in for repair before and now I have another out. I bought enough capacitors to repair more than five racks for less than $20 with tax and shipping included.

Good luck !!

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Dish Network