A client of mine phoned me in a panic one evening. Something blew up in his Solina String Ensemble, and there was smoke coming out of it. He also said that the stink was unbearable.
After calming him down, I told him to unplug it, and bring it over. I already knew what had happened. A capacitor exploded.
Usually when a capacitor explodes, it's in the power supply. This also causes tiny bits of paper, foil, and electrolyte (goo) to splatter on the inside of the case. However, when I opened up the Solina, everything looked normal (other than the stench).
Unfortunately there are no exciting photos.
Bad Oscillator Caps
Bad Oscillator Caps
After a very close inspection, I noticed that both capacitors on the master oscillator board were bulging a bit, and one of them had ruptured. I actually had to use my nose to sniff around the circuit boards to find the trouble! You can barely tell from the photo, but the larger capacitor has failed. There is enough of a leak to let out lots of bad smelling smoke, but the foil and goo stayed inside.
If you look at the lower-left, you can see that Ali inspected this board. I'm assuming there were no problems with it in 1979.
Power Supply Re-cap
Power Supply Re-cap
Since this keyboard is at least 35 years old, the capacitors in the power supply were also over-due for replacement. Here is a before and after photo.
Service Manual Surprise
Service Manual Surprise
A nice surprise was the original service manual, tucked away behind the circuit boards. After I dutifully scanned the pages, I replaced them for the next repair technician to find.
