Repaired My AM21N Today

[Lynskyn]

My AM21N started giving me the Local Channel Connector (LCC) Not Detected error. After fruitless attempts to get Directv to send me an LCC kit, I decided to crack the AM21N open and have a look. I noticed that the large capacitor C2507 had a little bit of crustiness on the base around the positive lead. It was a 22 mF 400V cap. I couldn't find that exact spec locally but I did get a 22 mF 315V cap. Desoldered the old one, soldered the new one in and BOOM - it works again! Anyway, I thought this might be helpful for anyone who has an AM21N that exhibits the same behavior. I attached a picture with the location of the offending cap circled.

 

[jcrandall]

That's great, I had to do that with a sling box once. Slingbox pro was riddled with capacitor issues. 3 of them had to be replaced, tons of people online had the same issue, yet never a recall.

Always so satisfying when you can fix your own item, and in this case save yourself the cost of a new one or the frustration in DirecTV not caring to send a minimal cost part because their system isn't setup for it.

 

[Lynskyn]

That's great, I had to do that with a sling box once. Slingbox pro was riddled with capacitor issues. 3 of them had to be replaced, tons of people online had the same issue, yet never a recall.

Always so satisfying when you can fix your own item, and in this case save yourself the cost of a new one or the frustration in DirecTV not caring to send a minimal cost part because their system isn't setup for it.

Yep. This is the second one I have repaired with caps. The first one was an older AM21 that had a couple of bulging caps. Fixed that one back in 2017 and it is still working.

 

[Claude Greiner]

How big was the board inside the AM21?

 

[Lynskyn]

The AM21N I just did was about 5" x 7". I don't remember the size on the AM21 I did 3 years ago but maybe it was a little larger.
It definitely had some different caps around the tuner section enclosure.

 

[jcrandall]

AM21 was always about 4 times larger than it needed to be because they made it to sit above or below an HR21. The board itself would fit in a box the size of the H25. The LCC is of course better, but their support and rollout was pretty piss poor, likely due to the merger and near stop on all product development at Directv.

 

[Phil T]

We have lived in a disposable electronics world so long it is great to see when you can actually fix something!

My dad used to fix TV's, CB's, radios and such in the 50's and 60's. I used to love to build Heathkits and remember going to the drug store to test tubes in the 60's.

My soldering skills used to be pretty good but haven't tried to fix much since IC's and transistors came along.

 

[TheTechGuru]

http://Mouser.Com is a place to get parts.

 

[Phil T]

http://Mouser.Com is a place to get parts.

You mean I can't just go to Lafayette or Olson Electronics for parts anymore?

 

[raoul5788]

You mean I can't just go to Lafayette or Olson Electronics for parts anymore?

I just go to Radio Shack.

 

[TheTechGuru]

I just go to Radio Shack.

You have a time machine?

 

[Jimbo]

You have a time machine?

I use to go downtown to "Lifetime Electronics", which also would require a Time Machine ...