Grundig GDT1500 Owners Beware!

Your Freeview receiver may DIE unless you take action now.

We have discovered a problem with the GDT power supply that can kill your Freeview box! There is a tiny risk that it could even melt or mark the cover.

An electrolytic capacitor (board marking CE3) reportedly fails*. Replacing it is a simple D.I.Y. job if you can solder. Disconnect mains power at the wall socket. Remove the screws in the rear panel. Carefully push in both grey plastic tabs and slide the top cover off. Lift out the Printed Circuit Board. Desolder the existing capacitor (note the stripe). Solder in the new capacitor with the stripe positioned furthest from the edge of the board.

*Based on reports from several customers. It is not clear why it fails or how prevalent the failure is, since (it is assumed that) most customers will simply take faulty boxes back to the supplier under warranty. It may be a faulty batch of capacitors (see below). It may be exacerbated by temperature, if the receiver is used in a warm environment or with inadequate ventilation.

Disclaimer: Nothing on this page may be taken to imply that ALL GDT1500 receivers have an inherent fault or that they are in any way dangerous or have been badly manufactured. This information is based on a small number of reports. It is quite possible that it is a batch problem limited to a small number of units. You have to decide whether you want to ensure reliability by replacing the capacitor.

All trade marks are recognised.

Dixon's say:

'The fault referred to is a failure of the Capacitor in the power supply. It is a rare occurrence and is not a safety risk.

Prior to the launch of the model, it was fully evaluated by Mastercare, where no sign of quality deficiency was seen and therefore not highlighted. Speaking with the Manufacturer, Thomson, the following has emerged: soon after the product launched in May, 2002, a slight 'discrepancy' was detected by Thomson and this led to a running change in the components used.

- This was verbally reported to DSG at the time and agreed than no further action was required.

- Up to this case, there has been no reason to suggest that this product suffers from a fault or that the symptom referred to earlier had returned.

Furthermore, the diagnostical work on all returns sent to Thomson have not revealed any exceptional signs that required urgent address.

- Thomson have also confirmed that ll other products supplied from the same factory as the Grundig GDT1500 will not be affected.

SatCure says:

We agree with the comments above. It would be impossible to predict such failure without full knowledge of the capacitor specifications and its operating conditions. This is in the hands of the designers who specify the components to be used. To date we have no evidence that this affects a significant number of units. It is common for electrolytic capacitors to have a short life in electronic equipment. Other manufacturers have had this problem. Some have combatted it by using more expensive capacitors which last longer.

Unfortunately, the nature of the problem is such that, if the capacitor does fail, it can render the equipment uneconomical to repair. This is why we suggest that the capacitor be replaced as a precaution by owners who would like to preempt the possible failure.

This is the capacitor which fails (red arrow). You can see that this one is bulging. Unfortunately, we were too late to save this receiver. When the capacitor failed, it apparently killed a diode in the power supply and a chip on the main board, making the unit unrepairable.

(We have had no reports about the "T" version - GDT1500T - as it is under 12 months old at this time and still under warranty. It may have a similar problem or it may be OK. Please let us know).

If you already fitted a replacement capacitor, it is MOST important that you fit a "low ESR" grade of capacitor NOW, otherwise your replacement could fail spectacularly in a very short time. For this reason we do not recommend that you trot down to your local electronics store unless you really know what you are looking for.

If you order the capacitor from us, you can be assured that it is the correct type.

Note: our minimum Post & packing & handling charge is £2.50 per order.
You might like to order something else as well to make it worthwhile. See catalogue.

CE3 for GDT1500 £0.45	Qty
Include Solder/desoldering kit £0.95

Choose delivery method

 

Grundig do not carry out repairs but have appointed repair agents to do them. No spares or service information are available except to the repair agents and faulty units should be delivered to Grundig authorised dealers for shipping to the repair agents. In the case of the GDT1500, you should return it to your supplier if it becomes faulty.

Grundig models may need a CPU cooling kit.

Many problems with the Grundig models are caused by the demise of the power supply.

WARNING

How can you be certain if the PSU is faulty? Four methods:-

1. Visual inspection. The Electrolytic capacitors should have perfectly flat tops with no bulging (and no bulging of the rubber plug underneath each one). By the time any bulging occurs, the capacitor is well gone. If there's no visible sign, this does NOT mean that the capacitors are OK.

2. Use an oscilloscope to monitor the individual output voltages. If you can see high frequency ripply of more than 100 millivolts, the capacitors need to be replaced.

3. Measure each electrolytic capacitor with an ESR meter (not a capacitance meter - this will not usually show a faulty capacitor).

4. It dies - too late!

In our experience, based on Sky Digibox repairs, ALL Grundig PSUs start to fail after 12 months. To ensure reliability, the capacitor ought to be fitted before this happens. Note: other capacitors may also fail in the GDT1500 but so far we have had only one report of a different capacitor failure.

If you decide to repair the PSU yourself you'll need a repair kit, a soldering iron and I recommend our soldering kit which will make it easier for you to remove and replace the parts.

May I point out that you are wasting your time asking me if certain symptoms could be caused by the power supply.

Note: Quite often you can actually *see* that one or more capacitors has failed. Here are some examples inside a computer. They are all tubular in shape with a perfectly flat aluminium top. If that top is bulging or domed or if the rubber bung underneath is bulging, then the capacitor has failed. In such a case it's likely that ALL the electrolytic capacitors are in the process of failing and should be replaced, for safety and reliability sake, with the correct, uprated type in our kit.

Above You can see the aluminium tops of the bad capacitors are no longer flat.	Above You can see the rubber plug is protruding beneath the bad capacitor and it has leaked electrolyte onto the board. (Do not confuse this with the brown glue that some manufacturers use to secure the capacitors. If it extends up the side of the capacitor then it is more likely to be hardened glue. Electrolyte remains WET.)
Even if the capacitors look *PERFECT* they may still be faulty. Safest to replace them ALL with the good ones that we supply. If you use any other type, don't be surprised if they make it worse.
Why did Grundig use bad capacitors in the power supply? Actually, they did NOT use poor capacitors deliberately. Read this page: http://www.niccomp.com/taiwanlowesr.htm

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