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Old 12th Jun 2018, 8:44 am   #1
cjacek2000
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Unhappy Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

Hello,
I wasn't sure where best to ask this 'cause there isn't a lot of forums to ask about an old Sony camcorder... I'm hoping you guys can help me out..
I've got a rather odd problem with my otherwise minty low use SONY CCD-TR44 video8 camcorder from 1996.. The picture in the viewfinder appears blurred/out of focus (whereas it passes video out to TV fine and records/plays back well too) on most days but occasionally it's perfectly sharp with no issues. It uses one of those b/w CRT tubes for a viewfinder. While I am not at all skilled at troubleshooting electronics, I did carefully disassemble it, visually checked for any issues and even used deoxit to clean the ribbon cable connectors going from/to the viewfinder and any related connectors too... There was no improvement in the viewfinder but the next day it worked fine, like new. It might have been just coincidence 'cause it only worked fine for a few days... I know this camera in and out and it works fine otherwise. Would bad caps or degrading electronics somewhere cause the viewfinder to be blurred and then work fine a few days later? Blurred most of the time and then I turn it on a few days later and it's perfect sharp? There is no rhyme or rhythm to this at all. What could this possibly be? Can anyone list some possibilities?
Thanks for all your replies.
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Old 12th Jun 2018, 7:21 pm   #2
John123
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

It could well be a capacitor or leaking electrolyte issue. Take the viewfinder assembly apart and pull the board out and inspect thoroughly for any leakage or corroded/ dry solder joints. Blanket replacement of all the caps on the PCB is highly recommended.

There's a good video here that will probably help.
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Old 13th Jun 2018, 10:52 am   #3
cjacek2000
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

Thanks so much for the quick reply John, much appreciated. I actually did look at that link/video prior to posting but unfortunately there is no capacitor that I can see inside of this model viewfinder.. (I have attached a few photos). I carefully examined for any leaks or corrosion but don't see any... I'll have to grab a magnifying glass and check for dry solder joints. Hopefully it's that and I found a good set of instructions on how to fix that:
https://handycrowd.com/diy-tip-fix-d...ircuit-boards/
Actually, on looking at some of the photos now, I see what look like a couple of rather dirty/dark solder joints.. Any reason to be concerned here, John?
Thanks again, I'll followup again with hopefully some good news or at least an update.
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Old 13th Jun 2018, 10:54 am   #4
cjacek2000
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

A couple of additional, close up photos:
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Old 13th Jun 2018, 7:17 pm   #5
John123
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

The dirt on the solder side looks like dust to me, although it wouldn't hurt to clean it up. It looks much more refined than the board in the video, so probably a much later type or revision.

The little black rectangular boxes with numbers on the top are in fact surface mount electrolytic capacitors. They are notorious for going bad and/ or leaking in equipment of this age! The good news is that they can be changed for standard electrolytics but space may be an issue so you may have to get creative.

On closer inspection, the one in the corner near to the CRT connector looks particularly suspect, although I'd replace all of them if you have no way to test. You may have to clean up the board thoroughly underneath them if there are any signs of leakage, and do a continuity test on adjacent PCB traces that may have been corroded by the electrolyte.

Also looks to be a magnet or ferrite on top of the coil (near to the aforementioned cap). Check to see if it hasn't worked completely loose, but be careful not to dislodge it if it turns out to be OK!
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Last edited by John123; 13th Jun 2018 at 7:29 pm.
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Old 14th Jun 2018, 1:13 am   #6
cjacek2000
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

John, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to educate me and also for pointing out the caps / issues in the photo with the arrows. I will update this thread but it might take a while, wanna take my time, step by step, slowly, thanks again.
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Old 14th Jun 2018, 2:14 am   #7
John123
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

It's no problem, that's what this forum is all about! If you become completely stuck (or as a last resort) you could try contacting the guy who made the YouTube video that we linked to above (Dave aka '12VoltVids').

I believe he is located around your neck of the woods and would be able to repair your unit for a nominal fee. Of course, nothing beats the knowledge and experience gained from being able to fix something yourself!
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Old 15th Jun 2018, 10:35 am   #8
cjacek2000
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

Thanks again John but like you said that it'd be more worthwhile if I try to fix this myself... As an aside, I've been reading quite a bit about those aluminum electrolytic caps - so many Sony camcorders from that era had problems with these, so I'll try replacing that one and see what happens.. And by the way, my hat's off to anyone who works on these tiny caps - it's like microsurgery.
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Old 15th Jun 2018, 6:37 pm   #9
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

Indeed, not just the camcorders - pretty much anything from that era that used surface mount/ SMD electrolytics. Those fancy little Sony ICF radios were notorious as they were usually packed full of the things!

Yes, I think microsurgery is the best way to describe it! The good thing is you can always solder in standard electrolytics (space permitting).
There are guides to removing them, and some favour the brute force method of simply snipping them off the board with a pair of pliers! From experience I think it's better to heat them up and use a couple of drops of flux at the same time to prevent the PCB solder pads becoming damaged.
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Old 16th Jun 2018, 8:20 am   #10
cjacek2000
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

Thanks John. Yeah, I've been studying through the various methods of removal and agree with you that it'd be better to carefully desolder rather than to use the brute force method.. Incidentally, the cap has a letter/numbers on top (codes?), the little surface mount aluminum electrolytic cap, looks like a silver can. Could you help me figure out what the letter/numbers mean:

K
2.2
3 5


Note that there's a period between "2" and "2", but there is no period between "3" and "5"..

Thanks again in advance.
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Old 16th Jun 2018, 9:27 am   #11
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

K = 20% tolerance
2.2 = probably the value in μF
35 = probably the working voltage

I'd say it was 2.2μF, 35V. Certainly sounds plausible.
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Old 16th Jun 2018, 9:58 pm   #12
John123
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

As above! Quite easy to read as there's only two values to worry about, really. Any standard low ESR cap with a temperature rating of 105c will be fine.

I would recommend you use decent quality ones from the likes of Panasonic or Nichicon, as cheap no-name ones are often more trouble than they're worth! I tend to use Panasonic FC Series for most things, but that's just preference.

A note regarding the voltage rating: You can be over, but not under! For example, a 2.2uf 50v cap will be fine in place of a 35v one - so long as it's still 2.2uf. Naturally, there may be a physical size difference with a higher rated capacitor, so it's usually good practice to try and stay within spec (i.e. swap like-for-like).

Also, make a note of the polarity of the old cap(s) before replacing, as in some (albeit very rare) instances the markings on the PCB can be wrong!
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Old 17th Jun 2018, 3:54 am   #13
cjacek2000
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

Thanks so much Julie and John..

John, this seems like a perfect replacement and good price too (lot of 10)? Nichicon too, as you recommend. Not sure what I'll do with the extra 9.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-10-N...EAAOxyQj9RUeAU

By the way, the cap has a black stripe on top side in my photo above, to indicate the negative side I assume, so I'll orient it that same way.

Thanks again for all your great advice...
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Old 18th Jun 2018, 12:04 am   #14
John123
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

Should be fine for this application. You can use a standard radial electrolytic if you find the soldering a little tricky.
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Old 19th Jun 2018, 12:17 pm   #15
cjacek2000
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Default Re: Gremlins in my SONY TR44 please help!

Thanks again John.
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