BASIC ELECTRONICS

TRAINING MANUAL
 LESSON ONE INTRODUCTION TO BASIC ELECTRONICS
To be a professional in field of maintenance there are many traces like
experience, knowledge and gift. But to be trained maintenance
technician/engineer it is mandatory to know each and every technical aspect.
So from the very beginning of maintaining any electrical part of machines it is
strongly recommended to understand basic electronics and electricity. The two
terms are most likely interrelated. Electronics is a vast discipline where as
Electricity is an invisible force that can produce light, heat and motion either
by attraction or repulsion of charges. Charges are obtained by rubbing two
materials together. The result may be either positive charges (+) or negative
charges (-). Law of charges explains that like charges repel to each other and
unlike Charges attract to each other. Either attraction or repulsion of charges
produces the basic electricity

Like charges repel to each other Unlike charges attract to each other

1.1 THE THREE BASIC PARAMETERS OF ELECTRICITY

1.1.1 VOLTAGE (POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE OR P.D)

Voltage is the source of energy or power since there is a P.D. exists between two
charges. This difference in a potential causes the movement of charges or electrons
and this movement of electronics is known as current. The result of charges movement
results electricity. The unit of voltage is volt(V) and it is measured by voltmeter.

1.1.2 CURRENT ( I )

Current is the flow or movement of electrons (negative charges) through a conductor in

the same direction. The current flowing through the system mainly depends up on the
amount of voltage applied. It is expressed by the formula shown below.

The unit of current is ampere symbol by A. Usually milli ampere (mA) is used.
Current is measured by current meter (Ammeter)
1000 mA ≈1A / 800mA ≈0.8A
If a conducting or semi conducting path is provided between two poles having a
potential difference, charge carriers will flow in an attempt to equalize

The unit of current is ampere symbol by A. Usually milli ampere (mA) is used. Current
is measured by current meter (Ammeter)

1000 mA ≈1A / 800mA ≈0.8A

If a conducting or semi conducting path is provided between two poles having a

potential difference, charge carriers will flow in an attempt to equalize the charge
between the poles. This flow of electric current will continue as long as the path is
provided, and as long as there is a charge difference between the poles.

In household electric circuits, the charge difference will essentially never equalize,
unless there is a power failure. Of course, if you short-circuit an outlet (don‘t!), the
fuse or breaker will blow or trip and the charge difference will immediately drop to
zero. But if you put a 100-watt bulb at the outlet, the charge difference will be
maintained as the current flows. The power plant can keep a potential difference
across a lot of light bulbs indefinitely. You might have heard that ―It‘s the current, not
the voltage, that kills,‖ concerning the danger in an electric circuit. This is a literal
truth, but it plays on semantics. It is like saying ―It is the heat, not the fire that burns
you.‖ Naturally! But there can only be a deadly current if there is enough voltage to
drive it through your body. You don‘t have to worry when handling flashlight cells, but
you had better be extremely careful around household utility circuits. A voltage of 1.2
to 1.7 V can‘t normally pump a dangerous current through you, but a voltage of 117 V
almost always can. Through an electric circuit with constant conductivity, the current
is directly proportional to the applied voltage. That is, if you double the voltage, you
double the current; if the voltage is cut in half, the current is cut in half too. The
graph shown below shows this relationship as a graph in general terms. But it
assumes that the power supply can provide the necessary number of charge carriers.
This rule holds only within reasonable limits.
There are two types of voltages: Alternating current (AC) voltage and Direct
Current (DC) voltage.
 Alternating Current (AC) Voltage: It is one that is continually changing its
direction and obtained from generators. The simplest AC wave form is that of a sine-
wave, and it can be seen in the figure below. Symbol of AC voltage is V~.

Time/Second

AC voltage can be obtained from main line or socket outlet (220V/50HZ) in our
country case and (110V/60HZ) or it can be obtained from generator.

AC Voltage is generated at a power plant, like hydroelectric power plant, thermal

power plant, nuclear power plant, solar power plant etc.

cc

LESSON TWO

ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS
2.1. FUSE

Before trying to understand the basic electronic components it is better to know fuse.

A Fuse Symbol
Typical Examples of Fuses
Fuse is a very thin wire which either melts or vaporizes when current flow through it
exceeded the fuse rating. Mostly rating indicated by ampere (A) Like 3.15A, 5A, 7A, 9A
etc. The thin wire of fuse may be made of aluminum, tin-coated copper or nickel. The
resulting open in the circuit stops current to flow which in turn protects the circuit
from damage. In electronic equipment, most fuses are cylindrical glass or ceramic type
with a metal cap at each end! The current rating and voltage also can be seen in
one of the two metal end caps. Fuses are available with current ratings from
1/500 Ampere to hundreds of amperes. Fuse is label as ―F‖ in circuit board.

There are two basic types of fuses which is the fast acting and slow blow
type. The fast acting fuse will open very quickly when their particular current
rating is exceeded. This is very important for analogue multimeter, which can
quickly be destroyed when too much current flows through them, for even a
very small amount of time. Even if you are an experienced repairer, sometimes
we make mistake by accidentally touching the probe to the testing points
where it should not be touch! The slow blow fuse has a coiled construction
inside the glass. Slow blow fuses are designed to open only on a continued
overload, such as a short circuit. The function of the coiled construction is to
stop the fuse from blowing on just a temporary current surge.

Don‘t replace a slow blow fuse in place of a fast acting fuse because it may not
open fast enough to prevent components damage under a high current
condition.

 It‘s not dangerous to substitute a slow blow fuse with a fast acting fuse
 Do not replace fuse by greater current rating if no the same rating replace
by less
 Do replace damaged fuse without checking whether it failed by over current
or short circuit because it may blown again if it is damaged by short circuit

2.2.
A GoodPassive
Fuse and Active
Slight Burnt Component
Discovered means a major short circuit in the equipment
Even though maintenance is international profession the way of maintenance is differ
from country to country and maintenance field. Basically there are two aspects to
maintain

 Part level maintenance i.e. replacing the defective part totally

 Component level maintenance i.e. maintaining the defective part by
replacing the
defective components

So in our country component level maintenance is applicable to do such type of

maintenance it is mandatory to understand each and every components. Especially a
maintenance technician must understand component type physically, function,
testing, failure and way of repairing

Passive components: A device which can be used to complete a circuit with

voltage and current sources for active components is known as passive components.
These components are called passive because they by themselves are not capable of
amplifying or processing any electrical signal. However, these components are as
important as active components. Without the aid of these components, for example, a
transistor cannot be made to amplify signals. Passive components are:

 Resistor
 Capacitor
 Inductor
 Transformer

Active components:A device which can be used for performing tasks such as
amplification, switching, regulating etc is known as active component. It rectifies or
changes energy from one form to another to processes electronic signal. For example,
LED converts electrical energy into light energy. Active components are:

 Transistors
 Diodes
2.2.1. Resistor
The material that opposes the flow of current is known as resistorand their resistances
symbolized by R.Power rating in watts, (W). Resistors are available in a very wide range
of R values from a fraction of an ohm to many mega ohms. The power rating may be as
high as several hundred watts or as low as 1/8 watt. Always use a replacement resistor
with a power rating that is equal to or greater than the original.

2.2.1.1Types of resistors

Resistors can be categorized as: Carbon-Film Resistors, Metal-Film Resistors, and

Wire Woundsbased on the material that the resistors made up. But resistors can be
categorized from their variability and general pattern, as fixed value and variable
value resistor but most extensively there is also special type of resistors their value
cannot vary manually rather by temperature .

A WIRE Wound Resistor

Carbon Film Resistor

SMD Type Resistor

Typical resistors
I. Fixed value resistors
A. Color Coded Resistor
Most color coded resistors are carbon resistors and they are small physically. The
color band is the identity of the resistor and also used to calculate the resistance or
ohmic value.

To calculate resistance value of color coded resistors it is mandatory to

understand color values orally
 Color values and their tolerance range

Colour
Multiplier Tolerance
Digit
Black 0 1 -
Brown 1 10 +1%
Red 2 100 +2%
Orange 3 1000 -
Yellow 4 10000 -
Green 5 100000 +0.5%
Blue 6 1000000 +0.25%
Violet 7 10000000 +0.1%
Grey 8 - +0.05%
White 9 - -
Gold - 0.01 +5%
Silver - 0.1 +10%
No Colour - - +20%

Calculating resistance value by using color code of resistors

To calculate resistance value it better to understand the meaning of each color band.
Most color coded resistors have 4 band of colors as indicated below the first two colors
indicate values(digits) the third color indicates how many zerosmust be added
(multipliers) and the last color indicates the tolerance of the resistor. Tolerance mean
by how many percent the resistance value increase or decrease in order to be
functional.

Showing Four Colors Band of Resistor and Their Meanings

First Band (First Digit)

Second Band (Second Digit)

Third Band (Multiplier)

Fourth Band (Tolerance)

To understand resistance value calculation easily lets‘ have example:

Example -1:If a given resistor has four colors (red, violet, red and gold) as shown
below calculate resistance value?

Solution:-

The first band is red for 2 and the next band is

Red Violet Red Gold violet for 7 so the digits are 27. The red
Multiplier in the third band means add two
zeroes to 27. The result can be illustrated as
follows:

Therefore, this R value is 2700Ω with tolerance +5%. The resistor tolerance means the
amount by which the actual R can be different from actual value. For instance, the
alone resistor value 2700Ω resistor with +5 percent tolerance can have resistance 5
percent above or below the coded value.

Therefore, 5 percent of 2700 is (5/100*2700) =135 so tolerable values can be

calculated as

(2700-135)- (2700+135) i.e. between 2565Ω and 2835Ω.

Red Violet Red

Green Blue Orange 2 7 100 = 2700

Silver

Therefore, the R value is 56000Ω or 56kΩ with tolerance +10%. (Silver is 10%)

Example - 2
Green Blue Orange
Orange Orange Black
Gold 5 6 1000 = 5600

Example - 3
Example 3 illustrates that black for the third band just means ―do not add zeroes to
the first two digits‖. Since this resistor has orange, orange, and black band, the R
value is 33Ω with tolerance +5%.

Brown Gray Black

Silver

18 x 1 = 18Ω

Therefore, the R value is 18Ω with tolerance +10%.

Special color coded resistors

Most color coded resistors are 4 band resistors but in practice there are special
case resistors from these the following can be mentioned

1. Five band resistors

In case of five band resistors the first 3 colors are values or digit the forth color is
multiplier and the fifth or the last color is tolerance

Showing Five Colors Band of Resistor and Their Meanings

First Band (First Digit)

Second Band (Second Digit)
Third Band (Third Digit)
Fourth Band (Multiplier)
Fifth Band (Tolerance)
Example: - If the resistor has five bands as follow calculate the resistance value?
(Red, orange, green, red and silver)

Solution: - the first 3 color bands are values red=2, orange=3, green=5, red=2, and
silver 10% so 235 digits and two zeros must be added i.e. 23500 is exact value and
10% tolerance

2. Fusible resistors
Such type of resistors has very low resistance value their value can be maximum of
9.9Ω for band resistor and 99Ω for five band resistors and physically they have gold or
silver color at third band for four band resistors and at fourth band in case of five
band resistors.

Example: red, red, gold, gold

To calculate resistance value the first two colors are values or digits 22 and the third
color is divider not multiplier for gold divide by 10 and for silver divide by 100. So
calculated exact resistance value is 22/10=2.2Ω and 5% tolerance.

NB: - Power rating of color coded resistor can be 0.125W, 0.25W, 0.5W, 1W and 2W

B.Choke Resistors
It is the second type of fixed value resistor. It has very low resistance value but has
high wattage rating it is not common in many boards like color coded resistors

II.Special Types of Resistors

These types of resistors have special characteristics. They are not variable or
fixed.Insuch type of resistors their value may be varied by temperature difference or
other parameters. From such type of resistors the following can be studied.
 1. Thermistors :as the name implies these types of resistors their value
depends on
Temperature

For a small change in body temperature of a Thermistor, there is an

appreciable change in its resistance, whereas most conductors have a positive
temperature coefficient, the thermistor can exhibits a positive or negative
temperature coefficient, (NTC). The thermistor is mostly negative temperature
coefficient resistances. The resistances of thermistor decreases rapidly for
increased temperature.
The thermistor are used in wide variety of applications. They can be used in
measurement and control of temperatures, time delay, temperature
compensation and liquid level indicators. The thermistor is available in the
form of a disk, bead, or bolted assembly packages.
Fig.-

A. NTC( Negative Temperature coefficient) It is used to control change

in current or a surge or unwanted current in power supply. Its
resistance value decrease as temperature increase. Make sure that NTC
always connected in series so being open directly causes the equipment
to dead.

B.PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient)Most commonly known as

positor; it‘s used to avoid magnetic effect in cathode ray tube (CRT)
 monitor and television. It is mostly found in power supply part entry. To
split AC power and supply to degaussing coil for demagnetizing purpose
as current passes through it for moment resistance value increase and
become open .

2. Voltage dependent resistors (VDR) or varistor

These are voltage dependent resistances. They also fall under the category of
nonlinear resistors. According to the Ohm's Law the current is directly
proportional to the impressed voltage but in case of varistors the current is
proportional to the nth power of the impressed voltage i.e.
I α Vn
where I is the current in Amperes and V is the impressed voltage on the
Varistors.
Figure- shows the V-I characteristics of the Varistors.

The most common type of varistor is the metal-oxide varistor (MOV). They are
often used to protect circuits against excessive transient voltages by
incorporating them into the circuit in such a way that, when triggered, they will
shunt the current created by the high voltage away from sensitive components.
In other word they protect over voltage. However, VDR may not be able to
successfully limit a very large surge from an event such as a lightningstrike
where the energy involved is many orders of magnitude greater than it can
handle. Follow-through current as a result of a strike may generate excessive
current that completely destroys the VDR.The symbol of MOV is

3. Surface mounted resistors (SMD) resistors

Most commonly known as Surface Mount Device and used in digital circuit
like computer mother board, mobile board and LCD equipment main
board

SMD resistor is in black color with silver color to end to end.

How to know the resistance value of SMD Resistor?
Now, the resistors in the above image has 3 digit code (some resistor has 4 digit
code also).The code is 103, so the first two digit represent the answer and the
last digit represent the number of zero's should be added after the answer.

Example:

103 = 10 (the two number) 000 (three zero's).

Hence the final answer is 10000 Ohms (answer obtain is always in ohms,
further we can convert it).

Here are some more examples

334 = 330 000Ohms = 330k

443 = 44 000Ohms = 44k

Now, you can see the above component with code 2512.i.e it has the four digit
color coding; the value of this resistor is decoded in the same manner.

The resistor with the value below 10 ohms has letter "R" to denote the position
of the decimal point.

Such as 5.7Ω can be written as 5R7

6.2Ω =6R2

2.2Ω =2R2

III.Variable Resistors
Potentiometer

It is variable resistor which can be varied by manually. It is used to increase

the amount of voltage or decrease the voltage value.
A movable metal blade resting along a ring of resistive film. You can change the
resistance by turning the knob. Failure among variable resistors usually takes
form of intermittent connections between the wiper blade and resistive film.
Sometimes it also can be burnt due to overload of currents and develop an
open circuit. Remember that film slowly wears away as the wiper moves back
and forth across it. After sometimes the overall film can wear away that which
the wiper cannot make a good contact at certain points. The poor contact can
cause all types of erratic or intermittent operation.

Track

Terminal
Typical Variable The Value 5 Kilo
Resistor Found in the Ohms was printed at Internal View of Variable Resistor
Market the back of the VR

2.2.1.2 Testing of resistors

Usually resistors become open here is the way to test resistors;

1. By visual inspectionsometimes resistor become very damaged even

their color disappear in other way they become ash so in such occasion no
doubt replace it. What may challenge at the time of replacement is that
knowing the color that already disappear so there are two options to refer
the color by using the same board or by downloading the circuit diagram of
the board from internet
2. By continuity testthis test doest use to measure all resistors rather
resistors with low resistance value like, fusible resistors, thermistor,
posistor, third band color coded resistors, and choke resistor can be
checked by continuity test.
3. By ohmictestresistors except mentioned aboveby measuring its
resistance value so in this case first measure the resistance value of the
resistor by digital multimeter and calculate the resistance value as
mentioned above so measured value must be in the range of calculated
value. Always that is better to by disconnecting the leg from the board.

4. Testing Variable Resistor

PIN 1 PIN 2 PIN 3 If you measure pin 1 and 3, you will get the variable
resistor Ohmsreading. Now use either one probe to
touch pin 1 and 2 of variable resistors while the other
probe touching pin 3. Turn the knob clockwise and
anti-clockwise to see the changing of resistance. The
meter should show a smooth reading. If the reading is
erratic, the pointer will moved intermittently. You can
service or replace the variable resistor. Say if the
variable resistor is 10kΩ the ohms, the value should
You can turn the knob
vary from 0Ω to 10kΩ or 10kΩ to 0Ω as you turn the
knob clockwise and anti-clockwise.

Now Now use the probe that touches pin 3 short to pin 2 while the other probe
connects to pin 1, test for the result. The reading should be the same except
that the ohms range instead of starting at 0Ω should now start at 10kΩ.

Here is some of the simple calculation to determine the meaning of the code
printed on the variable resistor:

12= 100 = 100 ohm

13=1000= 1000 ohm = 1 Kilo Ohm

54=50000=50000 ohm= 50 Kilo Ohm

102=10 00=1000 ohm= 1 Kilo Ohm

203=20 000=20000 ohm= 20 Kilo Ohm
523=52 000=52000 ohm= 52 Kilo Ohm

These are miniature versions of the standard variable resistor. They are
designed to be mounted directly onto the circuit board and tuned only when
the circuit is built. For example to set the colors of computer monitor by
turning the preset in the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) board.

2.2.1.3. Defects (failures) in Resistors

Normally if a resistor fails they will either increase in value or open up at all
(open circuit). Mostly happened defects in resistors are:
Open (most frequently happened) it can be happened due to over current or
heat.
Improper resistance value: - their valuemay be decrease or increase so there
must be some tolerable range if it is out of range it is mandatory to replace it.

2.2.2. Inductor (Coil)

Inductance- Inductor is wound of coil that store electrical energy in form of
electromagnetic force. is property of inductor that oppose in any change or
fluctuation in current. System international unit is Hennery (H) usually mH.In
general, an inductor consists of many turns or wire wrapped around a common
core. The core could be made of iron or even air. It is label as ―L‖ on circuit
board. When an electric current passes through the coil, a magnetic field is
produced.

Inductance is that property of a device that reacts against a change in current

through the device. Inductors are components designed for use in circuits to
resist changes in current and thus serve important control functions.
Inductor designed is based on the principle that a varying magnetic field
induces a voltage in any conductor in that field. Thus, a practical inductor
may simply be a coil wire. The current in each loop of the coil produces a
magnetic field that passes through neighboring loops. If the current through
the coil is constant the magnetic field is constant and no action takes place. A
change in the current, however, produces a change in the magnetic field. The
energy absorbed or released from the changing magnetic field reacts against
the change in current, and this is exhibited as in induced voltage
(electromotive force, emf), which is counter to the change in applied voltage.
The inductor thus behaves as an impedance to ac current.
The counter emf is directly proportional to the rate of change of current
through the coil (VL=L[di/dt]). The proportionality constant is the inductance
L, which has the unit of henrys (H) In an ac circuit, as shown in, the inductor
offers reactance to alternating current. The inductive reactance XL has the
units of ohms and is given by
XL = wL = 2πfL
Total inductance
L = L1 + L2 + L3 -----------
Inductances in parallel :
1/L = 1/L1 + 1/L2 + 1/L3

Types of inductor

Inductor can be classified as fixed value inductor and variable value inductor

Fixed value- they are used line AC filter mostly with combination with mica
capacitor in power supply.

XL=2πfL

Where XL=inductance impedance (blocking ability), 2π=constant i.e.

2*3.14=6.28, F=frequency and L=inductance (constant for a given inductor)
So, as frequency increases blocking ability increases that means inductor
blocks high frequency signals in other word inductor blocks AC and fully allow
DC to pass.

Variable value – they are used as IF (intermediate frequency) coils in radio

receiver. Inductance can be varied by moving the upper part of the inductor. By
varying inductance value it is possible to change frequency range mostly such
type of inductors fit for SW, MW and FM.

Function of inductor
1. AC Filter: - naturally almost all signals are analog. These signals have a
chance to passing through a cable so whenever plugging in power cable
many signals like heat, sound(hash),spark etc can be entered with electrical
signal but these signals
 Inductor used as line current filter
 over current protection switch
So by rotating the upper part frequency level can be adjusted. They have
different colors for FM and AM (amplitude modulation).

Testing of inductors
Testing coil is very easy compares to checking three leads components such as
SCR, FET and etc. In general, a coil consists
of many turns or wire wrapped around a common core. The core could be made of
iron or even air. It is label as —L― on circuit board.
When an electric current passes through the coil, a magnetic field is produced. A
coil in some respects acts just opposite a capacitor. A capacitor blocks DC while
allowing AC to flow through it; a coil allows DC to flow through it while restricting
AC current flow. Another name for a coil is an inductor.
Inductor can be tested as follows:-
1. By visual inspection
2. By continuity test

Testing coil is very easy compares to checking three leads components such as
SCR, FET and etc. In general, a coil consists of many turns or wire wrapped
around a common core. The core could be made of iron or even air. It is label
as ―L‖ on circuit board. When an electric current passes through the coil, a
magnetic field is produced. A coil in some respects acts just opposite a
capacitor. A capacitor blocks DC while allowing AC to flow through it; a coil
allows DC to flow through it while restricting AC current flow. Another name
for a coil is an inductor.

Testing bigger coil or inductor such as the computer monitor B+ coil, you need
an inductance meter to find out the exact inductance value which is in the unit
of Henry (h). From experienced using an inductance meter to check coils to see
if it good or bad is not recommended because a shorted coil (shorted between
winding) could have a good inductance value and you would miss out checking
a bad coil.Unless you want to use the inductance meter to calculate the
reading and do rewinding, looping and etc on that coil. I would only test a big
coil with dick smith fly back meter. Any shorted winding in it could be easily
detected by this meter.

TRANSFORMER
Transformers used to step up or down voltage according to your need you may
need high or low voltage so you can use step-down transformer or step up
transformer. The input and output of any transformer is AC voltage but it may
be sinusoidal, square (pulse) wave or triangular (saw tooth) type of AC voltage.

Types of transformer
A. Center taped transformer: this type of transformer is formerly used
in most electronic equipment but now it is used in radio receiver and CD
players.

B. Chopper transformerin modern electronics most electronic

equipment‘s use chopper transformer in their power supply rather than
center tapped chopper transformer.
These types of transformers divide the output and supply to the
secondary section of power
supply.
Testing of transformers
 Visual inspection may be burned
 Continuity test terminals in the same side are continuous and opposite
side terminals are open
 Hot test measuring the output voltage (specially center tapped
transformer)

9.1 TESTING LINEAR TRANSFORMER

Secondary winding – 12 volt AC output

Primary winding – 230

volt AC input

Linear Transformer

There are three types of linear transformer:

1. Step up transformer-to increase the output voltage. Typical example is 240v
ac input with a 480 volt ac output (high voltage).
2. Step down transformer-to decrease the output voltage. Typical example is
240v ac input with a 12 volt ac output (low voltage).
3. Isolation transformer-produce the same amount of voltage as the input
voltage. Typical example is 240 v ac input with a 240 volt ac output.

A single transformer can have different independent outputs to serve as astep

up transformers as well as step down transformer. The output voltages are
then converted into DC voltages with the help of diodes.

There are three ways or techniques on how to test a transformer:

Switch ―ON‖ the equipment and measure the input and output voltage of the
transformer with either an analogue or digital meter. If there is no voltage or
lower voltage, then it is supposed to be that the transformer need replacement.
I personally liked this method because you are testing the transformer
under full operating voltage which is very accurate. The disadvantage is
that you must be very careful when checking it especially when the power is
‗on‘. Make sure you have someone to guide or else you can try the second
method.

Perform a ringing test with a ringer tester like using the dick smith coil tester.
Checking the ohms resistance or continuity on a linear transformer is not
accurate as compared when using a ringer tester. However there is still one
disadvantage which is the winding can go shorted when under full operating
voltage even though both windings checks okay with ringer test

CONCLUSION: The first method (voltage testing) is the best choice to test linear
transformer accurately, but first you must know how transformer work and get
an experienced technician‘s friend to help you out before performing the test on
your own. For some transformers like the UPS (uninterruptible power supply)
you need wiring diagrams to assist you because there are so many secondary
windings and you may get confused. Lastly, checking switch mode power
transformer is different from testing linear transformer.
9.2 TESTING SWITCH MODE POWER TRANSFORMER
Switch Mode Power Transformer (SMPT) are used in switch mode power
supplies in electronic equipment such as Computer Monitor, TV, DVD and etc.
The function of SMPT is to convert the AC wave to some other value, lower or
higher. The input is called primary winding while the outputs are secondary
windings.

Now is the time to share my true case example- a computer dealer send me a
monitor for repair with power blink symptom. Usually I do not straight away
repair the monitor but I would first use the flyback tester to scan all the major
coils (switch mode transformer, flybacktransformer, B+ coil and horizontal
deflection coil) before using my digital or analogue meter to do testing.

When measuring the B+ coil, the red

lights went off and it suppose to show
at least 5 LED bars and above. Upon
soldering out the coil, I did not see any
burn mark at the winding or loop and
in fact it looks shiny. Because I trust
the meter, I opened up the winding and
to my surprised the internal winding
had burnt into crisp but the outer
winding looks good indeed! A new B+
coil restored the monitor to life.

It is recommended to test a coil that has lots

By using a flyback tester of loop (winding) with a coil tester.

or coil tester for testing

coil, it has helped me to
locate many shorted coils
in switch mode power
transformer primary
winding, B+ coil, flyback
transformer primary
winding and horizontal
deflection coil. The flyback
meter can even be used to
check the condition of
ballast in fluorescent lamp
too!

CAPACITORS
7.1 INTRODUCTION TO CAPACITOR
Capacitor, also known as condenser, is one of the most essential components
in designing an electronic circuit. Radio, television and monitor circuits use a
number of capacitors. Capacitor has a tendency to store electrical charge and
then release it as current in the circuit where it is connected. So the use of
capacitor is to store and then release electrical charge. This concept may sound
simple enough, but it has important applications when the capacitor is
combined with other components in filter or timing circuits. Capacitor is
symbolized as shown in below and it is denoted by a letter C.

Capacitors store electricity and then discharge it back into the circuit when
there is a drop in voltage. A capacitor is like a rechargeable battery and can be
charged and then discharged. The value is measured in F (Farad), nano Farad
(nF) or pico Farad (pF) range.
Capacitance:the ability of capacitor to store electrical energy. Capacitance
measured in farads (F). Practically farad is a large unit. The smaller units are
microfarads (1 microfarad = 1/1,000,000 farad), nanofarads (1 nanofarad =
1/1,000,000,000 farad) and picofarads (1 microfarad = 1/1,000,000,000,000
farad).Therefore,

0.01µF = 10nF = 10,000pF

Microfarad can be written as MFD, MF or µF or simply M. Nanofarad is written

as NF. Pico farad is written as PF. Capacitors rated in microfarads are found in
RF and high frequency circuits.

Symbol of a Capacitor

Two important factors in determining capacitor is specially at the time of

replacing it is mandatory to check these factors;
Electrolytic Capacitor
  capacitance value uF or pF
 Voltage rating 22V

7.2 TYPES OF CAPACITORS

There are basically two types of capacitors i.e. fixed value capacitors and
variable value capacitors.

Fixed value capacitors

Fixed value capacitors can be classified as polarized (electrolytic capacitors)

and Non-Polarized (non-electrolytic capacitors) Capacitors:

A. Electrolytic capacitors: these are polarized capacitors means they have

positive and negative terminals (+,-) and they have cylindrical shape.
Polarized Capacitors: Polarized capacitors must be inserted in the Proper
orientation with respect to applied voltage.

Non-polarized (non-electrolytic capacitors) capacitors: - mean that they can

be inserted into a circuit in any orientation.MICA, paper, ceramic, polyester
and polystyrene are such types.
Thesetypes of capacitors don‘t have any polarities. They are many types in
shape and function.

1. Mica capacitorThis type of capacitor is used for line filter current usually
in the combination inductor. As known at the entry there are so many
types of signals like heat, sound (hash), spark but they aren‘t in for
electrical components. So inductor avoids high frequency signal unwanted
signals and capacitor unwanted low frequency signals.

Generally known as silver mica capacitors, these rendered clamped mica

capacitors obsolete. Instead of being clamped with foils these are assembled
from sheets of mica coated on both sides with deposited metal. The assembly is
dipped in epoxy. The advantages are

2. Disk type and ceramic capacitors

Variable value capacitors

These types of capacitors which are normally

used as tuning in radio receiver.

Function of capacitor

 AC filter avoiding unwanted signals like hash heat spark (mica

capacitors)
 DC filter rectified signal by diodes isn‘t pure it has ripple. Capacitors
avoid these ripple electronic capacitors avoid these ripple.

 Coupling to join to active devices like transistors

7.3 VOLTAGE RATING OF CAPACITORS

Capacitors also have a voltage rating, usually stated as WV for Working
Voltage, or WVDC. This rating specifies the maximum voltage that can be
applied across the capacitors without puncturing the dielectric. Voltage ratings
for general purpose paper, mica, and ceramic capacitors are typically 200 to
500 VDC. Ceramic capacitors with ratings of 1 to 5kv are also available.
Electrolytic capacitors are commonly used in 25, 50, 100, 150, and 450v
ratings. In addition, 6 and 10V electrolytic capacitors are often used in
transistor circuits. Electrolytic capacitors have their capacitance, voltage
rating, and polarity printed on the case as shown in figure below.

22µF 16V

1000µF 35V

NB:Arrow Points to Negative

7.4 CAPACITANCE TOLERANCE

Ceramic disk capacitors for general applications usually have a tolerance of
+20 percent. Paper capacitors usually have a tolerance of +10 percent. For
closer tolerances, mica capacitors are used. It has tolerance value of +2 to 20
percent. The letter after the capacitance numerical code indicates the tolerance
i.e.: M=20%; K=10%; J=5%. So a 103K capacitor is a 10,000 pF or 10 nF or
0.010 µF 10% capacitor with 10 % tolerance. Electrolytic capacitors have a
wide tolerance. For instant, a 100µF electrolytic with tolerance of –10 percent,
+20 percent may have a capacitance of 90 to 120µF.

Capacitors can be classified as variable value and fixed value capacitors

Testing of capacitors

 Visual inspection electrolytic capacitors may blown out

 By continuity test in normal circumstance capacitors read increasingly
and returns to 1
 By hot test measuring the voltage DC voltage that capacitors store
 Measuring capacitance value the best way but difficult due to cost of
capacitance meter

Defects in capacitors

 May be blown automatically change

 Short Reads 000 by continuity
 Open reads 1 by continuity test
 Leakage it reads constant numberlike 100

7.5 HOW TO DISCHARGE CAPACITOR

Capacitor discharge is the first thing you should do as an electronic repairer
before touching the power supply section. The large filter capacitor in the
power supply section can hold dangerous high voltage even if the unit has been
off for a time. It is advisable to discharge the filter capacitor first before you
start to troubleshoot in order protect yourself from electrocuted.

Though the capacitor current stored in the capacitor can‘t kill you but it is
enough to burn your hand, fingers and your skin when you accidentally touch
it and the worst case is while you‘re carrying the monitor or TV. You might just
throw off the equipment when you got a shocked from the filter capacitor and
the cathode ray tube monitor may break and cause the flying glasses to hit
your body or eyes.

Just be cautious when handling the power

These two wires connects to the filter
supply area. You can always use a meter capacitor pins either ways
to confirm whether there is still charge in
the capacitor. Place your meter‘s black
probe to the capacitor negative pin (you
can see the negative marking at the sleeve
of the capacitor) and the red probe to other
pin. If there is high voltage registered in
your meter then you have to discharge the
capacitor otherwise you may proceed to
repair the equipment. Typical value for this
type of filter capacitor is 220 to 330
microfarad with a 400 to 450 voltage
rating.

Another method is that you can use a 100

watt electric light bulb and touch the two
wires coming out from the light bulb on the
leads of the capacitor. This method had
been used by many electronic repairers
around the world for the light bulb will act
You can use a 100 watt
as an indicator to see if the capacitor still
light bulb to discharge the
holds the charge. If there is a charge, the filter capacitor.
light bulb will light and after discharged
the light bulb will go off.

First you must find the primary winding of the SMPT. It is very easy by simply
referring to the figure below. Look at the positive sign of the big filter capacitor.
Note: make sure you discharge it first by referring to the capacitor topic. Trace
from the positive pin and eventually you will reach one of the SMPT pin. Now
trace from the centre pin of the power FET. Again this FET pin will lead you to
one of the pin of SMPT as shown from the figure. Remove the SMPT and test
the two pins with the coil/fly back tester.
CAUTIONS: Never use a capacitor into a circuit with higher voltages than the
capacitor is rated for otherwise it becomes hot and may explode.
It‘s all right to replace a 0.22µF of 200WV capacitor with one rated
0.22µF, 250WVDC

7.6 CAPACITOR SAFETY

A capacitor can store a charge for some time after equipment is power off. High
voltage electrolytic caps, and even large value, low voltage electrolytic, can pose
a safety hazard. Usually these caps are in power supplies, and almost have a
resistor in parallel with the cap(s), called a bleeder resistor, to discharge the
cap after power is switched off. If a bleeder resistor is open, or there is none,
then the cap can retain a voltage charge after the unit is unplugged.

Third method and also the most

favorite method are to place the leads
of a high wattage resistor on the
leads of the capacitors you want to
discharge.You can use either a 1.8 k
or a 2.2 kilo ohm 5 to 10 watt
resistor to discharge the high voltage
capacitor in a switch mode power
supplies. It is very simple to use and
very effective .It takes only a couple Use a resistor to discharge the capacitor leads

of seconds to fully discharge the

capacitor.

Please do not hold the two ends of the resistor with your finger, only hold the
body of the resistor. Otherwise your fingers may get discharge from the
capacitor! Using only one hand,you can do the job while the other hand you
still can hold a solder gun or secure the equipment casing.
I strongly recommend to those who are using the screw driver to discharge a
capacitor in power supply to consider the second and third method as these is
the safest methods. It not only protects the circuit, it also protects you. If you
had discharge the capacitor and you are still not sure or no confidence whether
the charge already gone, you can always use a meter to confirm it.

7.7 TESTING CAPACITOR

I am frustrated as to where be the cause of the power problem. Every time

when I switch on the monitor the fuse will blow immediately (the fuse became
dark color and this indicates that there is a major short circuit in the power
supply section or surrounding area which I‘ve already mentioned above). I have
tested all the components in the power supply section and can't find the cause
of the problem. Then, I began toSubstitute all the suspected parts one by one
and replaced with a good working component.

I eventually found the cause of the power supply problem. Guess what? It was
the main power filter capacitor problems (220 microfarad 400 working voltage).
After replacing the filter capacitor the fuse would not blow when switch on and
the power supply worked perfectly fine. I begin my detective work to explore
why this particular capacitor can caused the fuse to blow even though the filter
capacitor already confirmed working with all my faithful meters.The meters
that I used to test the filter capacitor were analogue multimeter, digital
capacitance meter and the famous ESR meter. I assumed that many of you
who read this book already know how to perform capacitor measurement with
all the meters I‘ve just explained in previous section.

Using an analogue meter to measure this filter capacitor showed capacitor is

charging and discharging (meaning the pointer will flick up and then gradually
goes down), test with a digital capacitance meter showed around 220
microfarad (still within the capacitor tolerance range) and with the most
powerful electrolytic capacitor tester which is the ESR meter, it showed a low
ESR reading which is also a good reading! Then, how do I know if the filter
capacitor is faulty since all the meters tested ok on the filter capacitor?What
I‘ve checked on the filter capacitor is just the value, ESR and the charging and
discharging test but another test you should not miss out which is the
capacitor dielectric or leakage test. Use this test only when you want to check
capacitors that have working voltage exceeding 250 volt. By using an analogue
insulation meter you will be able to test the capacitor leakage.

7.7.3 TESTING CERAMIC CAPACITOR

The ceramic capacitor leakage quite often happened when there is a high
voltage applied into it. Under normal testing with a digital capacitance meter or
an analogue meter will not revealed any symptoms and you may think that the
ceramic capacitor that you checked is ok. If you skip that capacitor, the
chances for you to repair the equipment are very slim. In computer monitor,
the ceramic disc capacitor and high voltage resin coated type is frequently
found in the power supply, high voltage and cathode ray tube monitor area.
When it fails, it can cause erratic or intermittent problem to the monitor such
as blinking display, no display, missing one of the color bar and etc.

Resin Coated Ceramic DiscCapacitors

Using analogue and digital capacitance meter won‘t accurately test the ceramic
capacitor failure even out of circuit. A ceramic capacitor leakage in electronic
board can pull down the voltage and cause a lot of intermittent problem to the
equipment. I will explain to you my true life experienced about this type of
capacitor. In computer monitor Cathode ray tube (CRT) board, the screen line
(G2) has about 200 to 600 volt. The ceramic capacitor in the screen voltage line
is usually rated at 102, 103, and 472 and voltage rating of 1kilovolt to 2
kilovolt.

If this ceramic capacitor dielectric breakdown, it can pull down the screen
voltage to a very low level and causing no display or picture. There is no way
for an ohmmeter with 12v output and a digital capacitance with 3V output to
accurately check the ceramic disk capacitor that have the voltage rating of 1-2
kilovolt or even 3 kilo volt in certain types of circuitsuch as the inverter circuit
in LCD monitor.So the right way to check the ceramic capacitor leakage is to
use an insulation tester. If you have the analogue insulation tester or meter,
the meter panel will show a short circuit when certain voltage are applied to
check the ceramic capacitor dielectrics or materials. The voltages that you can
select is depends on the brand or model you had. Some have the range of 50v
to 1000v and some have the range from 100v to 5000v. It is optional whether
you should have one.

If you have one then it would be an added advantage to you. The other option
that you have is to direct replace the suspected failure ceramic capacitor. In my
country, you can get a new one in less than US150 or you may bid a used unit
from eBay. Sometimes you don‘t need any meter to test the ceramic disc
capacitor because the burnt marked in its coating already proven it has gone
through some serious heat or high temperature and need to be change.
Ceramic capacitor manufacturer produced many construction and types of
capacitors, and if the ceramic disc capacitor always failed even though you had
replaced a new one then try another type which is the resincoated ceramic disk
capacitor. Replacing a higher voltage rating than the original one may also help
to prolong the life of the ceramic capacitor.

Checking the primary winding resistance

with a digital multimeter

The primary winding has more loop or turn

than secondary winding; thus the meter
read 0.768 kilo ohms.
With power off, remove the transformer from the board and perform a
resistance or continuity test on primary and secondary winding as shown on
the picture of transformer below. If there is no resistance or ohms reading on
the primary and secondary winding measured, suspect an open winding and
the transformer need to be replaced. The advantage of this method is you are
safe because no power is applied to the transformer. The disadvantage is
checking the resistance for ohms reading is not as accurate as when you
perform a ringing test mentioned on the third method. A shorted primary or
secondary winding is still checked well under resistance tests. However the
good news is when either the primary or secondary winding developed a short
circuit, it will usually produced a bad smell and the transformer gets very hot
on its core or casing.

DIODE
Diodes are two terminal components. Diodes are mostly used to convert
AC to DC i.e. rectification. This is due to diodes block the flow of voltage from
cathode to anode. Diodes mostly have two terminals that is cathode and anode
diodes are polarized component that anode (+) and cathode (-) terminal.

Biasing of diodes
Biasing is applying DC voltage. Applying dc voltage specifically to diodes has
two options

Case 1applying positive (+) DC to anode and (-) DC to cathode

In this case by principle of charge attraction i.e. like charges repeal and unlike
charges attract positive charge of battery repeals anode of diode in other way
negative charge of battery repeals cathode of diode in turn making the gap
narrower. So current can flow.

Case 2 applying positive (+) DC to cathode and (-) DC to anode so in this

casepositive charge of battery anode of diode in other way negative charge of
battery repeals cathode of diode in turn making the gap narrower. So current
can not flow.

So in diode current can flow in only one direction this is the basic point in
maintenance. The direction of current flow is from anode to cathode only. Since
diodes made up materials like silicon and germanium due to the resistance
nature of this materials there is voltage drop that 0.7v constant in silicon
diodes.

The voltage drop of a diode is almost constant whatever the current passing
through the diode so they have a very steep characteristic (current-voltage
graph) as shown in figure besides. When areverse voltage is applied a perfect
diode does not conduct, but all real diodes leak a very tiny current of a few µA
or less. This can be ignored in most circuits because it will be very much
smaller than the current flowing in the forward direction. However, all diodes
have a maximum reverse voltage (usually 50V or more) and if this is exceeded
the diode will fail and pass a large current in the reverse direction, this is
called breakdown

Types of diodes
Ordinary diodes can be split into two types: Signal diodes which pass small
currents of 100mA or less and rectifier diodes which can pass large currents.
In addition there are light emitting diodes (LEDs) and Zener diodes. But by
their electronic application and physical structure diodes can be classified as
below

1. Rectifier diodes they mostly used to rectify AC to DC

As shown below the white stripe negative terminal of diode but the black end
anode (+)

Ordinary signal diodes (like 1N4148) are designed for high speed, low leakage
and low capacitance. They can handle currents up to about 100 mA with
breakdown voltages rarely exceeding 100 volts. Rectifier diodes are used in
power supplies to convert alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC), a
process called rectification. They are also used elsewhere in circuits where a
large current must pass through the diode. All rectifier diodes are made from
silicon and therefore have a forward voltage drop of 0.7 V. For large current
applications, the diode drop can be taken as 1.2 volt for a single diode (2.4
volts for a bridge rectifier). Rectifier diodes and bridges they can sustain
currents up to 1 to 25 amps with surge currents even much greater. Their
breakdown voltages range from 100 volts to 1000 volts. Their leakage is
relatively high and junction capacitors are large making them unsuitable for
signal operations. Table below shows maximum current and maximum reverse
voltage for some popular rectifier diodes. The 1N4001 is suitable for most low
voltage circuits with a current of less than 1A.
 Maximum Reverse
Diode Maximum Current
Voltage

1N4001 1A 50V

1N4002 1A 100V

1N4007 1A 1000V

1N5401 3A 100V

1N5408 3A 1000V

There are four factors that must be considered in selection:

1. Average rectified forward current (IF) (averaged over a full cycle of operation).
For famous 1N400x series it is 1 ampere.
2. Surge current (ISFM) is the maximum (peak) safe current for a given number
of cycles. For 1N400x series it is about 30 A.
3. Peak inverse voltage (PIV), VRM is the maximum reverse voltage that can be
applied across the diode before the onset of the avalanche breakdown.
Values vary from 50 volts (1N4001) to a maximum of 1000 volts (1N4007).
4. Forward voltage drop (VF) is the DC voltage drop across the forward biased
diode while the specified forward current IF is
flowing through. For 1N400x, VF ~ 1volt at IF =
1 A.q

2. Zenerdiodes:they are used to regulate voltage. The black terminal is

negative whereas the positive terminal is red ended.
3. Light emitting diodesthis types of diodes can be used to covert
electrical energy to light energy. Mostly these types of diodes are not
applicable but used in display system to indicate the functionality of the
system.Light emitting diode (LED) is a diode that produces light when
current flows through it, when it is forward bias. The LED does not emit
light when it is revered-biased. The LED is used as a low current indicator
lamp in many types of consumer and industrial equipments, such as
monitors,

Typical LED

TV, printers, hi-fi systems and machinery control panels. The plastic lens is
very important in directing and modifying the small amount of light emitted by
the LED chip. Light can be visible, such as red, green, yellow and white. It is
label as ―LED‖ in circuit board.

An LED only needs about 2v across its anode and cathode terminals to make it
emit light. If a higher voltage is used, the current which flows through it may be
high enough to damage it. In order to limit current when an LED is used at
higher voltages, a resistor must be connected in series with it.The cathode of the
LED is identified on the package by the flat side on the plastic. The life
expectancy of LED is about 100,000 hours.

FUNCTIONS OF DIODES

RectificationFrom the most basic functions in electronics the one is

rectification which carried out by diode since active components like IC
 regulators in main board needs in order DC to be functional to do this diode
take a mandate. Rectification can be done in the following way

Hafe-Waverectifier Diode

Using one diode to convert AC to DC as stated above the diode blocks one side
of AC signal and allows the other side that result half wave rectified signal. So
this is difficult to purify this signal. Because it has high gap in addition to
ripples especially for low frequency signal like 50Hz rectifying by using one
diode is difficult. Using full wave rectification will be the solution for this
defect.Butfor high frequency signals like in secondary part of switching mode
power supply using one diode is effective.

VmSin~t

220Vrms DI +
50 Hz
RL

Full-Wave rectifier Diode

1. By using two diodes
Using such type connection is now rarely applicable because it is less efficient
but still in center tap transformer it may be applicable.
 A full-wave rectified power supply with a center-tapped transformer

An alternative and mostly used form is the bridge rectifier that uses four diodes
but does not require a center tapped transformer. The figure shown below
illustrates the bridge rectifier and its output wave form. Yielding a much
reduced ripple factor that is r = 0.483.It can be made using four individual
diodes, but it is also available in special packages containing the four diodes
required as shown in figure below. It is called a full-wave rectifier because it
uses the entire AC wave (both positive and negative sections). The output
voltage is two diode drops below the input voltage. Rest of the parameters is the
same as above. Bridge rectifiers are rated by the maximum current they can
pass and the maximum reverse voltage they can withstand (this must be at
least three times the supply RMS voltage so the rectifier can withstand the
peak voltages).

2. By using 4 diodes
In most electronic components
As shown above the four diodes are connected (+,-) of diodes in AC sides and
(+, +) and (-,-) of diodes in output or DC sides.
+

Current or Voltage

0 Time

-
The bridge rectifier and its output waveform

3. By using bridge IC if there is no way to use 4 diodes and bride IC

simultaneously

As shown below bridge IC can be used instead of four diodes. The two inner
terminals are where AC signals input where as the end two legs are terminal
where rectified output obtained.

4. Regulation- making the output constant whatever the input is this is done
by zener diode.
Figure below illustrates the full-wave rectified power supply with a bridge
rectifier.

TESTING OF DIODES

Diodes are mostly exposed to failure the sever problem is being short and open.
To be absolutely sure, you will need to lift, or disconnect, one diode lead from
the circuit to avoid back circuits. Unless you are very sure about the board you
are checking.

The real problem when testing a diode using the diode test function of a digital
meter is that an open or leaky diode, the meter sometimes reads okay. This is
due to the digital meter diode testoutput voltage (which you can measure the
output test probe using another meter) is around 500mv to 2v.

1. By physical inspection: -check whether the terminal disconnected or not or

any problem that can be tested by any physical inspection.

2. By continuity test:

Testing Rectifier Diodes

when we connect + terminal of digital multi-meter to anode of diode and –
terminal of multi-meter to cathode of diode it reads from 100-800 if we reverse
this i.e. + terminal to cathode of diode – terminal to anode of diode it reads
open i.e. 1Connecting the red probe of your meter to the cathode and black
probe to the anode, the diode is forward biased and the meter should read
some value of resistance. Touch the black probe of your meter to the cathode
and red probe to the anode, the diode is reverse biased and should look like an
open reading-the meter pointer not moving. If you get two readings then most
probably the diode is shorted or leaky and you should replace it.

To test a diode using a multimeter with a diode-check feature, perform

thesesteps:
1. Dial the meter to the diode-check setting.
2. Apply the test probes of the meter to the diode. Observe proper polarity:
Attach the red test lead to the anode (negative terminal) of the diode, and the
black test lead to the cathode (the positive terminal; the cathode has a stripe
so that you can identify it).Remember to avoid touching the test probes with
your fingers.
3. Observe the reading.
4. Reverse the probes and test again. Here the display value is:

First Test Second Test Test Condition

About 5* Over Range Good

Over Range Over Range Bad Open

Zero Zero Bad - Short

Testing Zener Diode

Method of testing zener diode is totally different from testing diode. You need
an analogue meter to do the job. Before you start to test any zener diode, you
must first understand the marking or part number and then look for the
voltage ratings. Once you know the zener diode voltage from your favorite data
book such as the Philip ECG semiconductor master replacement guide then it
is easy to check with your meter to see if it leak, open or shorted.

A wrong part number installed may cause your equipment to malfunction and
behave strangely. Precious time and money were loss due to that we lack of
knowledge in zener diode spec identification. If you can‘t find out what the code
is or part number means, then it is very difficult to repair the equipment. Do
not worry as this book here is to guide you to successfully on how to read the
zener diode marking.

2.4=2.4 Volt zener diode

2V4=2.4 Volt

10= 10 Volt

10V= 10 Volt

BZX85C18=18 Volt 1 watt zener diode (you have to refer to Philips ECG
Semiconductors Transistor Cross Reference Guide)

BZY85C18=18 Volt 1/2 watt zener diode

Note: There is also part number such as BZVXXXXX where you have to find it
from Philips ECG Semiconductor Book.

1N4746= 18 Volt 1 watt zener diode

Sometimes a normal signal glass type

diode you may think is a zener diode
thus you will not get the exact
measurement.

If you have confirmed that the diode you want to measure is zener diode then
you can proceed to use my method to accurately test it. For your knowledge, a
zener diode with 2.4 volt to 12 volt should have two readings when test with an
analogue meter set to times 10K ohm range. But these readings are not shorted
reading!Let me guide you, when you put your meter probes across the zener
diode of 2.4 volt using the times 10 k ohm range, one way will show a full scale
reading (red probe to cathode and black probe to anode) which mean the
pointer will point towards the 0 ohms scale, if you now connect the probe the
other way (black probe to cathode and red probe to anode) the pointer will
point to around 2- 4 ohms!

If both ways of testing caused the pointer to point to zero ohms, then the zener
diode is considered shorted. When you measure a 5.1 volt zener diode as usual,
one way will point to zero ohms while the other way will show a higher
resistance which is in the 20 to 60 ohms. These are the characteristic of a good
working zener diode and don‘t think that the meter shows two reading means
the zener diode is faulty.

If you get two reading when you measure a normal diode, then the diode is
shorted. As it is mentioned above, testing zener diode is totally different from
checking a normal diode.When you connect your probe and measure a 13 volt
zener diode and above voltage, it should show only one reading using the times
10 K ohms range. That's mean when you are touching the red probe to the
cathode and black probe to the anode. Reversing the probe should not show
any reading.If the result shows two readings then the zener diode is confirmed
to be shorted or have developed a leakage. Start measuring zener diode taken
out from your component's rack or from scraped electronic board, compare a
good zener diode and a shorted one and see for yourself.If the result shows two
readings then the zener diode is confirmed to be shorted or have developed a
leakage. Start measuring zener diode taken out from your component's rack or
from scraped electronic board, compare a good zener diode and a shorted one
and see for yourself.

Write it down in your book what are the results that you get when comparing
and checking a good and a bad zener diode. It would not take you a long time
to become familiar in testing a zener diode accurately. One more tip, replace
only a zener diode with the same or higher wattage. If possible use the exact
voltage and watt if you want the equipment that you repair to last longer.

Light-Emitting Diode (LED)

A light-emitting diode is like a standard diode in the fact that electrical current
only flows in one direction. The main difference is an LED will emit light when
electricity flows through it. Inside an LED there is an anode and cathode.
Current always flows from the anode (+) to the cathode (-) and never in the
opposite direction. The longer leg of the LED is the positive (anode) side.

Testing Light Emitting Diode (LED)

Remember that the LED only emits light when it is forward bias and the LED
does not emit light when it is revered-biased. If LED does not emit light when it
is forward bias, then it has developed an open circuit and should be replaced.
Power must be off when check the LED.

Testing Bridge Rectifier

Set your meter to diode and place your meter probes to + and ~ AC pin. It
doesn‘t matter which probes to which pin but as long as it won‘t show two
similar low resistances reading registered by your meter when you reverse the
probes, it is okay. It should have only one reading. Next, again place your
probes to the + and to another ~ AC pin (there are two ―~‖ AC symbol in bridge
rectifier) and should have only one reading even though you had reversed the
probes.Similarly when you want to test the – (negative) with the first ~ AC and
then – (negative) with the other ~ AC. Look at the photos and you should
understand it. Assuming when you found one of the diode shorted in the bridge
rectifier, you have to replace the whole package. Replace it with the same or
higher voltage and ampere rating!

 Voltage measurement from cathode to anode no voltage flow.

Defects of diodes

 It may be short reads 000 by continuity test in any side

 It reads some number in both sides
 It reads 1 in both sidesIf you don't get any reading either forward or
reverse bias, the diode is considered open circuit

TRANSISTORS
Transistors are solid –state devices similar in some way to the diodes you have
studied. Transistors are more complex and can be used in many more ways.
They are very important and can be found in almost all modern electronic
equipment. Transistor is made up of two diodes by connecting back to back.
Unlike a diode, a transistor has three leads or terminals. The three transistor
leads are designated as Base (B), Collector (C), and Emitter (E).
BJT (Bipolar Junction Transistor)

C C

B B

E E

NPN PNP
There are two configurations for a commonBJT transistor: NPN (negative-
positive-negative) and PNP (positive-negative-positive).Notice the difference
symbols for NPN and PNP transistor. The emitter arrow points away from the
transistor body for an NPN and toward the transistor body for PNP. As
maintenance technician it is common buying transistors from market for
replacement.

A Typical Transistor Found in Electronic Circuits

NB:Note that S is used to indicate a semiconductor. If you found a transistor

with the part number of C945, you will immediately know that it is a NPN
transistor.
MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor)

D
D

G
G

S S

N ChannelMosfet P Channel

Typical Example N-channel FET (K1118)

Typical Example P-channel FET (J512)
MOSFET stands for Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor or
we just called it FET. Switch mode power supply and many other circuits use
FET transistors as part of a circuit. Mosfet failure and leakage are quite high in
a circuit and you need to know how to accurately test it. FET is label as ―Q‖ in
circuit board.

Measuring component's that have two leads such as the resistors, capacitors
and diodes are much easier than measuring transistor and FET which have
three legs. Many electronic repairers have difficulty especially checking the
three leads components. First, find out the gate, drain and source pin out from
semiconductor replacement book or search its datasheet from search engine.

Assuming you are testing the n channel mosfet then put the black probe to the
drain pin.Touch the gate pin with the red probe to discharge any internal
capacitance in the mosfet. Now move the red probe to source pin while the
black probe still touching the drain pin. Use your right finger and touch the
gate and drain pin together and you will notice the analogue multimeter
pointer will move forward to centre range of the meter's scale.

Lifting the red probe from the source pin and putting it back again to the
source pin; the pointer will still remain at the middle of the meter's scale. To
discharge it you have to lift the red probe and touch just one time on the gate
pin. This will eventually discharge the internal capacitance again. At this time,
use the red probe to touch on the source pin again, the pointer would not kick
at all because you have already discharge it by touching the gate pin. These are
the good mosfet characteristic. You need to practice more by taking some FET
from your bench or from your component‘s compartment. Once you know the
secrets, testing other mosfet is as simple as testing diode.

TRANSISTOR HEAT SINK: The heat generated by current flowing between the
collector and emitter junctions of a transistor causes its temperature to rise.
This heat must be conducted away from the transistor otherwise the
temperature rise may be high enough to irreparably damage the P-N junctions
inside the transistor. Power transistors produce a lot of heat, and are therefore
usually mounted to a piece of aluminum with fins, called a heat sink.

The heat sink draws heat away from the transistor, allowing the transistor to
handle more power than if there were no heat sink. Low power signal
transistor; do not normally require heat sinking. Some transistors have a metal
body thus a mica sheet has to be used to prevent the body from touching the
heat sink.

Heat sink

Transistor Mica Sheet

TRANSISTOR SPECIFICATIONS:

Diodes are numbered 1N for example 1N4148, 1N4007, 1N5408 and etc.
Transistors are numbered 2N for example 2N3904, 2N3906 and etc. The first
digit is the number of junctions. However, Japanese transistors have different
type numbers. The following designations are generally used.

Japanese
European
Transistors Type Typical example
Type
Number

2SA A PNP, High 2SA733=A733

 frequency
PNP, Low
2SB B 2SB861=B861
frequency
NPN, High
2SC C 2SC5048=C5048
frequency
NPN, Low
2SD D 2SD2125=D2125
frequency
2SJ J P-Channel FET 2SJ306=J306
2SK K N-Channel FET 2SK792=K792

TRANSISTOR’S FUNCTION:

The main operational characteristic of a transistor is that a small voltage

placed on one of the three leads can control a large amount of current flow
through the other two leads. This enables a transistor to perform two basic
functions:

Switching: A transistor can act as an electronic switch, turning current flow

ON and OFF. They can be used in pulse generating which can be used as input
for chopper transformer this basic function of transistors that add new feature
in any electronic equipment those switching transistors in any power supply
are switching transistors.

Amplification: A transistor can amplify a signal, making it larger in amplitude.

Since the transistor is capable of amplifying a signal, it is said to be anactive

components. Devices such as resistors, capacitors, inductorsand diodes are not
able to amplify and are therefore known aspassive components.Either type
transistor, NPN or PNP, can perform essentially the same function in an
electronic circuit. The main difference between an NPN and a PNP transistor in
a circuit is the direction in which electrons flow between emitter and collector.
Regulation As the name suggests, this electronic
component ―regulates‖ an output voltage. Pin 1 is
the input DC voltage, pin 2 is the ground and pin
3 is the output. As the circuitry adds more load to
 a power supply, the output voltage tends to drop.
A regulator circuit (voltage regulator) keeps the
output voltage steady, in spite of changes in the
load.Put it simple, any DC voltage from 7V to
about 38 V enters the pin 1 of 7805 voltage
regulator then expect a +5 V output at pin 3. Any
voltage in between 7V to 38V will cause the voltage
regulator to produce a steady 5V output. Do not
exceed the 38 V rating otherwise the voltage
regulator may burn.

You may check from the internet or any semiconductor data book (preferably
ECG master replacement guide) about the specification of any voltage
regulator. Some famous part number uses in electronic circuits are 7805,
7812, 7905, and 7912. Part numbers that start with 78XX have positive output
while the 79XX series have negative output.

A 7805 output 5 volts

voltage regulator found in
electronic circuit board

For your information the input voltage must have at least two volts higher than
the input voltage. That‘s mean if you want to get a 12 V output from a 7812
voltage regulator, the input voltage have to be at least 14 V and above. Don‘t
expect to use a 5 V dc input to produce 12 V output, this way won‘t work!
The AC transformer (linear transformer) converts the main line AC voltage to
another lower AC voltage and the lower AC voltage will flow to both the diodes.
The function of the diodes is to convert the AC voltage to DC voltage and the
1000uf capacitor is use to filter off the ripple in the line. The clean DC voltage
(assuming 7 Volts) is now entering pin 1 of 7805 voltage regulator IC as input
voltage. Pin 2 is connected to ground and pin 3 will be the output which is +5
Volts.

The 0.1uf capacitor at the output line again acts as filter to remove high
frequency interference.

12.3 TESTING TRANSISTOR AND IDENTIFYING THE TERMINAL

One can use a digital or analog multimeter to test most bipolar transistors. The
test doesn‘t give you conclusive results, but it does provide a useful method of
finding out if you have a defective transistor. Bipolar transistors are essentially
two diodes in one package. You can therefore test the transistor by using the
same methodology that we describe in the section ―testing diodes‖ earlier.
Follow these steps (which assume that your multimeter has a diode-check
feature) to determine if the component is good or bad:
1. Set the meter to the diode-check setting.
2. Connect the red and black leads to the terminals of the transistor.
3. Take the reading and note the result. Refer to the table below for the results
you should look for when testing a good transistor

Junction Test Reading

Conduction in one direction only

Base-emitter (BE) junction
Conduction in one direction only
Base-collector (BC) junction
No conduction in either direction
Collector emitter (CE)
junction
Testing with a multimeter can permanently damage some types of transistors,
especially the FET (field effect transistor) type! Use this test with bipolar
transistors only. Data books show these types of transistors with terminals
marked as base, emitter, and collector. Schematic diagrams show the bipolar
PNP and NPN resistors with either of the symbols shown here. If you‘re not
sure whether you have a bipolar transistor, look it up in a data sheet before
testing. You can find data sheets on the internet by doing a Google or Yahoo
search for the component you‘re interested in. Try searching by:
―2n2222datasheet”.
If your multimeter is equipped with a transistor-checking feature, use that
feature rather than the method that we give you here. Consult the manual that
came with your meter for the exact procedure because it varies from one model
to another.

12.4 TESTING HORIZONTAL OUTPUT TRANSISTOR

Damper Diode
If you are repairing Television
and Computer Monitor, I am sure
you had seen a horizontal output
transistor (HOT) before. This
transistor is use to switch the
flyback transformer and prone to
become defective due to the
stress of dealing with high Horizontal Output Transistor (HOT)
voltage. A shorted HOT will
usually caused no power, low
power, power cycling and power
to shutdown. The HOT is mainly
a NPN transistor.
Testing of transistor

Let’s say their terminals A, B, C by continuity test there are three option
in measuring AB, AC, BC from these option

 No reading must be 000

 One reading must open
 Two reading must be 100- 800

It is very easy to check on board if the HOT is shorted or not. Use your
analogue meter set to X 1 Ohm and place the back probe to centre reading the
HOT is considered shorted.

Conclusion: If you measure base (black probe) and collector (red probe) it
should have reading.

 If you measure base (black probe) and emitter (red probe) it should have
reading.
 If you measure collector (black probe) and base (red probe) it should have no
reading.
 If you measure collector (black probe) and emitter (red probe) it should have
no reading
 If you measure emitter (black probe) and base (red probe) it should have
reading.
 If you measure emitter (black probe) and collector (red probe) it should have
reading.

Overall a good HOT should have 4 readings and if you get 5 or 6 readings the
HOT is considered shorted.

12.5 TESTING SILICON CONTROLLED RECTIFIER (SCR)

Testing SCR can be done by using an analogue multi meter or specialize tester
(such as the Peak electronic atlas component analyzer-
http://www.peakelec.co.uk) designed to check semiconductor devices easily.
SCR can be found in many electronic circuits. Part numbers such as the
FOR3G and MCR 100-6 were very common used in computer monitor.Some
called SCR as thyristor but in actual fact the word thyristor should not be
associated exclusively with the silicon controlled rectifier. It is in fact a general
name given to all four layer PNPN devices including the commonly used SCR.
The diac, the triac, and the SCS are the other popular devices belonging to the
family of thyristors.

SCR consists of three pin of Gate (G), Anode (A) and Cathode (C). In order to
identify the pin out, one must find it from semiconductor data book such the
famous Philips ECG master semiconductor replacement guide. The data book
will list out the general specification of the SCR such as the volt and ampere.
You may go to google.com search engine and key in the part number and get
the SCR specification. Usually the SCR manufacturers will provide the full
datasheet for those who want it.

Once you know

the pin outs of
the G, A and C
legs you can
begin to test the
SCR. If you have
the Peak
electronic atlas
component
analyzer tester,
what you need
to do is to
connect the
three small clips
to each pin of
the SCR (any
part number will
do).

The tester will begin to analyze the SCR and prompt you with the display such
as ―Sensitive or low power thyristor‖ before it tells you the exact pin outs of G,
A and C. After the first test, the tester will eventually show you the answer at
the LCD display. Red is Gate, Green is Cathode and Blue is Anode. It is a
simple process and you will know the answer in less than 10 seconds. If there
is a problem in the SCR, the tester would not be able to show the results
instead it shows a shorted reading.

If you don‘t have this tester for checking SCR, you are going to be shown
another easy way on how to test SCR fast. Place the red probe to the Cathode
and black probe to the Anode pin. At this time the meter doesn‘t show any
reading. Now gently move the black probe and touch the Gate pin (the black
probe still touching the Anode pin). You would notice that the resistance
continues to be there (low resistance). This is due to the conduction of SCR as
the meter battery is usually able to supply current more than the holding
current.

If at this stage you removed the black probe from the Anode pin and connect it
back, the pointer will dropped back to infinity (high resistance). If the SCR
could hold the resistance then the SCR is considered good. If it can‘t hold then
the SCR is faulty.
Conclusion: Practice testing SCR more often to see how‘s the result like. Try
some different part numbers and power SCR-and if the resistance don‘t hold
using X1 ohm, you may try X10 ohm and et

Defects in transistor

Transistor can fail in a number of different ways. Transistors have forward and
reverse current and voltage ratings like diodes do. Exceeding either rating can
destroy a transistor. A bad transistor may short-circuit from the ―base‖ to the
―collector‖ or from the ―base‖ to the ―emitter‖. Sometimes a transistor is
damaged so badly that short circuits develop between all three of the leads. A
short-circuit often allows a large current to flow, and causes the faulty
transistor to heat up. The transistors also can developed open circuit between
―base‖ to ―collector‖ or ―base‖ to ―emitter‖.

The first step in identifying a bad transistor is to check for signs of overheating.
A bad transistor may appear to be burnt or melted. When the equipment is
switched off, you can touch the transistor to see if it feels unusually hot. The
amount of heat you feel should be proportional to the size of the transistor‘s
heat sink. If the part has a large heat sink, you can expect it to be too hot but
not until the extend of burning the hand or fingers. If the transistor has no
heat sink, yet is very hot, you can suspect a problem. ―DO NOT TOUCH A
TRANSISTOR IF IT IS PART OF THE CIRCUITRY THAT CARRIES 240VAC‖.
Always switch off the equipment before touching any components.

TRANSISTOR REPLACEMENT

If for some reason, you can‘t get the exact replacement, refer to one of the
transistor substitution guides, and try to identify a ―near replacement‖.
Beware, however a substitution guide will sometimes list a replacement for
your part, even though the two parts are not very similar. The important
parameters are: Voltage, Ampere, and Wattage. The replacement part should
have a voltage, ampere and wattage rating equal to or higher than the original.
The best is to get an exact part number for transistor- it‘s worth the trouble.

Points To Remember When Replacing Transistor With Substitutes:

 Polarity of the transistor i.e. whether it is PNP or NPN.

 Substitute transistor should have almost same voltage, current and wattage
rating.
 Whether transistor which is being replaced is of low frequency or high
frequency type.
 Whenever replacing transistor see that base, collector and emitter are
soldered in their proper position.
 While replacing transistor desoldering pump must be used and soldering
iron should not be kept for longer time, it may damage the transistor as well
as printed circuit board.

given without heat sink the transistor may get damaged.
 Whenever replacing horizontal output, switching output or power output
transistor, it should be kept in mind that mica sheet being used should not
be broken, otherwise output transistor collector will short with body and it
will go off immediately or the supply voltage will drop.
 Whenever replacing output transistor nut-bolt should not be too tight or
too loose.
 Horizontal output transistor, with integrated diode should be replaced
with the same type of transistor.
 Power supply

Power supply is the part of circuit which converts AC to DC and distributes it

to different part of electronic board in the very beginning of electronics the
major revolution is done in part of power supply.

The purpose of power supply is;

 To convert AC to DC
 To distribute DC to different part of electronic board
 To divide and step down voltage by required scale

Types of power supply

There are two basic type of power supply

1. Linearly regulated power supply

Linearly regulated power supply is the former most widely used power supply
type but currently it is not in use especially in electronic equipments. It limited
to radio receiver and CD players. It has four basic sections

 center tapped Transformer to step-down voltage in required scale

 Rectifier two diodes or 4 diodes to convert AC to DC
 DC filtering section electrolytic capacitor to make converted DC pure
 Regulator (optional)
 2. Switch Mode Power Supply
Switch mode power supply is the most widely used power supply. Currently it
is used in any electronic equipment except radio receiver and CD player. From
the basic revolutionary action that took on electronic equipment the first is
using switching circuit which takes advantage in size, cost, stability, efficiency
and others over linearly regulated power supply.

Comparison between linear and switch mode power supply

Compared to its linear counterparts, the ability of a switching supply to adjust

the output voltage continually under varying loading conditions is not as good.
It is essential to have a minimum load to operate and it does not work under
no load conditions. It is also slow in responding to transient changes at the
output (load). The table below explains comparison of linear and switching
mode power supplies

Parameter Linear Supply Switching supply

Efficiency 30 to 50% 60 to 80%

Can be problem unless
RF noise Usually negligible
shielded
Requires bulky 60 Hz Smaller, lighter. high-
Transformers
magnetic frequency magnetic

Ripple 1 to 5 mV peak to peak 10 to 40 mV peak to peak

Regulation 0.05 to 0.1% (VFull Load) 0.3 to 1% (VFull Load)

Power/Weight
14 Watts/kg (average) 7 Watts/kg (average)
Ratio
 Temperature
Rise ambient

Runs much hotter and

Cooler operation improves the
Reliability can
reliability
degrade reliability

Switch mode power supplies (SMPS) have been used for many years in industrial an
aerospace applications where good efficiency. Light weight and small size were of
prime concern. Today SMPS (often called ‗choppers or ‗switchers‘ are used extensively
in AC powered electronic devices such as computers, monitors, television receivers
and VCRS.

1. SMPS BENEFITS
A SMPS offers three main advantages over a conventional linear power supply:

1. High efficiency and less heat generation

2. Tighter regulation, and
3. Smaller size and weight.
Of these, greater efficiency is the biggest advantage

Conventional ‗linear‘ power supplies are inefficient because they regulate by dumping
the excess power in to heat. The AC power transformer, operating at 60 Hz, also
contributes to the inefficiency o f some power supplies. When all the inefficiencies are
added, conventional, linear power supplies are typically 40 – 50% efficient,while
switchers have efficiencies from 60 to 90%. This is very important when the designer
wants to reduce generated hear, reduce power costs, or increase battery life.

Another key benefit of a SMPS is their ability to closely regulate the output voltage.
Switchers adjust for changes in input voltage or load current, with little change in
efficiency. Switch mode supplies regulate continuously, and follow load changes
almostimmediately.In addition, switchers have the unique ability to maintain the
correct output under lowinput voltage conditions. In fact switchers can actually
produce an output voltage that is higher than the DC voltage applied to the input.
A final advantage of switchers is their relatively small size and weight. Because
switchers operate at high frequencies, the parts are physically smaller than those
needed for a conventional, 60 \Hz power supply of the same power rating. The
transformers, capacitors and coils are both physically smaller and lighter. This makes
them ideal for use in portable equipment.

13.4 GENERAL LAYOUT OF THE SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY

Sensor Signal

High Output Output

AC Input Input RF Circuit
Frequency Rectifier Filter DC
Input Rectifier Filter Switch
The figure shown above illustrates block diagram of a complete switching
Transformer
power supply. It has:
Output Circuit
Input Circuit
Switch mode power supply has the following basic sections;

 Protective circuit
 current protective circuit(fuse rating by A)
 voltage protective device by voltage dependent resistor(VDR)
 AC filter circuit protecting unwanted signal like heat, hash, spark etc this
is done by inductor and mica capacitor

Primary (input) rectifier used to rectify the 220 AC voltages to minimum of

270 DC with ripple this done by 4 diodes or bridge IC rectifier. It is similar to
those used in the linear power supply. However, the input in this case is the
line voltage directly. Thus, great care must be taken in handling the input
components due to large voltage involved. The bridge rectifier is used in almost
all applications. It develops its own ground reference and isolates the rest from
the AC line. In choosing the proper elements, the peak inverse voltage must be
at least 50% larger than the maximum peak voltage at the input, and the
forward current must be 2 to 5 times the average current required. A small
resistor or a thermistor connected between the bridge and the filter, capacitor
Error! Bookmark not defined, reduces surge currents that exist due to high
frequency switching at peak line voltage.

Primary DC filter used to filter the rectified DC to pure DC we can get

minimum of 270v DC in the capacitor. This is the most dangerous area even
after power turn of you may get electric shock. So there is safe way to avoid
this stored power by discharging.Smoothing is mostly performed by a large
value electrolytic capacitor connected across the DC supply to act as a
reservoir, supplying current to the output when the varying DC voltage from
the rectifier is falling. It uses the principle that the voltage across a capacitor
cannot change instantaneously. Hence, the capacitor behaves as an open
circuit to DC and short circuit to AC components of the rectified signal. Figure
below shows the unsmoothed varying DC (dotted line) and the smoothed DC
(solid line). The capacitor charges quickly near the peak of the varying DC, and
then discharges as it supplies current to the output.
Capacitor Charging
Capacitor Discharging
Current
+ Or +

Voltage

Time
Smoothing
Output smoothing using an electrolytic filter capacitor
The smoothing significantly increases the average DC voltage to almost the
peak value (1.4 × RMS value – diode voltage drops). For example 6V RMS AC is
rectified to the peak value of about 8.4V RMS, with smoothing this increases to
almost the peak value giving 6.4V smooth DC (2V is lost in the bridge rectifier).

The switching power supply relies on the switching regulator. Basically it

consists of a power source VIN, duty cycle switch S1 and an LC filter to provide
constant output voltage across the load RL.

Figure besides shows typical current and

switchinwaveforms. The switching transistor
chops the DC input in such a way that it
delivers constant volt-second energy pulses to
the integrator. In this respect, the switching
regulator is a power-controlled device and
opposed to the linear regulator that is a
current-controlled device. The integrated part
of the regulator (the LC filter) smoothes out
thepulsating DC. An inductor along with a
capacitor stores sufficient electrical energy
during the transistor on period to deliver to a
regulated output voltage the load during the
off period. Input rectifier and filter that
generates an unregulated DC from the power
lines directly. At some low-power regulators,
an input step-down transformer might be
used. The input filter serves three purposes:

 To smooth out spikes and high frequency transients with large peak
values and small volt-second integrals.
  To eliminate input ripple at the line frequency (50 Hz, 60 Hz or 400 Hz
depending upon the application) for a half-wave rectified input and double
the line frequency for a full-wave rectified input.
 To attenuate AC components produced by transistor switching.
 A transistor switch that operates at high frequency (between 20 kHz and 1
MHz) chops the input DC.
 A high-frequency transformer steps down the chopped signal to the desired
level.
 The output rectifier converts the signal from the transformer into
unregulated DC and the output filter smoothes out the output.

The transformer and output rectifier are not necessary if the input voltage is at
the same level asthe required output voltage. The output is sensed and used to
control the switching (on) time of the transistor.

They are similar to those used in linear regulators are utilized both for the
input and output. Input filters involve capacitors between 1000 and 2200 μF
(sometimes up to 5000 μF). Output filters may have capacitance up to 470 μF.
Working DC voltage rating (WVDC) of the input filter capacitors must be about
150% of the peak voltage that may appear at the output of the input rectifier.

Capacitors have been designed to have higher capacitance to volume ratio,

small equivalent series resistance (ESR) and series inductance for more
effective operation at high frequencies. Aluminum electrolytic capacitors are
used at the input filtering. It is preferable to place a tantalum or other low
value capacitor with much smaller ESR in parallel. This second capacitor is
generally placed close to the collector of the switching transistor. Multi-layer
ceramic capacitors are used for output filtering at high frequencies. Electrolytic
capacitors can also be used if the frequency of operation is low. High frequency
operation requires smaller capacitor size.

 Switching circuit as the name indicates switching circuit is the core area
where pulse is generated this area includes switching transistors that
 switches in a given frequency the pulse width modulator make the pulse
to the transformer

High-Frequency
Transformer
Switching
Output
Components
Unregulated Step Rectifier Regulated
DC Down and Filter
DC
Network
Modulated
Switching Pulses
Error
Amplifier
Output
Pulse-Width Voltage
Modulating Control
Circuit
Let‘s take closer look at the switcher block diagram shown in figure below. The heart
Reference
of all switch mode supplies is the transformer.
Voltage The switching transistor (SOT) is a
switch. When the switch is closed (the transistor is turned on) it provides a path for
current to flow through the transformer primary to ground. As we‘ll see a bit later,
changing how fast or how long the switch remains closed regulates the output
voltages.

DC Supply

DC Out

Control Switch

PWM Flyback
The current flow in the primary winding of the transformer produces an expanding
magnetic field which couples to the secondary winding through the core. As the
transistor is switched on and off the magnetic field alternately expands and collapses
in all of the transformer windings. By designing the transformer with different
secondary turn‘s rations, various amplitude pulses are produced at the output of each
secondary winding. The output of each winding is applied to high speed switching
diodes and filters which produce the DC output voltages of the SMPS.

It is important to remember that all of the windings are mutually coupled by the
magnetic field. If more power is applied to the primary winding, more power is
delivered to the secondary windings; if the voltage at one secondary winding increases
(or decreases), the voltages at the other windings change by an amount equal to the
turns ratio.

 Chopper transformer it divides the pulse input to required output

Secondary (output) rectifier the output of transformer is pulse and pulse is

not dc so we have convert this pulse signal to DC that is why secondary
rectifier needed for each voltage output one diode or rectifiers transistors used.
All three rectifier configurations discussed for the linear regulated supplies,
half-wave, full wave with a center-tapped transformer and full-wave with a
bridge rectifier are used.The half-wave is the simplest form but not very
effective. A full-wave rectifier either with acenter tapped-transformer or with a
bridge rectifier is mostly used.

Alternating Pulsating
 Signal DC Output




Chopped







 High-frequency rectifiers are needed. They represent largest single source of

generated heat in a power supply. Schottky rectifiers and fast-recovery
diodes are used. Schottky rectifiers are based on a metal-to-silicon junction
called the Schottky barrier and they are the faster of the two types. They
have small junction capacitances leading to smaller recovery times. Fast-
recovery diodes are also divided into several categories and they approach to
the Schottky diodes in terms of the recovery times.
 Secondary dc filter the rectified signal in the secondary is not pure so to
make these secondary rectifiers needed. Electrolytic capacitors are used for
each output
 Regulator the pure DC output may not constant to supply for different
active components in main board so we have to regulate the output voltage
before it rush out. Zener diodes or different regulator IC like transistors.
 Feedback circuit

Switch mode power supply is auto controlling system that corrects the output
at each instant to do this there is feedback circuit.

 Error amplifier mostly transistor TL431 which judges the output

whether increase or decrease is the decrease it feeds back negative value
if it increase it reads positive value
  Opt isolator photo coupler uses the electrical signal from error amplifier
and convert to light energy finally convert it electrical energy.

Pulse width modulator make correction to the desired value by changing the
pulse width.

PWM regulators vary the ―on‖ or conduction time of the switching transistor. Figure
below shows an example of pulse rate modulation.
40/60
Duty Cycle
40% 60%

20/80
Duty Cycle
80%
20%signal remains constant and only the duty cycle varies.
Note that the frequency of the
As the width of the pulse is increased. The switching transistor stays on longer, and
more energy is applied to the switching transformer. This produces an increase in the
DC output voltage (Unless the load is shorted, or draws excessive current). Likewise,
as the pulse width is made narrower, the transistor is on for a shorter amount of time,
and less energy is applied to the transformer.
GENERAL SMPS TROUBLESHOOTING A
The following sections provide a set of guidelines for attacking SMPSproblems.

1. First, determine that it is not something trivial like a blown fuse due to a legitimate
overload (that has since been removed).
2. Categorize the problem into startup problem, catastrophic failure, incorrect
outputs, or excessive ripple or noise.
3. Determine what the proper output voltages should be. Identify the main (regulated)
output.
4. Disconnect the supply from the equipment it is powering if possible. This will
prevent the possibility of expensive damage should the output voltages soar to
stratospheric levels for some reason.
5. Determine an appropriate load for the outputs; if not, connected to the equipment.
A typical SMPS will want a minimum of 5% to 20% of full load current at least on
the main output to regulate properly. Others may not need any load; it depends on
the design or they may have an internal load.

TROUBLESHOOTING SMPSs INTEGRATED CONTROLLERS

Since there are usually several fault conditions that can result in an aborted startup
or cycling behavior, the basic troubleshooting procedure needs to be modified when
dealing with SMPS using controller ICs like the UC3840 or UC3842.

 Startup Problems
 Check the power on the switch mode transistor and work back from there if there
is none.
 Check for open fusible resistors in the return as well.
 Check for power to the controller.
 Determine that no fault condition inputs have abnormal voltages during startup.
 Check for drive out of the controller IC and see if it reaches the switch mode
transistor. You will probably need to power cycle the line input, preferably with a
Variance, and monitor each of the relevant signals as you do so.
  Determine if the supply is shutting down abnormally due to a legitimate or bogus
over current or over voltage condition or is never actually starting up due to a
lack of a voltage or a stuck at fault on a sense line.
 Monitor its power to determine if it is stable during startup; a bad capacitor or
diode could result in insufficient or decreasing voltage which causes the
controller to give up
 Blows Fuses
 Check switches mode transistor and all other semi conductors for shorted
junctions.
 Then check switch ode for open fusible resistors and bad connection. There is a
chance that blown transistor took out the controller chip as well. Under normal
conditions, controllers like the UC3840 or UC3842 should current limit on a
PWM cycle-by-cycle basis. Therefore, a blown fuse indicates a failure of either the
switch mode transistor, controller or both.
 Power Cycling
 Monitor current and voltage sensing and Vcc inputs to controller to determine
which, if any, are fault. Open or out of tolerance resistors may result in incorrect
sensing.
 Check for faulty reference setting components like zener diodes. With the series
light bulb and/or Variac, disable each of the sense inputs by passing the
appropriate components. If one of these experiments prevents the cycling
behavior, either that circuit has a faulty component or the controller IC‘s input
characteristics have changed and it will need to be replaced. It should be possible
to determine if these sensing reference levels are correct from the controller
specifications and thus should be ignored by the controller as within normal
limits.
 Regulation or Ripple/Noise Problems
 Check main HV filter capacitor and other filter capacitors for decreased value or
opens.
 Check regulation feedback component including any reference voltage output
and zener diodes.
 Determine if the controller is responding to error voltage. If possible, monitor
both error and PWM drive signals on dual trace scope.
9.11 EXPERIENCES FROM TECHNICIANS WHO REPAIR SMPS

Sometimes you can encounter a bad cup (10uf 35v) on the Vcc input of a UC3842 IC
in the power supply. Turn unit on, get very short burst of power supply output, then
nothing. Every time the 3842 output a pulse, it ran out of Vcc. Small part, big
problem. In almost all cases, when in doubt parallel a known good capacitor of similar
capacitance and at least equal voltage rating (except for these slew rate limiting
capacitors where substitution is the only sure test).

 Bad Connection/Cold Solder Joints

As with all other mass produced power systems (including TVs and monitors),
cracked or defective solder connections are very commons especially around the
pins of high power components like transformers, power resistors and transistors,
and connectors. These are particularly common with portable equipment. Universal
AC adapter for video recorders and laptop computers are often abused to the point
of failure. Large components like the line filter choke and high frequency
transformer and prone to crack the solder bond at their pins or even break loose
from the circuit board.
 Symptoms: Almost any kind of behavior is possible. The unit may be erratic,
intermittent, or totally dead. Visually inspect the solder side of the circuit board
with a bright and magnifying glass if necessary. Gently prod or twist the circuitry
board with an insulating stick to see if the problem can be made to change. Note
that a onetime intermittent can blow many components so inspecting for
intermittent is a really good idea even you believe that all bad components have
been replaced.
 Regulation Problems – outputs high or low.
 Symptoms: Voltage has changed and adjustment pot if one exists has no effect
or is unable to set voltage to proper value. Check components in the feedback
regulator, particularly the opto-isolator and its associated circuitry. A weak opto-
isolator may allow for excessive output voltage. A shorted photodiode in the opto-
isolator may prevent startup. An open photodiode may lead to a runaway
condition.
Warning: Probe these circuits with care both because of the safety issues but
also since any slip of the probe may lead to a runaway condition and
 catastrophic failure of the switch mode transistor and its related parts as well as
damage to any attached equipment.

Note that the high frequency transformed does not make the top 10 list failure
rates for these components are relatively low. You better hope so in any case
replacements are usually only available from the original manufacturer at
outrageous cost.

Switch mode power supply repairs can be difficult. The problem is manufactures don‘t
usually give you an easy test set up. They should tell you if it will run at no load or
what dummy load to use. Secondly they should tell you what voltage or resistance to
use to replace the opto-isolator (or transformer) for that load. The SMPS hot side is a
high frequency oscillator whose ‗on time‘ is varied by feedback supplied through the
opto-isolator. The troubleshooting procedure should normally be in this order.

1. First eliminate external causes such as shorts or no load as the cause of shutdown.
2. Eliminate the secondary side shorted diodes, capacitors, etc.
3. After eliminating overloads on the outputs check the DC supply to the power device.
4. Check the bias coming from the feedback. Trace the bias supplied by the feedback
and try to determine what the correct bias is for that situation usually no powers
same as startup.
 If the bias is as on the schematic then troubleshoot the hot (primary) side as any
oscillator.
 If the bias is wrong and there is no short on the output then concentrate on why
the feedback doesn‘t supply the expected voltage to bias the oscillator on.
5. If you work on many of the same type SMPS:

 Determine the normal load and make a dummy load.

 Determine the value of resistance that is created at the output of the opto-
isolator (hint: use ohm‘s law). Then remove one leg of the output of the opto-
isolator and replace it with a resistor as calculated.
By using a fixed load and cutting out the feedback it is very easy to troubleshoot.
Don‘t forget to check the voltages and waveforms in your test set-up and record them
for future reference.
You can see quite a few where the filet capacitors have failed. Not all electrolytic
capacitors are the same. You should get capacitors that are rated for high frequency
service. Use of ‗normal‘ caps that one finds in the local electronics stores are likely to
go bad in about a year. Not something a professional who values his reputation wants
to see happen. In fact, I suspect that some manufacturer fail to understand this and
use the wrong caps causing common failures in their units; especially units that may
be subjected to use in warmer areas.

SMPSs usually try to regulate one of the output voltages by using the switcher,
usually it is the output with the most power, but might be the one that is most voltage
critical. If the filter caps go bad in the main output voltage, the auxiliary output
voltages will go high

The SMPS may also start to make high-pitched sounds as the ripple messes with the
feedback system. The aux output voltages may go so high that the secondary regulator
may go into foldback to protect itself.

Noisy (whining or buzzing) SMPSs that still work tend to be either bad main output
voltage capacitors or bad electrolytic in the power oscillator circuit.

Most SMPSs also have a minimum power draw requirement from their loads. This is
especially true of the main output voltage. If not enough power is drawn from the
supply, the supply may not be stable and cannot supply full power on the auxiliary
voltages. An example of this is using a 250W PC power supply just to drive a disk
drive. Without the heavy 5V power draw of a motherboard, the supply may not start
up reliable or provide the needed 12V power for the hard drives.

You can also have seen cases where one of the voltage doublers caps will open up
causing failure in one of the witching transistor (s). It will short out a single transistor
unit, but in a dual switching unit, the transistor associated with the good cap will
overwork itself and open. An easy way to test is to remove the other switching
transistor (in a dual unit) and apply power for 2 seconds. (Take all prudent
precautions for working around a live and open unit!) Disconnect power and us your
voltmeter to check the voltage across each of the caps. They should discharge at a
roughly equal rate. A bad cap will lose all it is voltage in less than 2 seconds. A good
cap will hold its charge much be longer.

Lastly, some unit that have the switch mode power supply in the same enclosure as
the CRT will have a sync signal that comes from the horizontal flyback transformer.
This keeps the SMPS in sync with the display so that the small magnetic fields that
are created by the SMPS doesn‘t create a wavy pattern on the screen.

Common defects and suggested reason

1. Dead if the power supply dead no doubt the equipment become dead
so the best way to maintain such problem that is better to test fuse first;
If fuse open it may blown out in two ways;
A. By high current value externally if this so it can be maintained by
B. By short circuit in the board in this case changing the fuse can‘t be the
solution as you change the fuse it blown out so before changing the fuse
you have toavoid the short circuit so there a mechanism to know whether
the fuse breaks by short circuit or over current that is by using lamp.
Soldering the lamp terminal in fuse terminal andapplying AC. There are
three probabilities;
 The lamp blinks that indicates the board is normal so change
the fuse only
 Lamp lits continuously this indicates there is short circuit so
avoid shorted part first before replacing fuse
 If the lamp doesn‘t lit it indicates there is open circuit or crack so
avoid this before

If the fuse not open but still power supply is dead check switching circuit i.e.
switching transistor, pulse width modulator or DC filtering capacitor

2. Output is low if the output is low it may due to secondary DC filter,

regulator or feedback circuit

SMPS fail in many ways but the followings are common:

 Shorted Switchover Transistor: It may take out additional parts such as fusible
flameproof resistor in collector or emitter circuits (or source or drain circuits for
MOSFETS). Main fuse will blow unless protected by fusible resistors.
  Symptoms: Totally dead supply, fuse blows instantly (vaporizes or explodes
unless fusible resistor has opened). Measuring across C-E or D-S of switch
mode transistor yields near zero ohms even when removed from circuit.
 Shorted Rectifier Diodes in Secondary Circuits: These are high frequency high
efficiency diodes under a fair amount of stress.
 Symptoms: in a very basic supply without overcorrect protection, the failure of
one or more of these diodes may then overload the supply and cause a
catastrophic failure of the switch mode power transistor (see above) and related
components. Thus, these should be checked before reapplying power to a supply
that had a shorted switch mode transistor. On short circuit protected supplies,
the symptom may be a periodic tweet-tweet-tweet or flub-flub-flub as the supply
attempts to restart and then shuts down. Any power or indicator lights may be
blinking at this rate as well.
 Test with an ohmmeter: A low reading in both directions indicates a bad diode.
Sometimes these will test ok but fail under load or at operating voltage. Rectifiers
either look like 1N400x type on steroids cylinders about 1/4‖ x 1/2‖ (example
HFR854) or TO220 packages (example: C92M) with dual diodes connected at the
cathode for positive supplies or the anode for negative supplies (the package may
include a little diagram as well). These may either be used with a center-tapped
transformer, or simply parallel for high current capacity. If in doubt, remover
from the circuit and test with the ohmmeter again. If not the output used for
regulation feedback, try the supply with the rectifier removed. As noted, a test
with an ohmmeter may be misleading as these rectifiers can fail at full voltage.
When in doubt, substitute a known good rectifier (one half of a pair will be good
enough for a test).
 Bad Startup Circuit: Initial base (gate) drive is often provided by a high value,
high power resistor or resistors from the rectified AC voltage. These can simply
open for no good reason
 Symptoms: in this case the supply will appear totally dead but all the
semiconductors will check out and no fuses will blow.Check the startup
resistors with an ohmmeter, power resistors in the AC line input section.
Warning: there will be full voltage on the main filter capacitor (s) – 1 x or 2x
peak or around 160 or 320 VDO depending on design..
 Discharge before Probing: Dried up capacitors - either input or output side.
 Symptoms: The main filter capacitor may dry up or open and cause the output
to be pulsing at 60 (50) or 120 (100) HZ and all kinds of regulation problems.
Measure voltage across main filter capacitor(s).
If the reading is low and drops to a much lower value or 0 instantly upon
pulling the plug, then one of these capacitors may be open or dried up. If you
have an oscilloscope, monitor for ripple. Excess ripple under moderate load is
an indication of dried up or open capacitor.

In extreme cases, a main filler capacitor with greatly reduce capacity or that is
totally open may result in failure of the switch mode transistor and a dead
supply that blows fuses or fusible resistors. Therefore, it is always a good idea
to test the electrolytic capacitors whenever repairing a SMPS that has blown its
switch mode transistor.

Capacitors in the low voltage section may fail causing regulation problems.
Sometimes there are slew rate limiting capacitors which feed from the primary
output to the regulator controller to limit initial in-rush and overshoot. A failure
of one of these may mess up regulation at the very least. For example, excess
leakage may reduce the output of the main output (and as a consequence, all
the others as well).

Where a controller like a UC3842 is used, a failure of the capacitor on its Vcc
pin may result in a aborted startup or cycling behavior as it is starved for juice
each time it pulses the switch mode power transistor.

PERIODIC POWER CYCLING PROBLEMS

These are of the form: tweet-tweet-tweet or flub-flub-flub or some other similar

variation. Any LEDs may be flashing as well and in the case of something like a
monitor or TV, there may be HV static or even a partial raster in synchrony with the
sounds. These types of problems are more common with sophisticated
implementations; the simple ones just blow up

As noted elsewhere, shorted secondary components are a very likely cause of this
behavior. These include diodes, capacitors, and over voltage SCRs. The fact that there
is some output suggests that the main switch mode (chopper) transistor is working.
There would likely be no output at all if it were bad.

Other possibilities for periodic or pulsing outputs:

1. One of the diodes is failing at voltage –quite possible. As long as you do not remove
both from the output that is used for feedback, it should be safe to take them out
one at a time and then substitute for the one remaining in the feedback voltage. Use
a Variac and series light bulb when testing in this manner and constantly monitor
the main output.
2. Some other cause of excessive current - shorted capacitor, transformer (though not
likely), etc.
3. Faulty current sense circuit - open or increased value resistor.
4. Faulty voltage sense circuit - detecting over voltage or regulation defective and it is
shutting down (correctly).
5. Faulty component in the startup circuit. This could be a bad diode, resistor, or even
an electrolytic capacitor that has changed value or is open at low voltage (when the
controller is just waking up).
6. Faulty controller IC (if applicable).

9.8 UNITRODE UC3842 PWM CONTROLLER

The UC3842 provides the necessary functions to implement an off-line fixed frequency
current mode control schemes with a minimal external parts count. Note how most of
the pin functions are subsets of those found in the more sophisticated UC3840. The
UC3842 retains most of the features of the UC3840 but requires fewer external
components and comes in a much smaller package (8 Vs 18 pins).

The following pin descriptions for the Unitrode UC3842 were derived from a Unitrode
application note. Errors in interpretation are quite possible.

 Pin 1: Compensation
Error amplifier (op amp) compensation network

 Pin 2: Vfb
 Error amplifier (non-inverting) input for regulation feedback. This input is used to
control PWM duty cycle and is normally derived from the main regulated output
voltage. It is similar in function to the non-inverting input, pin 18, of the UC3840.

 Pin 3: Current sense

This is the pulse–by–pulse PWM current control. The input is a voltage taken across
a series resistor in the switch mode transistor‘s return.

 Pin 4: Rt/Ct
R and C determine the constant PWM oscillator frequency.

 Pin 5: Ground
Signal and drive common

 Pin 6: PWM output

This is the drive signal to the switch mode transistor. It uses a totem pole output
which has a high current drive capability both high and low.

 Pin 7: Vcc
UC3842 chip supply derived from the DC input rail during startup and secondary
winding on high frequency transformer during normal operation.

 Pin 8: 5 V reference
Stable voltage reference (output) for regulation control

9.9 DESCRIPTION OF UC3842 STARTUP OPERATION AND CYCLING

Depending of the particular circuit design, a variety of fault conditions can result in
cycling or shutdown of an SMPS controlled by a chip like the UC3842. In addition to
the overload condition described below, a dried up electrolytic capacitor on the Vcc
line can also result in this cycling behavior since it is unable to hold up the voltage
between output pulses. In all, an often complex difficult to understand and
troubleshoot situation, sometimes too much so for its own good!

Pin 7 is the power supply (Vcc). The oscillator inside the 3842 begins to work above 16
V on Vcc and stops working when this voltage drops below 11 V. With a stopped
oscillator, the current consumption is very low; around 1 mA with a working oscillator,
the current is much higher, about 12 mA. (The specific voltages and currents are
typical values for one particular version of the 3842 and can vary from device to device
and depending on model.)

Vcc is generally powered in two ways: a high value power (startup) resistor connected
to the main bridge (e.g., +300V) and a from a winding off the transformer (via
rectifier/filter capacitor). The value of the startup resistor is selected such that there
is more than 16 V with 1 mA but less than 11 V at 12 mA. So the oscillator can‘t
continue to work with only the startup resistor supplying power.

Suppose we apply AC power to the supply. The + 300V comes on: First the 3842
consumes only 1 Ma, Vcc reaches 16 V, and the oscillator starts up. If all is well (no
overloads), the transformer provides the necessary 12 mA current to maintain Vcc at
more than 11 V. However, if the transformer is overloaded, Vcc falls under 11 V and
the oscillator stops working. The current decreases to 3 mA, the voltage increase
(coming from the +300V) the oscillator start again, ad–infinitum. Tweet–tweet–tweet…..

9.10 BUZZING OR OTHER SOUND FROM SMPSs

Simplistically speaking, the sound comes from something moving. With non switch
mode power supplies (SMPS), it may be ferrous material (like a metal cover) being
drawn toward the power transformer. That is obvious since pushing on the cover will
soften the hum. The frequency is usually 60Hz or 12OHZ. The only time you should
hear a ‗noise‘ from a SMPS is during a period of ―unstable‖ operation. (That‘s why you
may hear them ―chirp‖ or whistle when you first turn them on or off. It may also
indicate a PC type power supply that‘s overloaded.

―For all power supplies, it may be the windings on the ―magnetic‖ (inductor or
transformer). If they are not would tightly and secured they can vibrate. Many video
monitors exhibit this problem when their flyback transformer emits a whistle. It may
be the windings themselves moving or the winding assembly may be loose on the core.
Sometimes the capacitors in a SMPS will emit sound. Caps in SMPS‘ frequently have
high AC current levels. If the supply is supposed have what is known as ―continuous
current‖ and goes into ―discontinuous current‖ mode, the capacitor plates get stressed
pretty heavily and move in the capacitor body (but only with some types). Since the
SMPS will go into and out of discontinuous mode at a rate <10 KHZ, it is audible
The following probably account for 95% or more of the common SMPS ailments:

 Supply dead, fuse blown - shorted switch mode power transistor and other
semiconductors, open fusible resistors, and other bad parts. Note that actual cause
of failure may be power surge / brownout / lightning strikes, random failure, or
primary side electrolytic capacitor(s) with greatly reduce capacity or entirely open
test them before powering up the repaired unit.
 Supply dead, fuse not blown – bad startup circuit (open startup resistors), open
fusible resistors (due to shorted semiconductors), and bad controller components.
 Dried up main filter capacitor(s) on rectified AC input - one or more outputs out
of tolerance or with excessive ripple at the line frequency (50/60 HZ) or twice the
line frequency (100/120 Hz).
 Dried up or leaky filter capacitors on affected outputs - one or more outputs out
of tolerance or with excessive ripple at the switching frequency (10s of KHz typical).
 Audible whine with low voltage on one or more outputs - shorted
semiconductors, faulty regulator circuitry resulting in over-voltage crowbar kicking
in, faulty over-voltage sensing circuit or SCR, and faulty controller.
 Periodic power cycling, tweet-tweet, flub-flub, blinking power light – shorted
semiconductors, faulty over voltage or over current sensing components, and bad
controller.
In all cases, bad solder connections are a possibility as well since there are usually
large components in these supplies and soldering to their pins may not always be
perfect. An excessive load can also result i n most of these symptoms or may be the
original cause of the failure.

Repairing Switch Mode power supply

Test Equipment for repairing

2. WARNING
Power supplies contain lethal voltages. That means they can
harm you!!This is analog circuitry, not cook book logic stuff. You need to have a
feel for currents and voltages and waveforms, or you won‘t be able to figure out what‘s
happening. Power supply repair is a challenge, like mountain climbing, and probably
about as dangerous. Allow adequate time, don‘t attempt it while tired or distracted,
and have the right tools available. Read, understand, and follow the set of safety
guidelines provided later in this document whenever working on line connected power
supplies as well as TVs, monitors, or other similar high voltage equipment

The most valuable piece of test equipment (in addition to your senses) will be a DMM
or VOM. These alone will suffice for most diagnosis of faulty components (like shored
semiconductors or open fusible resistors). In designs using controller ICS, an
oscilloscope comes in handy when there are startup or over-current/voltage shutdown
or cycling problems. Since everything runs at a relatively low frequency, almost any
scope will do.

The diagnosis of problems in switch mode power supplies is sometimes made

complicated due the interdependence of components that must function properly for
any portion of the power supply to begin to work. Depending on design, SMPS may or
may not be protected from overload conditions and may fail catastrophically under a
heavy load even when supposedly short circuit proof.

There is particular stress on the switching devices (they are often 800 V transistors)
which can lead to early or unexpected failure. Also, SMPS may fail upon restoration of
power after a blackout if there is any kind of power spike since turn on is a very
stressful period. Some designs take this into account and limit turn on surge.
However, the cause of many problems is immediately obvious and has simple fixes, i.e.
the blown chopper transistor or dried up main filter capacitor. Don‘t assume our
problem is complex and convoluted. Most are not; you should not avoid attempting a
repair just because there is a slight chance it will be more challenging!

9.5 INITIAL POST-REPAIR TESTING

Once defective parts have been replaced, if possible, remove the normal load from the
supply if you have not already done so just in case it decides to put excessive voltage
on its output and replace with a dummy load. For a multiple output supply, the most
important output to have a load on all the outputs is preferred. You should be able to
determine a suitable value by considering the application. For something like VCR, a
few hundred mA on the main output is probably enough. This would require
something like a 25 ohm 2W resistor for a 5 or 6 volt output or 50 ohm 5 W resistors
for a 12 volt output (depending on which is the primary output). For a PC power
supply, a couple of amps may be needed- a 2 or 3 ohm 15 W resistor on the +5 output.
The minimum load is sometimes indicated on the specification sticker. In the case of a
TV or monitor, disconnecting the load may not be possible (or at least, east).

If available, use a Variac to bring up the input voltage slowly while observing the main
output. You should see something at about 50% of normal input voltage -50 or 60 V
for a normal 115 VAC supply. With a small load, the output should very quickly reach
or even exceed its normal value. Regulation at very low line voltage may be far off, this
is often normal. If you do not have a Variac, put a light bulb in series with the line
(this is desirable in any case). Use a 100 W bulb for a TV or PC, 40 W for a VCR
typical. The light bulb should limit the current to a non-destructive value long enough
to determine whether everything is ok.

It may not permit normal operation under full load, however. When power is first
applied, the light bulb will flash briefly but may just barely be glowing once the output
has stabilized. If it is fairly bright continuously, there is likely still a problem in the
supply.

Once you are finished, save your schematic and notes for the future. For example,
multiple models of VCRs even from different manufacturers use the same basic
design, maybe even the same supply.

SOME GENERAL SMPS REPAIR COMMENTS

Any time the switch mode transistor requires replacement, check all semiconductors
for shorts and fusible resistors for opens even if you locate the problem early on.
Multiple parts often fail and just replacing the transistor may cause it to fall as a
result of something else still being bad. In particular, check primary side electrolytic
capacitors for reduced capacity or opens. These conditions can result in a blown
switch mode transistor as it attempt to supply adequate current during the troughs of
the rectified high voltage DC. It only takes a few more minutes. For other problems like
an open startup resistor, this excessive caution is unnecessary as these are usually
isolated failures. However, if any dried up electrolytes are found, it is good practice to
test them all or just replace them all since the cost and time will be minimal. As they
say, ‗peas in a pod fail at nearly the same time‘.

It is often helpful to trace the circuit by hand if a service manual is not available. You
will gain a better understanding of this supply and be able to put the knowledge to use
when the next one shows up on your bench –there is a lot of similarity even between
different manufacturers.

A bright light behind the circuit board may help to make the foil runs and jumpers
more visible. The only difficult part will be determining how the transformer windings
are hooked up. An ohmmeter will help but even if you cannot entirely determine this,
just make a note. For most purposes, the exact topology of the windings is not critical
for diagnostic procedures.

13.7 ELEMENTS OF THE RF REGULATOR/SWITCHING

NETWORK
The heart of every switching regulator is the RF regulator network shown in
Figure 6.25. It chops the DC voltage from the input filter at 20 kHz or higher
(up to 1 MHz is considered in recent designs). Pulse-Width-Modulation (PWM)
shown in the figure is mostly used to drive the switching transistor for
chopping. Pulse width varies according to the load (closed-loop control system).
Basic components of the system involves the switching element, high frequency
step-down transformer, output rectifier and filter discussed above, and sense
amplifier and modulator.

Power MOSFETs are mostly preferred over bipolar junction transistors. Power
MOSFETs have the following major advantages:

 They can be driven directly by control ICs without a need for a drive
circuitry.
 They don't store charge during saturation. Hence, they have very low
transition time that allows them to work at high switching frequencies.

3. SWITCHERS AREN’T NEW

You may think that switch mode supplies are relatively ‗new‘ technology. But quite the
opposite is true. One of the first switch mode power supplies as the mechanical
vibrator circuit used in early automobiles. The vibrator ‗chopped‘ the 6 volt battery
voltage into an AC signal that could be stepped up and down to deliver the plate and
bias voltages needed to power the tube radio.

A more modern SMPS that you may be familiar with is the horizontal output stage of a
television receiver or computer monitor that develops the high voltage. Although this
―fly back‖ circuit is not commonly called a switch mode supply, it is a type of switcher.
Today‘s more sophisticated SMPS still employ the same basic concept used in the
early vibrator supply: a DC voltage is converted to an AC signal, the AC signal is
stepped up by a transformer; and the stepped-up AC is converted back to a DC
voltage. Today‘s supplies use feedback and variable switching to provide regulation,
and incorporate a solid state switch

4. ACHIEVING EFFICIENT REGULATION

Regulation is important in most power supplies. Good regulation is needed to

maintain a constant output voltage for changes in load current and changes in the
input voltage. Switch mode power supplies provide fast, efficient regulation. To better
understand why, let‘s review conventional power supply regulation.

Conventional power supplies regulate by using a series-pass regulator operating in its

linear mode, as shown in figure below. The series pass regulator maintains a fairly
constant output voltage with changes in input voltage and load current.But, in order
to maintain regulation for all load conditions, more power is applied to regulator than
is needed by the load. This unused power is dissipated as heat.

Regulated
Unregulated
DC Output
DC Input +

Control
The key to making the regulator more efficient is to produce only as much power as
Circuit
the load consumes. Then there will be no extra power to dissipate. This would be easy
if the load current never increased or decreased, or if the source voltage remained
constant. Of course this never happens

Switchers are very efficient regulators because they only produce as much power as is
needed by the load. Voltage regulation is achieved by sampling the DC output voltage
and comparing it to a reference. (if the SMPS has several outputs the main supply is
sampled). The resulting correction voltage is used to control the frequency or ―on‖ time
of the switching transistor, which in turn delivers more or less power to the load.

The regulators used in consumer equipment fall into two types; 1) pulse width
modulated (PWM), and 2) pulse rate modulated (PRM). Television receivers and
computer monitors may use either type, while VCR commonly uses PRM supplies.

5. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Figure below shows a block diagram of a typical SMPS. While specific switchers many
vary somewhat from this diagram. All SMPS have these basic functional blocks. Some
switchers, for example, may connect the system control line to a different point in the
control loop.

The blocks can be grouped in to four sections or ―Most Important Circuits‖ (MICS): 1)
Unregulated B+, 2) Startup & Drive, 3) Secondary circuits, and 4) Feedback & Control.

The SMPS needs a source of power. In an AC operated device the AC line voltage is
rectified by a conventional full wave power supply. (This is why everything on the
primary side of the switching transformer is at ―Hot ground‖ potential). Often an RF
filter network is used to prevent the high frequencies produced by the switcher from
getting on the AC power line. Most microprocessor controlled chassis include a
standby power supply to keep the micro running when the main power to the unit is
turned off. This allows the micro to respond to the ‗on‘ command from the remote
control. Or front panel switch. The standby supply may be a small. Conventional
supply or it may be a small SMPS.

The primary or the switching transformer and the switching transistor are also part of
the unregulated B+ stages. A field effect Transistor (FET) is usually used for the
switch. FETs offer several advantages over bipolar transistors for SMPS applications.
(A horizontal outpour transistor is a bipolar transistor). First FETs are voltage
operated and can be driven directly without a driver stage. Secondly, FETs are bi–
directional (conduct with voltage of either polarity applied to the source and drain)
which eliminates the need for a damper diode. Thirdly, FETs operate efficiently at high
switching frequencies.Lastly FETs have a low ‗on‘ resistance which contributes to the
efficiency of the SMPS, and reduces heat build up. (The reason that FETs aren‘t used
as horizontal output transistors is that they cannot handlethe large reverse voltage
spikes, 900 – 1100 VPP, produced in horizontal output stages).

Startup and drive is responsible for the signal that drives the switching transistor. The
opto coupler is usually found in switch mode power supply circuit in much electronic
equipment. It is connected in between the primary and secondary section of power
supplies. The opto coupler application or function in the circuit is to monitor high
voltage, output voltage sampling for regulation, system control micro for power on/off,
and ground isolation.

In order to accurately check opto isolator IC, you need to use an analogue multi meter.
Test the LED using the times 10k ohms range. It should have one reading when
checking both ways. If you have 2 readings then the LED have become shorted. The
testing method is exactly the same when you are checking a normal diode. The LED
mainly connected internally to pin 1 and 2 of the opto coupler IC. To check the
phototransistor, set your meter to times 1 ohm range and place your black probe to
the base of the transistor and the red probe to collector and emitter. It should show 2
similar readings. Then move your black probe to collector and red probe to base and
emitter of the transistor. It should not register any reading. The last step is to place
your black probe to emitter and the red probe to base and collector of the transistor.
Again it should not register any reading in the multi meter..

9.12 INTERCHANGEABILITY OF COMPONENTS

The question often arises: if you cannot obtain an exact replacement or if I have a
monitor, TV, or other equipment carcass gathering dust, can I substitute a part that is
not a precise match? For safety related items, the answer is generally NO - an exact
replacement part is needed to maintain the specifications within acceptable limits with
respect to line isolation, X- ray protection and to minimize fire hazards.
Typical parts of this type include flameproof resistors, some types of capacitors, and
specific parts dealing with CRT high voltage regulation. However, during testing, it is
usually acceptable to substitute electrically equivalent parts on a temporary basis. For
example, an ordinary 1 ohm resistor can be substituted for an open 1 ohm flameproof
resistor to determine if there are other problems in the SMPS chopper before placing
an order as long as you don‘t get lazy and neglect to install the proper type before
considering the repair complete. For other components, whether a not quite identical
substitute will work reliably or at all depends on many factors. Some deflection
circuits are so carefully matched to a specific horizontal output transistor that on
substitute will be reliable.

Here are some guidelines:

1. Fuses – same type (usually normal or fast blow), exact same current rating and at
least equal voltage rating. I have often soldered a normal 3AG size fuse onto a
smaller blow 20 mm long fuse as a substitute.
2. Resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, switches, potentiometers, LEDs, and other
common parts – except for those specifically marked as safety – critical –
substitution as long as the replacement part fits and specifications should be fine.
It is best to use the same type – metal film resistor, for example. But for testing,
even this is not a hard and fast rule and a carbon resistor should work just fine.
3. Rectifiers – many o f these are high efficiency and/or fast recovery types.
Replacements should have equal or better specifications. However, the AC input
bridge can usually be replaced with anything with at least equal voltage and current
ratings.
4. Main filter capacitor (s) – use replacements with at least equal working voltage and
similar µF rating. For testing, even something with half the capacity will be fine. For
the final replacement bigger is not always better and even using a smaller one (µF)
will be fine as long as you are not running the supply near full load capacity. Use of
a higher temperature rated capacitor than the original may be desirable as its life
may have been shorted by a hot environment. This practice will never hurt.
5. Transistors and thrusters (except SMPS choppers or HOTs) – substitutes will
generally work as long as their specifications meet or exceed those of the original.
For testing, it is usually ok to use types that do not quite meet all of these as long
 as the breakdown voltage and maximum current specifications are not exceeded.
However, performance (like regulation specifications) may not be quite as good. For
power types, make sure to use a heat sink.
6. SMPS chopper (or horizontal output) transistors –exact replacement is generally
best but except for every high performance monitors, generic HOTs that have
specifications that are at least as good will work in many cases. Make sure the
replacement transistor has an internal damper diode if the original had one. For
testing with a series light bulb, even a transistor that doesn‘t quite meet
specifications should work well enough (and not blow up) to enable you to
determine what else may be faulty.
7. The following are usually custom parts and substitution of something from your
junk box is unlikely to be successful even for testing: fly back (LOPT) and SMPS
transformers, inter stage coils or transformers, microcontrollers, and other custom
programmed chips.
8. Substituting entire circuit boards and other modules from identical models is, of
course, possible and an excellent troubleshooting aid even if it is only used to
confirm or identify a bad part. However, if the original failure was catastrophic, you
do run some risk of damaging components on the substitute circuit board as well.

9.14 WHAT ABOUT SMPSs IN TVs AND MONITORS

TVs and monitors have at least one SMPS – the horizontal deflection fly back and may
have an additional SMPS to provide the low voltages or the DC horizontal output
transistor. Most of the theory of operation and troubleshooting techniques apply to
these as well. However, manufactures of TVs and monitor tend to be really creative
(can you say, obscure?) when it comes to these designs so a little more head
scratching is often necessary to decipher the circuit and get into the mind of the
designer. However, the basic failure modes are similar and the same test procedures
may be used.