Soundstream Reference 500sx amp - broken capacitor within - fixable? (pics within)

[kingrukus 10+ year member]

I recently received a Soundstream Reference 500sx, and noticed when I purchased it that there was a bit of a loose noise coming from inside when I moved around the amp. I popped open the cover today and noticed that a capacitor is actually broken off (see pics). The broken off capacitor also seemed discolored/dirty compared to the rest.

Is it possible that an amp can blow a cap right off the board? Is it safe to run it without this cap? Can I easily just soldier this existing cap back onto the board? Or am I screwed and the amp is now junk? Will it work without the broken off cap?

Here is a pic of where the cap broke off from (circled in red):

Here is a pic of the actual broken off cap (notice how it has a blackish/dirty ring around it):

Here us a pic of the broken cap placed on the board, away from the rest of caps:

Click to read more...

 

[big bass joel 10+ year member]

buy a new cap and solder it.i see you are on the canadian forum too!

 

[gunz4me2 10+ year member]

He may as well replace all the capacitors in that bank while the board is out. After all, they are approaching the end of their useful life.

I recommend low ESR, 105 degree Celsius capacitors to replace the ones in the amp. Preferably Panasonic or Nichicon!

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

Panasonic FC series caps at mouser or digikey are always nice. Definitely replace all of them in the amp as long as your in there anyways. Make sure you observe the proper polarity when soldering the new caps in. If you look in the pic above you can see that the missing cap had a square solder pad and a round solder pad. The square solder pad is the positive terminal of the capacitor. It looks like they also marked the board with a + symbol.