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Micromega problem

I have two micromega stage 1 players. 1 of them is fine no problems with skipping or anything, the other will only read about 45 seconds of track one then starts jumping around on track 1 only (never changes tracks). The problem is not with the transport, I know this because I've swapped them from each player and they both work perfectly I've also changed the dac from player to player with the same results (no problems there). On a whim I put the main board of the none working one in the freezer for a couple of hours and tried it, what a difference no skipping reads all the tracks works perfectly until it reaches room tempurature then back to skipping. Does anyone have any idea what this could mean? overheating was my first assumption.
kenp2
kenp2 OP
3 posts
 
Do you know which ones they changed? One of them looks a little cooked, the lettering seems to be melted. I've been checking in the digikey book and can find only two of them. The one I can't find is L7805cv. They all seem to be national semiconductor.
bob_bundus
1,834 posts
 
Ken it sounds like you're onto something with the freezer trick. Have you heard of freeze spray? Get a can of that & when it starts skipping, cool the individual onboard component parts each with a small blast to see if you can isolate the problem part.
Electrolytic caps do dry out & degrade, so it might pay to replace them; start with the readily available ones first of course.
gregm
3,405 posts
 
Kenp2, they changed them all, as well as the small bead caps with a higher value, same voltage. This was a Micromega recommended "upgrade" that cost next to nothing ($10-15? back then). I can look for the technician if you wish (couldn't find him today).

Cheers!
ronl55
2 posts
 
I had two micromegas, Stage 3 and Stage 4. Both had the skipping problem which seem to plague the Stage line. Worst part is that I could find no audio repair that would touch either one. To make matters worse Micromega is not distributed in the USA any longer. A company could Dimex located in Canada use to service Micromega if you sent it to them. They won't do it any longer and I was told by them that the problem is with one of the proprietary modules in the unit.....essentially it cannot be fixed unless you can send the unit to France or get the parts outside the USA. I just chucked both of mine because the problem became to annoying and I got no response from Micromega when I tried to reach them. Nice sounding units but Micromega can stick it up their you no what.
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