Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Yamaha P2100 Power Supply Capacitor Upgrade


If you own or are going to purchase a vintage amplifier you really should make sure at least the main power supply caps are recent.   I happen to have bought 2 Yamaha P2100's for my 4.0 home theatre system.    One powers the left 2 channels and the other the right, so when listening to music I essentially have dual-mono setup.

First, please consider purchasing these caps which are brand new, and fit perfectly:

Yamaha P2100 Capacitors

Tools:

  • Prepare a large work area, possibly with a towel on top to protect the surface and amp.
  • Drill with bits
  • Phillips head screwdriver
  • Set of hex head drivers and/or extending magnetic pick up. 
  • Camera
Removal Instructions:
  • Remove all of the screws from the top cover. 
  • Look inside with a flash light to find the bracket holding the caps.  Notice the two screws holding the bracket in the middle.  Also notice that to the left there is a wire going from the capacitor bracket tightening screw to a wire bundle.  It's not electrically used, so go ahead and unwrap it.
  • Turn amp over and remove bracket screws. 
  • Take a picture of the plate that covers the large electrolytic capacitors to the right of the transformer.   You'll need this as a reference point.
  • Remove all 4 screws on the ground plate.  
  • Remove 2 screws on capacitors.  
  • Gently pull caps out, and discard.
  • Pull out bracket and discard, along with dressing wire.
Installation instructions:

  • Attach a bracket to one of the caps.  With the (-) terminal towards you, one tab should face left, and tightening screw on left.  
  • Attach to the bottom plate using new bolts and nuts but through the original screw locations.  You may drill a third hole if desired for the third tab.  I did not have a driver set of the right size, so I used a magnetic pickup to hold the nut in place until it got started, then needle nosed pliers to tighten.
  • Attach second mounting bracket to second capacitor.  With + terminal towards you, one tab should face to the right, and the tightening screw on the right.  
  • Slide second capacitor in, (+) towards you (front).
  • Attach plate to both capacitors ONLY right now using new cap screws.  
  • Straighten the caps so the terminals are parallel with sides.
  • Use the second bracket to mark the bottom plate for the 3 new screw locations
  • Disassemble top plate, remove right cap and drill bolt holes.
  • Re-insert second cap, and attach screws and nuts. 
  • Check both brackets for tightness.
  • Attach ground plate to caps
  • Attach wiring to front most terminals first, so you can make any adaptations needed to keep the wires away from the ground plate.  I had to clip a couple of wire ties to do this well. 
  • Attach 2 ground plate screws, try to remember to keep the wiring's original location.   Only black wires should be on front-most, middle screw. 
  • Double check you have plenty of spacing around (+) and (-) terminals and the ground plate.  
  • Plug in to wall.
  • Turn on.  
  • If you don't smell smoke, turn off and attach top plate.

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