Re: Burnt Spot on Mini Controller

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"dicko" <drwho@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:q7t4f1tfe3f43drbo0ca3i19j0nb7cpj07@xxxxxxxxxx
> On 04 Aug 2005 19:38:38 GMT, andrew@a17 (Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
>
> >In article <k9d2f11lr1dri4m0qkoarjkqjf3vt00iis@xxxxxxx>,
> > dicko <drwho@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> >> Has anyone figured out how to keep the burnt/discolored/brown spot
> >> from appearing on the X10 Mini Controller escutcheon. It has appeared
> >> on every one I own.
> >
> >Might be worth checking what your mains voltage is in case
> >it's excessively high.
>
> I cant believe I'm the only one experiencing this.  It takes a few
> months for the discoloration to appear, but every single MC I buy has
> done this (or maybe I'm the only one who cares :-).

It's happened to most of my MC's, too.  Even the white keys over the diode
area have become discolored.

> My AC is 110V, kind of on the low side from others I know. Normally
> 120V is common.

I don't think mains voltage is the culprit.  There's just too much heat
building up in the case in that one area as designed.

> It looks like a 1/2W zener to me. My plan was to go find the same
> voltage (I now know its 18V) in a 1W zener.

The current flow and the heat generated and trapped in that area will still
be the same.  I doubt changing it will affect the temperature problem much.
It's a heat dissipation issue and it's remarkably similar to PC heat
problems.  You can have the biggest heatsink with the highest RPM fan in the
world in your PC case, but if you don't eject that heat from the case, your
CPU will still fry.

> I think I'll also try your
> suggestions and try to put a heat sink on it, maybe a piece of
> un-etched FR4 PC board. It'll take several months to know if it works
> though.

I don't think it would take much venting to improve the current zero
airflow.  The heat sinking will wick the heat away, but you still need to
dispose of it.  Check the overclocker's newsgroups to find the heat sink
glue.  They use tons of it.  :-)

I suggest, if you have a digital thermometer with an outdoor probe, that you
take a reading from the area above the case before and after the mods.  It's
warm to the touch now.  If it's even a few degrees cooler, the case should
not discolor as much as in the past - although the whole case will fade over
time anyway.

--
Bobby G.