Motorolla Fusion Modem Troubleshooting

[facemelt]

Greetings!

I have some great news, I think I have fixed a portion of my fusion service problems that I've been experiencing in the last month. I originally thought it could have been 2 things, my modem was over-heating, or wiring issues that kept on re-syncing the DSL. (Side note: I had previously been loaned a modem by sonic to troubleshoot speed issues which are still a problem and wasn't solved with the swap of a modem.) I knew that the modem had worked in the summer month's previous to this so I was curious, why now?

Today after another re-sync I got frustrated and got out my digital infrared thermometer to see how hot the chipset was getting. Upon opening it up, I discovered something that made me really happy (I'm a sick and twisted individual). I found that one of the capacitor's was bulging (See here for more info: http://www.capacitorlab.com/visible-failures/index.htm ). In other terms, this is not good and is precisely why my Fusion was having such a hard time staying connected. I get a sick pleasure when I see something is broken and have a reason to break out my solder iron. I unfortunately didn't have a replacement cap for it (1000µF 6.3v) and the place i buy my electronic parts Al Lashers in Berkeley (really the only place in the east bay to get stuff) was closed till Monday. So I went to RadioShack aka the shack aka the place that sells cell phones with tech-illiterate sales people, painful, I know! They had one overly sized 1000µF 25v which i reluctantly purchased for $1.99, over-priced too! Got home and went to work.

Long story short, I replaced the cap and my internet is working great, if only i could get the speed back to what it once was, speedtest.net shows 5Mbit (has been like this for 6mo) right now but when my fusion service was installed it topped 9Mbit (which had to be dialed back to 8.5Mbit for stability) I have been living with the inconvenience for a bit because sonic.net is awesome and I know they have really tried to help me. I do love sonic.net, so much so I have successfully got to my knowledge (maybe more) 4 people to switch. I have included pictures for your viewing pleasure below.


Bulging Cap (Back Right)


Replaced Cap in Blue


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My Beloved Weller


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[clairet]

You have a very keen eye! We actually had quite a few of these Motorolas with the exact same problem. They are mostly phased out now but every once in awhile another comes along. Unfortunately, you may have to replace the other capacitors because they are likely to fail as well. You actually may be able to extend the modem's lifespan by keeping it cool. These modems get VERY hot and it's likely that the capacitors occasionally burst because of that (along with the fact they were poor quality in the first place).
Anyway, awesome detective skills!

By the way, Ebay is a great place to get cheap capacitors. Or Fry's if you are lucky enough to live close to one.

[kgc]

Could you email me a copy of the serial number? 2260's within a certain range of serial numbers are known to have bad caps -- all of the ones that we were able to identify have been replaced already. (You fixed it already but we might be able to replace it anyway.)

[dane]

Could you email me a copy of the serial number? 2260's within a certain range of serial numbers are known to have bad caps -- all of the ones that we were able to identify have been replaced already. (You fixed it already but we might be able to replace it anyway.)

Those that were affected are now beyond the free warranty replacement period, FYI.

[rcoaster]

Nice work, facemelt. I love seeing easy fixes for "modern, junk, unrepairable" equipment.

[toast0]

Nice! I love the super sized cap

[bny]

That circuit board appears to be essentially identical to the one on the older 2210 (ADSL) that had many reports of overheating and capacitor failure. I ended up having to operate my 2210 with the enclosure removed. I replaced it with a different modem when I moved to Fusion ADSL2+, but maybe I'll replace some caps on the 2210 and keep it as backup.