Oh how I wish I had video of the fire breathing Etopxizu, pushed 25% beyond its rating by a thirsty battery and ignorant operator.
I'd like to thank everybody for their contributions. Mex, I hope Odile in not going to flood out your area, if you were in the Cabo area we'd likely not be hearing from you due to infrastructure damage which appears to be extreme from the reports filtering in. Best of luck with your health issues and Mexican health care workers.
I've not ordered any replacement parts, yet. I really hope to get the right part the first time. I figure I've got one chance to get this attempted repair right before clicking place order on a Megawatt, and there is no guarantee that nothing else on the circuit board let go during my stress test. There is no guarantee that the mega watt would have survived the same stress test, unless it incorporates some type of current limiting. I don't think anybody here has maxed their megawatt. Niner bikes might have, as I think he just sets his to 15v and lets it go on a depleted battery. He is probably reading this thread on his smartphone up in montana somewhere, or perhaps not and just enjoying big sky country and a well functioning MegaWatt.
I set mine to 14.7v and plugged it into a depleted group 31 and it lasted ~ 16 minutes, exceeding its amp rating by a good amount, and allowed it to self destruct, fully aware that it could. All I had to do was twist my new trim pot down, but then we'd never know the weak link in the cheapowatt. I wonder what the next weakest link is, besides the operator.
No need for anything paypal related. I'm not swimming in a healthy bank account, but I'm not stressing either. This has been an enjoyable learning experience for me. I just wish more info could penetrate my thick skull and click. I've reread the last 2 pages five times and am just as ignorant as ever.
Yes, the increasing amperage was a warning sign I ignored. The rear case temps adjacent to the transistors which blew were also a sign I ignored, as 5 minutes before the fireworks show I recorded 141f, where as before, operated just below the buzzing, the highest I recorded in that area was 105f. A flatter heatsink mating better with the casing and thermal grease could not have accounted for that much more heat on the surface of the case.
There is a tiny, not so easily replaceable fuse near the AC inputs where as mena's photos show a larger fuse requiring only anextraction tool, not bending things on the circuit board. I've been watching some youtube videos trying to better understand how these transistors with all those different, varying letters surrounding the 'T' operate, but it is obvious I will never be doing circuit analysis.
