how do you replace old circuit board and/or components with new parts?
What I am asking is;
I have old electronic devices and I want to replace the guts with newer parts. for example; big resistor with a smaller modern equivalent. a flash tube with whatever will do the same thing.
so… where can I find information on how to find the modern equivalents of the old electronics? How do you know what to replace the part with?
for example; will a 1/4W 10K resistor from radio shack really work to replace a resistor that is rated the same but is three times bigger or does it only work in theory?
Tagged with: 10k resistor • electronic devices • equivalents • flash tube • guts • radio shack • three times
Filed under: Electronic Circuit Theory
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passive components (resistors, capacitor, inductors) are fairly easy to source. If your big honking resistor is 1/4 W, 10K then, yes, you can replace it with a smaller 1/4W 10K.
Just make sure you don't replace it with a resistor of lower power rating.
Some of the more exotic components, such as chokes, potentiometers, switches, transformers are also easy to source.
The real problem comes when you try to replace active components, such as tubes and old transistors (and old ICs). Then you will have trouble finding matches and you will have to really understand the whole design. Once you get to this level of detail, you might as well rip the entire board out and put in one of your own design.
You are not likely going to have much fun with that. Three reasons:
1) Smaller, newer parts are not equivalent to larger, older parts. Especially in circuits which have high voltage in them (you are talking about flash tubes), size matters because there can be bulk heating effects during discharges. A large volume part will survive those, a small one will evaporate.
2) For some parts (like a flash tube) there are no functional replacements that are any different.
3) You will destroy your printed circuit board during the soldering operations, especially if you are not experienced.
This does not mean you should not try. It only means that you should not be disappointed if you completely destroy what you are trying to "repair" or "upgrade". If you don't care about that, you can have endless fun of making things worse and worse until the thing completely stops working and will be virtually unrepairable.