repairing megaworks 550

hey guys, i need an assistance on repairing a Cambridge Soundworks (a.k.a Creative) Megaworks 550 speakers system.

it turns on, play music well, remote works as well. all functionality is about perfect. but there is one thing: it keeps crackling every few seconds or so. when it crackles, the subwoofer would boom and the LED behind the subwoofer would dim as well.

being new to this repair electronic world, first thing that caught my attention would be a failing capacitor, since my previous klipsch speaker have almost exact symptom and it turns out one bad cap is the culprit, although it didn't show any sign of leakage.

i opened up the subwoofer, only to found out again there is no leaking cap. there are 4 big caps on the switching power supply board: 1000uF 100V, 33uF 450V and 2x 680uF 200V. well i haven't test them yet since i don't want to fry myself and i am yet to be able to open the heatsink chassis.

any ideas? is flickering led and popping sound an indication to failing caps? i know i can get a better system but i would love to repair this if it doesn't cost me much.

edit: i also noticed there are some burnt smell somewhere along the power supply board. but i can't pinpoint the exact location. i can even smell it from the subwoofer cabinet itself. here is some pictures:

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thanks

Petroleum-based adhesive causes future problems

Try removing all the glue. When scraping glue that has copper circuit "tracks" -be careful the copper foil circuit pattern flake off with the flue as if the glue turned into an acidic substance!
So scrape off as much glue as you can.
This may take a few hours.

If you want to read about this put this sentence in a search engine (Google):


This glue is a thick elastic covering of a sandy yellow colour darkens (towards black) with heat.

remove the glue may fix this!

The glue can cause open corroded foil patterns and/or become conductive.
Just get rid of it!


read the third "bullect" dot at

Capacitor plague - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bad glue

Remove the glue and you may fix your problem.

Read the third bullet dot down at:

Capacitor plague - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


"The glue is itself sometimes harmful and can corrode leads and tracks covered by it, leading to leakage current or open-circuit".

After removing the glue can you take more pictures of the damage done?

hi im very sorry i forgot to take the picture of the damage yesterday. when i opened it up again i will post the picture here. it was around the plastic screws holder that act as a stand between the SMPS and the heatsink. when i pull the brown glue off the tracks are pulled off too.