My GE Profile dual wall oven display had become dim over time, to the point where you could barely read the display by cupping your hands around it. Some googling suggested bad caps could be the issue, so I decided to recap the control board. The display is now bright and back to normal. Here's the summary of my repair.
There's plenty of information about how to actually solder and replace caps, so I won't go over that here.
Here's the notes of each cap I replaced:
Location Brand Model Voltage (V) Capacitance (uF) Diameter (mm) Length (mm) Temp ©
C24 ELNA RJ3 50 100 8 12 105
C25 ELNA RJ3 50 100 8 12 105
C10 ELNA RJ3 50 100 8 12 105
C2 ELNA RJ3 50 100 8 12 105
C1 ELNA RJ3 50 100 8 12 105
C9 ELNA RJ4 16 470 8 12 105
C3 NLC NRWA 35 330 10 17 105
C5 ELNA RJ4 16 3300 13 24 105
C8 ELNA RJ4 16 470 8 12 105
C4 ELNA RJ3 50 100 8 12 105
C34 ELNA 50 0.47 4 7 105
I replaced them with Nichicon UHE series. I wanted to go with something higher than a 105C rating, but everything that was 125 or more was also 10mm rather than 8mm diameter. The 3300uF cap was longer than the original, but there's plenty of space back there. The UHE are 7000hrs at 105, and the RJ3s I replaced are 1000hours. I figure the oven lasted a good 13+ years, so this would be fine. Oh, the caps and control panel were all from 1996, but I bought the oven pre-owned and almost unused and installed it around 2003. The display was fine from 2004 to 2017. UHEs were also in stock at mouser ready to ship, and I wanted to keep everything from the same series.
Some notes:
- Turn off power to the oven.
- Remove the control panel. Take LOTS of pictures of the wiring before you start unplugging wires from the control panel.
- Measure all the capacitors, put oven back together.
- Order caps and wait.
- Do the full repair. Reinstall carefully.
There's plenty of information about how to actually solder and replace caps, so I won't go over that here.
Here's the notes of each cap I replaced:
Location Brand Model Voltage (V) Capacitance (uF) Diameter (mm) Length (mm) Temp ©
C24 ELNA RJ3 50 100 8 12 105
C25 ELNA RJ3 50 100 8 12 105
C10 ELNA RJ3 50 100 8 12 105
C2 ELNA RJ3 50 100 8 12 105
C1 ELNA RJ3 50 100 8 12 105
C9 ELNA RJ4 16 470 8 12 105
C3 NLC NRWA 35 330 10 17 105
C5 ELNA RJ4 16 3300 13 24 105
C8 ELNA RJ4 16 470 8 12 105
C4 ELNA RJ3 50 100 8 12 105
C34 ELNA 50 0.47 4 7 105
I replaced them with Nichicon UHE series. I wanted to go with something higher than a 105C rating, but everything that was 125 or more was also 10mm rather than 8mm diameter. The 3300uF cap was longer than the original, but there's plenty of space back there. The UHE are 7000hrs at 105, and the RJ3s I replaced are 1000hours. I figure the oven lasted a good 13+ years, so this would be fine. Oh, the caps and control panel were all from 1996, but I bought the oven pre-owned and almost unused and installed it around 2003. The display was fine from 2004 to 2017. UHEs were also in stock at mouser ready to ship, and I wanted to keep everything from the same series.
Some notes:
- Unscrew 6 screws and lift the panel straight up to release it.
- Take LOTS of pictures of the wiring. I probably have 10 pictures from different angles to make sure I didn't miss something. I triple-checked every wire before I powered up the oven again.
- There was plenty of room for 10mm caps if you prefer higher temp ratings.
- I had to unclip the PCB from the plastic bracket, and bend it over to get access to the soldering underneath.
- Be very careful with the control panel. Everything is old and fragile and delicate. One screw mount broke on me and needed to be superglued back together.
- The ribbon cable releases by lifting a small tab on each end of the connector about 1/8". Be gentle and don't force anything.
- A solder pad lifted up and I needed to fix that carefully. Again, go slow.
- The old caps were featherweight compared to the new ones. They've had a long, hot life and likely were just dried up.
- Watch polarity on installing. Don't trust that the PCB will be CLEARLY labelled.
- Did I mention turning off the power? Don't mess around with 240VAC.
- I didn't test which capacitor(s) failed. I figured since all the work is getting to the control panel, might as well just replace everything.
- Clean the glass and display while it's all apart. Years of dust and stuff got in there, and it looks nicer now.
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