Originally Posted by
adam03000
First time poster - and I only signed up because I had this exact situation occur and know the frustration involved in finding answers with this thing.
Hopefully you've fixed it, but I'll outline my experiences in case anyone else with an EST450 hits google after it goes pop.
I bought a near mint Laborator 1200, CLS450 head and EST450 power supply working. Fired it up for the first printing session and three hours later heard the dreaded pop and off it all went. There was a faint whiff of burning 1970s electrical work, but no sparks or anything spectacular. I ended up taking it to a local bloke who specialises in stereo/turntable repair and he diagnosed a failed electrolytic capacitor - I do believe he used the phrase "blown it's head off!" According to him, these capacitors should only have a working life of 15 years - my EST450 is older than I am, and I'm certainly older than 15. I just got it back with all the capacitors replaced, and a full check over - he told me that these units are incredibly well built and could not identify any other potential failure areas. The issue with sourcing old power supplies is that the capacitors "dry out," meaning any secondhand unit you find is liable to go bang at some point, and according to my repairman, even more so if they have been sitting, unused.
Bottom line is that it will cost anywhere between $250-400 to get it working again, but should go for a long time. The guy who repaired mine is in Melbourne, but I can provide his details if required. He also quoted a complete rebuild at around $1000 - apparently there is a huge amount of labour to make these things new again.
Good luck!
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