Spent 3 hours trying to fix a power supply I could have replaced for $15

Last weekend I picked up an old Sony CD player from a thrift store for $5. Figured it would be a quick fix, just needed a new power supply. So I spent my whole Saturday afternoon tracing caps and testing transistors on the board. Multimeter out, desoldering wick everywhere, the whole deal. After 3 hours I realized the transformer itself was shot, and those old Sony ones are impossible to find. Then I checked online and a universal 9V power supply was $15 with next day shipping. So I wasted a whole afternoon and $5 on a player I can't even use now. Anyone else ever get stubborn about fixing something that was cheaper to just replace?

1 comments

1 Comment

veramartin3d ago

Did you actually test the transformer with a multimeter first or just start poking around caps? Seems like that would have saved you a lot of time if you had. I always check the transformer first on old gear since that's usually the part that's done for.