Ai Hydra 26 HD connecter board

[Alex Cataldo]

For a while now I’ve been trying to fix my old Ai Hydra that got fried with water. Currently I’m searching for a Connecter board, but from what I can tell, there seems to be very little ways to get these right now. Are there any specific websites you recommend to get me one of these? And here is the photo of the part for reference.

 

[dank reefer]

@_AV might be able to help

 

[_AV]

Finding complete boards for any of the reef equipment is nearly impossible. I do occasionally buy complete lights for parts and recover what I need from them, but even those are an extremely scarce resource. So instead, I do component level repair, as individual components are much easier to come by.

This connector board has almost no components that can burn out due to water damage. It's probably salvageable with some rework.

If it help at all, check out my recent repair post. It is specific to the Hydra 26 HD where I repaired the connector board, among other things. But the main problem was on the mainboard:

AI Hydra 26 HD Not Turning On - Prior Repair Gone Wrong

Some of my previous repairs: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/radion-xr30-shuts-off-at-high-intensity-on-blue-channel-repair.813624/ https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/another-attempt-at-fixing-apex-eb832.804717/ https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/radion-xr30-complete-no-light-repair.792711/...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Alex Cataldo]

Finding complete boards for any of the reef equipment is nearly impossible. I do occasionally buy complete lights for parts and recover what I need from them, but even those are an extremely scarce resource. So instead, I do component level repair, as individual components are much easier to come by.

This connector board has almost no components that can burn out due to water damage. It's probably salvageable with some rework.

If it help at all, check out my recent repair post. It is specific to the Hydra 26 HD where I repaired the connector board, among other things. But the main problem was on the mainboard:

AI Hydra 26 HD Not Turning On - Prior Repair Gone Wrong

Some of my previous repairs: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/radion-xr30-shuts-off-at-high-intensity-on-blue-channel-repair.813624/ https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/another-attempt-at-fixing-apex-eb832.804717/ https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/radion-xr30-complete-no-light-repair.792711/...

www.reef2reef.com

To be honest I might just get another light entirely because I feel like it will be much less hassle than trying to fix it. Online I found that a few websites did have them in stock, but since it ships from Germany the cost afterwards would be close to $100. Websites here in the US have the part at around $45 after shipping but to my knowledge they never seem to be in stock.

 

[_AV]

I was never successful ordering these parts. AI never officially sold them so my guess is that the availability comes from dismantled lights. Sites oversees never seem to keep track of their stock. It's in stock until you try to purchase, then your order gets cancelled because they don't have anything.

So what do you think is wrong with your connector board anyway?

 

[Alex Cataldo]

I was never successful ordering these parts. AI never officially sold them so my guess is that the availability comes from dismantled lights. Sites oversees never seem to keep track of their stock. It's in stock until you try to purchase, then your order gets cancelled because they don't have anything.

So what do you think is wrong with your connector board anyway?

Well a lot of that blue paint looking stuff is corroded and coming off in the upper half of the board. The water damage made it so everything but the blue, and royal are actually lighting up with the LEDs

 

[_AV]

Do you have any pictures of the damaged area?

 

[Alex Cataldo]

Do you have any pictures of the damaged area?

Really sorry but I don’t right now but I can take a few pictures in a hour or so

 

[benjiuk2022]

I was never successful ordering these parts. AI never officially sold them so my guess is that the availability comes from dismantled lights. Sites oversees never seem to keep track of their stock. It's in stock until you try to purchase, then your order gets cancelled because they don't have anything.

So what do you think is wrong with your connector board anyway?

Sorry to revive this thread but you seem to be the only guy on this planet that knows his way around repairing these lights.
i have the similar issue to the light you fixed on your youtube video.
several tracks broken, fully corroded smds.
please could you help me with a few questions in regards to parts to replace and fix my connector board. (I have experience with soldering and fixing pcbs).

 

[_AV]

please could you help me with a few questions in regards to parts to replace and fix my connector board. (I have experience with soldering and fixing pcbs).

I may be able to point you in the right direction... Pictures?

 

[benjiuk2022]

I may be able to point you in the right direction... Pictures?

Thank you for the reply,
I will get you some pictures over shortly. A repair has been attempted and isnt the best but from what i was told, the board was in quite a state from salt corrosion.

 

[_AV]

Also, I have a few repair videos on Hydra. Most of them are corrosion related. Feel free to review

 

[benjiuk2022]

Also, I have a few repair videos on Hydra. Most of them are corrosion related. Feel free to review

 

[benjiuk2022]

Please see attached photos. All other boards look to be in sound condition.
What would be your recommended way forward with this. Thanks again.

 

[_AV]

Please see attached photos. All other boards look to be in sound condition.
What would be your recommended way forward with this. Thanks again.

The resolution on these is way too small... I can't make anything out of it unfortunately.

 

[benjiuk2022]

The resolution on these is way too small... I can't make anything out of it unfortunately.

I understand. Im struggling to get a clear shot as the traces and components are so small.
What would help me massively is if you could please give me the correct names to the parts you replaced maybe with google links.
im confident in replacing and repairing my board myself but im struggling to find the correct replacement parts.
i am in need of:-
The correct rated mosfet
The correct 5 pin chip( i think is a voltage regulator).
the correct name of the 6 pin black header connectors.
once i have all the correct parts i am fairly confident i can repair the board with the skills i have.
please could you help me out with these part names.
thank you so much

 

[Alex Cataldo]

Sorry to revive this thread but you seem to be the only guy on this planet that knows his way around repairing these lights.
i have the similar issue to the light you fixed on your youtube video.
several tracks broken, fully corroded smds.
please could you help me with a few questions in regards to parts to replace and fix my connector board. (I have experience with soldering and fixing pcbs).

I was scrolling through EBay yesterday and i did find some complete lights. To my knowledge there is no definitive way to repair the board without new parts, special tools, and special techniques. And besides, a lot of these sellers sell COMPLETE lights for a fraction of the cost of something commercial (sketchy websites in China).

 

[benjiuk2022]

I was scrolling through EBay yesterday and i did find some complete lights. To my knowledge there is no definitive way to repair the board without new parts, special tools, and special techniques. And besides, a lot of these sellers sell COMPLETE lights for a fraction of the cost of something commercial (sketchy websites in China).

Ive searched ebay and these lightsbstill sell for several 100s used. I got one very cheap but needs work, but its in worse condition inside than i expected lol

 

[Alex Cataldo]

Ive searched ebay and these lightsbstill sell for several 100s used. I got one very cheap but needs work, but its in worse condition inside than i expected lol

 

[Alex Cataldo]

In my opinion, it’s better than buying from an expensive seller in Europe and you may be able to bargain the seller down on Ebay