If by crash you mean they go offline, I have had that happen too and found it was due to a small electrolytic capacitor failing on the top board. Since it was impossible to get the PCBs out, I cut the cap out leaving its leads and soldered a new one on the top of the board. While it is not going anywhere, one can add glue to make sure. Came back online, and still working today after many months.
I might try that.
Do you have the specs for the capacitor or maybe even a link where I can buy it online?
Not sure about the capacitance and voltage value, but recommend buying the one temperatute rated for 105°C rather than 80°C for power supply use longer life.
@chairstacker - I usually take pictures when I do mods or repairs as a reminder but this time I did not. I recall that the faulty part was obvious so it was either bulging (rounded top, puffy, split on top where sometimes there is a plus groove to help it split open if needed) or leaking (often brownish stuff out of the top - split top - or bottom - where relief vent typically is.
I searched the web for a clear picture but the best I found was this:
Top left - green cap (small chance I am remembering incorrectly, but I do recall it was easy to fix so I doubt it was any on the other side).
I believe the cap is a 470uF 10V. Stick to 470uF but voltage can be higher, but keep in mind that space is limited and a higher voltage cap might be larger.
Since I could not remove PCB from the base without major work (was also concerned about melting plastic case if I applied needed heat to the large pins soldered to the PCB), I pulled on the bad cap to expose as much of its legs as possible, and I might have cut it towards the bottom of its body - again to leave some workable leg. I then soldered a new cap - legs to legs (mind polarity). Not ideal, but this device doesn't have to deal with vibrations and/or heat so I think it is safe. If you have appropriate electronics adhesive, you could secure things with that... I didn't so I left it as is.
On another note, if one cap is bad, there is a chance the others are too... or could be soon. Unfortunately, given the PCB is so hard to get out, I only replaced the one. Typically I'd just replace them all.
In 2021 I have fixed several Jasco outlets that had the "click of death", also caused by a bad cap. In that case it was a tiny 10uF electrolytic cap which I replaced with a much better tantalum cap, and they have been working fine for years after the fix.
(Sorry for horrible pics... the S20 Ultra had a terrible camera...)
EDIT: As for the cap, I had a kit of mixed caps from Amazon. Can't vouch on the quality, or longevity, but to date I have not had issues. Part is cheap, but even buying these cheap kits might cost you more than the outlet itself... you could hunt for the cap on broken electronics. I keep all broken PCBs for parts as I can't possibly stock up on enough different components and pulling from broken PCBs has helped me often (test part!)
Thanks for the info - ordered a 20pack of 470uF 10V caps from Amazon for $6.99.
I’ll tackle the soldering part when I have time.
The cap itself came off with the legs still nicely attached to the PCB, so now I just need to give it a try 