Chosen Solution
I’ve bought second hand steering wheel (Guillemot Ferrari Force Feedback) on the local marketplace. The owner told me the adapter is missing, so I’ve bought a universal adapter. I didn’t know the correct voltage so I started as low as possible to see whether the device will work. The adapter only went up to 12V, so that’s where I stopped. A strange smell appeared so I immediately shut it off. I’m not sure whether I broke the device by this procedure or it was already broken but just showing it’s signs on this voltage. Later I found out online the exact specifications for the adapter (20V) and bought a new universal adapter. I tried again with the correct voltage and again get the burning smell. After that I opened up the wheel to see if there was a fuse or some obvious component damage. The only thing I notice is one of the capacitors is (very) slightly bulged, but I find it hard to tell whether this is abnormal or not. It’s not exploded or any leakage. I’m a bit hesitant to keep putting power on the circuit because of the smell and a fear of breaking more. How can I proceed in this case? This is an image of the capacitor:
Replace the capacitor, it has gone bad. Mouser electronic will carry it. RadioShack may also. Take a close up picture so hat it can be read. Examine all the caps for swelling and or leakage. There was a major run of knock off caps that got into lots of things around 2006-2009. http://www.mouser.com/?gclid=CjwKEAjw8Jy…
