Hehe ok, ok... no more capacitors. But is it actually good if the capacitor reads -0.8v?
I'll try checking that resistor, and learn something about them as well. The stripes are Gold, brown, purple and yellow.
And thank you very much for your patience.
Common uses for capacitors are:
A) Energy Storage. (Commonly used in a power supply portion of the circuit to help keep the voltage levels smooth)
B) Filters. (Commonly used in an audio/signal portion of a circuit. Allows / Disallows specific frequency ranges to pass through a circuit.)
C) RC Timing... (Used with things like 555 timers where the charge/discharge rate is used to time or control a circuit)
In a sense, capacitors in power supplies are used like A and B... as they will typically allow noise to be directed to ground in addition to filling their role to provide power or absorb power during high, or low points where a transformer based power supply may operate.
Larger capacitors allow lower frequencies to pass through, and also store more energy to allow the circuit to pull more current without causing the voltage to dip too far.
Common failures in capacitors that I am aware of is usually quite visually apparent, as the capacitor will bulge (Electrolytic)
They can also fail and either go open-circuit, or short-circuit.
The steps are are taking right now with your circuit is checking if the ICs in your circuit are receiving the appropriate voltage. If these readings are not appropriate, then you can begin to back track closer to where the power enters the board to find out what part has failed.
Kris is excellent at finding these things, so listen carefully
