Broke MoCA II: This time, the wall wart bought zapped, too

August 18, 2025

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Broke MoCA II: This time, the wall wart bought zapped, too

Again in 2016, I did a teardown of Actiontec’s ECB2200 MoCA adapter, which had fried in response to an EMP generated by a close-proximity lightning bolt cloud-to-cloud spark (Or was it an arc? Or are they the identical factor?). As common readers could recall, this was the second time in as a few years that electronics tools had both required restore or ended up within the landfill for such a purpose (though the primary time, the lightning bolt had really hit the bottom). And as those self same common readers could already be remembering, final August it occurred once more.

I’ve already shared photographs and commentary with you of the sizzling tub circuitry that subsequently required substitute, in addition to the three-drive NAS, the two eight-port GbE switches and the five-port one (however not two, as initially feared) GbE swap. And subsequent month, I plan to point out the insides of the three-for-three CableCard receiver that additionally met its demise this newest lightning-related occasion. However this time, I’ll dissect Actiontec’s MoCA adapter successor, the ECB2500C:

I’d already talked about the ECB2500C a decade again, really:

The ECB2500C is the successor to the ECB2200; each generations are primarily based on MoCA 1.1-supportive silicon, however the ECB2500C strikes all exterior connections to 1 facet of the machine and probably makes different (undocumented) modifications.

And as was the case again in 2016, the adapter within the grasp visitor bed room was the MoCA community chain hyperlink that failed once more this time. A part of the explanation why MoCA gadgets preserve dying, I believe, is because of their inherent nature. Since they convert between Ethernet and coax, there are two completely different potential “Achilles Heels” for incoming electromagnetic spikes. Plus, the truth that coax routes from room to room by way of cable runs connected to the outside of the residence doesn’t assist. After which there’s the truth that the visitor bed room’s location is in closest proximity (on that degree, at the very least) to the Continental Divide, from whence many (however not all) storms supply.

This time, nevertheless, the failure was extra systemic than earlier than. The very first thing I did was to check the wall wart’s DC output utilizing my multimeter:

Lifeless! Hey…possibly the adapter itself remains to be purposeful? I grabbed the spare ECB2500C’s wall wart, confirmed it was purposeful, plugged it into this adapter and…nope, nothing lit up on the entrance panel, so the adapter’s lifeless, too. Oh properly, you’ll get a two-for-one teardown in the present day, then!

Let’s begin with the wall wart, then, as standard accompanied by a 0.75″ (19.1 mm) diameter U.S. penny for measurement comparability functions:

Specs n’ such:

Time to escape the implements of destruction once more (vise not proven this time):

Progress…

Success!

No “potting” on this case; the PCB pulls proper out:

The extra attention-grabbing facet of the PCB, each in penny-inclusive and closer-up views:

The identical goes for the extra boring (except you’re into thick traces, that’s) facet:

And now for some facet views:

I didn’t see something clearly scorched, bulged, or in any other case mangled; did you? Let me know within the feedback if I missed one thing! Now on to the adapter, measuring 1.3 x 3.8 x 5.5 in. (33 x 97 x 140 mm). I double-checked these dimensions with my tape measure and initially did a double-take till I noticed that the revealed width included the 2 coax connectors poking out the again. Subtract 5.8” for the precise case width:

You will have already observed the 4 screw heads, one in every nook, within the earlier underside shot. You recognize what comes subsequent, proper?

That was simple!

The PCB then (simply, once more) lifts proper out of the remaining prime half of the case:

Gentle pipes for the LEDs, which we’ll presumably see as soon as we flip over the PCB:

Let’s persist with this backside facet for now, although:

The lone element of word is a Realtek RTL8201EL Quick Ethernet PHY. The mess of passives beneath it’s presumably for the system processor at that location on the opposite facet of the PCB:

Let’s see if I’m proper:

Yep, it’s Entropic’s EN2510 single-chip MoCA controller, at decrease left within the following photograph. To its left are the aforementioned LEDs. At higher left is an Atmel (now Microchip Know-how) ATMEGA188PA 8-bit AVR microcontroller. And at higher proper, conveniently situated proper subsequent to its companion Ethernet connector, is a Magnetic Communications (MAGCOM) HS9001 LAN transformer:

Switching consideration to the opposite half of the PCB higher half, I wager you’re dying to see what’s beneath these “can” and “cage” lids, aren’t you? Me, too:

Your want is my command!

As with the wall wart, and in contrast to final time when a scorched soldered PCB pad pointed us to the seemingly failure level, I didn’t discover something clearly amiss with the adapter, both. It makes me marvel, the truth is, whether or not both the coax or Ethernet connector was the failure-mechanism entry level this time, and whether or not the failure occurred at the side of final August’s lightning “occasion” or earlier than. The one occasions I’d ever examine the MoCA adapter within the grasp visitor bed room had been when…umm…we had been prepping for in a single day friends to make use of that bed room.

Granted, an extinguished “hyperlink energetic” mild on the mated MoCA adapter on the opposite finish, within the furnace room, would even be an oblique tipoff, however I can’t say with certainty that I repeatedly glanced at that, both. On condition that the wall wart can also be lifeless, I ponder if its unknown-cause demise additionally “zapped” the facility regulation portion of the adapter’s circuitry, situated on the heart of its PCB’s higher facet, for instance. Or possibly the failure sequence began on the adapter after which traveled again to the wall wart over the conjoined energy tether? Let me know your theories, in addition to your broader ideas on what I’ve coated in the present day, within the feedback!

—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Imaginative and prescient Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the corporate’s on-line publication.

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