I got a chance to do my Zaxxon cap job to fix the sound today, and thought I'd grab a couple of pictures and short video to show the difference and some pointers.
I am aware that a) 90% of us here have done cap jobs or monitor cap kits and more; b) 90% of us don't have a Zaxxon and those that do probably don't need to cap the sound board.
But, I was hoping this might be able to help someone now or on down the line.
My Zaxxon would drop the enemy explosion sounds, and sometimes the flight sound and even the player death explosion which under normal circumstances is earth shattering. This is a common issue with 13 cheap caps on the board that can cause sound dropping out, or complete loss.
Mine wasn't too bad. In fact, in the example video below from today, it almost refused to drop any sound at all - but other times it's completely unacceptable.
In the following video if you pay attention though you will note the "bad guys" only rarely make a sound when shot and that the other sounds are a bit distorted (like the lasers at the end of this clip):

So, I pulled the boardset and did the repair from KLOV on the Zaxxon page:
This game is notorious for having some sounds fade out after a couple minutes (most notably the flying sounds and the explosions). This is a simple fix. Replace all 2.2uF 50v capacitors on the sound portion of the board with cheapo polarized equivalents. There are 13 total and are: C28, C29, C32, C38, C41, C55, C59, C68, C69, C74, C76, C80 and C93. They are labeled clearly on the board so they should be easy to find. Be sure to install the caps properly, however (again, polarity is marked on the board too).
So I used a cheap Radio Shack solder sucker (bulb, not syringe) and a Bob Roberts $2 special magnifying glass for my aging eyes.
If you've never done a cap kit or repair before, I can't think of an easier part to replace. Caps have one long wire and one short coming from them. The long wire is the positive (+) wire and the short one is negative. Not only are the wires different lengths, but the negative side of the cap is marked with (-) as well; you'd literally have to aggressively NOT pay attention to mount them wrong.
In the case of the Zaxxon board, of course, the positive and negative sides are also clearly screened on the board making it even easier.
So - use the desolder tool to heat and suck out the solder, pull the old cap, stick the new one in and solder it right in.
It's pretty elementary - and easier than the average monitor cap kit.
I have desolder braid as well, but it was only needed twice during the whole job.
Finally, installed the boardset back in the machine, powered it up and played. Sounds are crisper and you can catch the enemy explosions consistently now.

I am aware that a) 90% of us here have done cap jobs or monitor cap kits and more; b) 90% of us don't have a Zaxxon and those that do probably don't need to cap the sound board.
But, I was hoping this might be able to help someone now or on down the line.
My Zaxxon would drop the enemy explosion sounds, and sometimes the flight sound and even the player death explosion which under normal circumstances is earth shattering. This is a common issue with 13 cheap caps on the board that can cause sound dropping out, or complete loss.
Mine wasn't too bad. In fact, in the example video below from today, it almost refused to drop any sound at all - but other times it's completely unacceptable.
In the following video if you pay attention though you will note the "bad guys" only rarely make a sound when shot and that the other sounds are a bit distorted (like the lasers at the end of this clip):

So, I pulled the boardset and did the repair from KLOV on the Zaxxon page:
This game is notorious for having some sounds fade out after a couple minutes (most notably the flying sounds and the explosions). This is a simple fix. Replace all 2.2uF 50v capacitors on the sound portion of the board with cheapo polarized equivalents. There are 13 total and are: C28, C29, C32, C38, C41, C55, C59, C68, C69, C74, C76, C80 and C93. They are labeled clearly on the board so they should be easy to find. Be sure to install the caps properly, however (again, polarity is marked on the board too).
So I used a cheap Radio Shack solder sucker (bulb, not syringe) and a Bob Roberts $2 special magnifying glass for my aging eyes.
If you've never done a cap kit or repair before, I can't think of an easier part to replace. Caps have one long wire and one short coming from them. The long wire is the positive (+) wire and the short one is negative. Not only are the wires different lengths, but the negative side of the cap is marked with (-) as well; you'd literally have to aggressively NOT pay attention to mount them wrong.
In the case of the Zaxxon board, of course, the positive and negative sides are also clearly screened on the board making it even easier.
So - use the desolder tool to heat and suck out the solder, pull the old cap, stick the new one in and solder it right in.
It's pretty elementary - and easier than the average monitor cap kit.
I have desolder braid as well, but it was only needed twice during the whole job.
Finally, installed the boardset back in the machine, powered it up and played. Sounds are crisper and you can catch the enemy explosions consistently now.

