[heero_yuy]

Little digital bedside alarm clock: Came back from Cornwall yesterday and it was flashing, usually a result of a power blip but that usually hits the microwave as well. Tried to reset the clock but it wouldn't stop flashing so I turned it off.

Powered it up today and the display was a random set of segments and the internal alarm speaker was buzzing. A-Ha! I thought: Power supply.

Changed the main capacitor (100uF 16v) with a spare from my bits and bobs and voila! Fixed. Took the opportunity to treat the time/alarm setting buttons with some cleaner as they were also a bit dodgy. Old capacitor measured as no value on my test meter.

It's over 35 years old and this sort of fault is so common in small bits of old electronics. Electrolytic capacitors dry out with age and go open or low value.