Mobo cap's

  • Thread starter Thread starter Graeme
  • Start date Start date
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Graeme

I've read this ng for many years, asked questions, and contributed some of
my knowledge (albeit very small) at times. But one thing stuck in my mind
when people ask why their system crashes when it used to be ok. Well, my
wife's PC has (I've just been told) been having the same problem. It's an
AthlonXP, a few years old now, and it was rock solid when it was built. I've
now been told that it crashes (frequently) and now it takes a while to even
get into Windows (Win98SE).
Other posters have been advised that their PSU may be on its way out, the
memory has become faulty, or that the mobo cap's have blown. Mobo cap's
blown? Seriously? Surely these mobo's must be real cheap with crappy
components for that to happen. Well, the cap's on my mobo look very
suspicious. Bulging tops, and a slight discharge from some. So, I replaced
them (quite a high-power iron required for this, if anyone else wants to try
it). I've just done a quick test of the old ones (7 off 1500uF 6V3); apply
5V and see what happens. They seem more like resistors than cap's.
So, the reason for my post? No idea really, except to say that this will be
the first thing that I look for next time.
 
Graeme said:
I've read this ng for many years, asked questions, and contributed
some of my knowledge (albeit very small) at times. But one thing
stuck in my mind when people ask why their system crashes when it
used to be ok. Well, my wife's PC has (I've just been told) been
having the same problem. It's an AthlonXP, a few years old now, and
it was rock solid when it was built. I've now been told that it
crashes (frequently) and now it takes a while to even get into
Windows (Win98SE).
Other posters have been advised that their PSU may be on its way out,
the memory has become faulty, or that the mobo cap's have blown. Mobo
cap's blown? Seriously? Surely these mobo's must be real cheap with
crappy components for that to happen. Well, the cap's on my mobo look
very suspicious. Bulging tops, and a slight discharge from some. So,
I replaced them (quite a high-power iron required for this, if anyone
else wants to try it). I've just done a quick test of the old ones (7
off 1500uF 6V3); apply 5V and see what happens. They seem more like
resistors than cap's.
So, the reason for my post? No idea really, except to say that this
will be the first thing that I look for next time.
Click to expand...



Here's the story:
http://www.burtonsys.com/bad_BP6/story1.html
 
I've read this ng for many years, asked questions, and contributed some of
my knowledge (albeit very small) at times. But one thing stuck in my mind
when people ask why their system crashes when it used to be ok. Well, my
wife's PC has (I've just been told) been having the same problem. It's an
AthlonXP, a few years old now, and it was rock solid when it was built. I've
now been told that it crashes (frequently) and now it takes a while to even
get into Windows (Win98SE).
Other posters have been advised that their PSU may be on its way out, the
memory has become faulty, or that the mobo cap's have blown. Mobo cap's
blown? Seriously? Surely these mobo's must be real cheap with crappy
components for that to happen.
Click to expand...

Nope, even good top-end boards have had poor caps. Cheap
boards are more likely to have the problem due to the
frequency they used off-brand taiwanese caps.

Well, the cap's on my mobo look very
suspicious. Bulging tops, and a slight discharge from some. So, I replaced
them (quite a high-power iron required for this, if anyone else wants to try
it). I've just done a quick test of the old ones (7 off 1500uF 6V3); apply
5V and see what happens. They seem more like resistors than cap's.
So, the reason for my post? No idea really, except to say that this will be
the first thing that I look for next time.
Click to expand...

What brand were they?
"Suspect" caps include makes like:

Lelon
Luxon
Tayeh
Jackcon
I,Q
JPCON
Chhsi

Sometimes it seems to matter which lot number they were... I
had 4 caps in parallel on one board, same values, all GSC
branded. Those of lot "T1NA", failed.
 
kony said:
On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 13:30:03 -0000, "Graeme"
Click to expand...
Nope, even good top-end boards have had poor caps. Cheap
boards are more likely to have the problem due to the
frequency they used off-brand taiwanese caps.



What brand were they?
"Suspect" caps include makes like:

Lelon
Luxon
Tayeh
Jackcon
I,Q
JPCON
Chhsi

Sometimes it seems to matter which lot number they were... I
had 4 caps in parallel on one board, same values, all GSC
branded. Those of lot "T1NA", failed.
Click to expand...

Mine were GSC lot T1NC. 3 from 7 visibly burst. Changed all 7.
 
I've read this ng for many years, asked questions, and contributed some of
my knowledge (albeit very small) at times. But one thing stuck in my mind
when people ask why their system crashes when it used to be ok. Well, my
wife's PC has (I've just been told) been having the same problem. It's an
AthlonXP, a few years old now, and it was rock solid when it was built. I've
now been told that it crashes (frequently) and now it takes a while to even
get into Windows (Win98SE).
Other posters have been advised that their PSU may be on its way out, the
memory has become faulty, or that the mobo cap's have blown. Mobo cap's
blown? Seriously? Surely these mobo's must be real cheap with crappy
components for that to happen.
Click to expand...

A few years ago, a Taiwanese startup stole what they thought was the
recipe for capacitor electrolyte and started mass producing them. As
they sold them at a lower price than their competitor, and the caps
seemed within spec (at the time), a lot of these made it into the
parts stream for a great many big name motherboard manufacturers.
Turns out their industrial espionage agent was more like inspector
Clouseau than James Bond, as he had only stolen part of the formula.
The stabilizing component was missing, the stuff wasn't stable. After
a few months the caps started self destructing. Some of the big names
recalled the affected boards, others basically hushed it up, quietly
replacing the boards as the complaints came in. While the supply of
crappy capacitors has been used up by now, some electronics out there
(made in Taiwan mostly, but some of these capacitors were reported to
have made it to Japanese manufacturers) still have them. Sort of a
time bomb situation, because you never quite know when the caps will
go off, but they will eventually. Based on the articles at the time,
it looks like thse caps were in circulation for much of 2003 (Dec2002
is the earliest reference, Dec2003 is the latest I could find besides
yours). So some of these components might still be under warranty.
Well, the cap's on my mobo look very
suspicious. Bulging tops, and a slight discharge from some. So, I replaced
them (quite a high-power iron required for this, if anyone else wants to try
it). I've just done a quick test of the old ones (7 off 1500uF 6V3); apply
5V and see what happens. They seem more like resistors than cap's.
So, the reason for my post? No idea really, except to say that this will be
the first thing that I look for next time.
Click to expand...

Yup. That would be them. Don't even know what company to blame for
it, because the bad caps don't seem to have any company markings.
 
A few years ago, a Taiwanese startup stole what they thought was the
recipe for capacitor electrolyte and started mass producing them. As
they sold them at a lower price than their competitor, and the caps
seemed within spec (at the time), a lot of these made it into the
parts stream for a great many big name motherboard manufacturers.
Turns out their industrial espionage agent was more like inspector
Clouseau than James Bond, as he had only stolen part of the formula.
The stabilizing component was missing, the stuff wasn't stable. After
a few months the caps started self destructing. Some of the big names
recalled the affected boards, others basically hushed it up, quietly
replacing the boards as the complaints came in. While the supply of
crappy capacitors has been used up by now, some electronics out there
(made in Taiwan mostly, but some of these capacitors were reported to
have made it to Japanese manufacturers) still have them. Sort of a
time bomb situation, because you never quite know when the caps will
go off, but they will eventually. Based on the articles at the time,
it looks like thse caps were in circulation for much of 2003 (Dec2002
is the earliest reference, Dec2003 is the latest I could find besides
yours). So some of these components might still be under warranty.
Click to expand...

It started well before then, the Abit boards certainly were
and a few Gigabyte boards I had were too. Seems like closer
to '99 than '02, before then reports are spotty and possibly
attributable to other factors.
 
It started well before then, the Abit boards certainly were
and a few Gigabyte boards I had were too. Seems like closer
to '99 than '02, before then reports are spotty and possibly
attributable to other factors.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought too, but I couldn't find any articles on it
dated earlier than late 2002, so it was the only timeframe I could be
sure of.
 
In message <[email protected]> MCheu
That's what I thought too, but I couldn't find any articles on it
dated earlier than late 2002, so it was the only timeframe I could be
sure of.
Click to expand...

It could be that the problems didn't start showing up until 2001, and
didn't get documented until 2002 or so.
 
It could be that the problems didn't start showing up until 2001, and
didn't get documented until 2002 or so.
Click to expand...

IMHO because that time ago CPUs were not so power demanding & not
heating so much too affecting inside chemistry of the caps.
For example: my caps started going bad after more than a year later
when I mounted Tuallie on my MoBo; they were one of that "bad"
brands!! After I changed them with better ones, was all Ok (till the
very close lightning strike hit here, than had to replace them in less
than a month once again; yep the equipment was on surge surpressor,
if not, surely would be for sure dead instead)
 
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