mookaloid
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| posted on 5/8/09 at 02:01 PM |
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Popped caps
Just fixed a PC at work cos the PSU had expired. I noticed that some of the capacitors had pushed their tops up a little and there was some brown
deposit on the tops.
The PC now seems to be working but could these failed capacitors have caused the PSU to go?
Given that the PC is working should I be worried or should I be getting a new MB ready?
Cheers
Mark
"That thing you're thinking - it wont be that."
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tegwin
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| posted on 5/8/09 at 02:08 PM |
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Sounds like the caps have been over charged...
If you overcharge a cap suddently the top blows clean off and you get crap everywhere...
I would suspect that the PSU has over voltaged and fucked anything that was plugged into it..
If the caps are distroted... expect them to fail soon!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
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iank
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| posted on 5/8/09 at 02:10 PM |
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Yes, there was a whole batch of dodgy caps manufactured and sold cheap a while back (interestingly it was due to some botched industrial
espionage).
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/02/06/stolen_formula_torpedos_big_brand/
Whatever the reason leaking caps will almost certainly have caused the PSU to go phutt.
If it's now working with a new PSU then the MB should be fine (though it will presumably have been manufactured at the same time as the PSU so
may also have got some of the dodgy caps).
I'd not worry about it myself, though I'd always recommend having recent(ish) backups around of any files you care about anyway.
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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Agriv8
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| posted on 5/8/09 at 02:10 PM |
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IMHO you should be.
Had a batch of power supplies a couple of years ago fitted with a weak capacitor out of the 12 or so fitted none of them lasted longer than a year.
They used to pop the capaciter top off.
Non of the Pc's have had any Mother board trouble.
regards
Agriv8
Taller than your average Guy !
Management is like a tree of monkeys. - Those at the top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces. BUT Those at the bottom look up and see a
tree full of a*seholes .............
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ChrisW
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| posted on 5/8/09 at 02:10 PM |
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They tend to do that if they have got warm during use. Did the fan fail on the PSU at all? Or was the air flow obstructed?
You will probably find that replacing all the electrolytic capacitors in the PSU will make it work again, although for the price of a PC power supply
it's hardly worth the effort.
When I did my apprenticeship at the BBC I spend hours replacing capacitors in bits of equipment that had gone wrong. In fact, we usually did this
first before even investigating whether there was a real fault!
Chris
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Agriv8
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| posted on 5/8/09 at 02:15 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by ChrisW
They tend to do that if they have got warm during use. Did the fan fail on the PSU at all? Or was the air flow obstructed?
You will probably find that replacing all the electrolytic capacitors in the PSU will make it work again, although for the price of a PC power supply
it's hardly worth the effort.
When I did my apprenticeship at the BBC I spend hours replacing capacitors in bits of equipment that had gone wrong. In fact, we usually did this
first before even investigating whether there was a real fault!
Chris
Must have played catch the charged capator trick. Never played that one of course
regards
Agriv8
Taller than your average Guy !
Management is like a tree of monkeys. - Those at the top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces. BUT Those at the bottom look up and see a
tree full of a*seholes .............
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miikae
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| posted on 5/8/09 at 02:21 PM |
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Over the years i have replaced loads of electrolytic caps in radio tranmitters, power supplies etc and quite often replaced with a slightly higher
voltage rateing, but haveing said that elecrtolytics have always been a problem after quite a few years use.
Mike
[Edited on 5-8-2009 by miikae]
If it can be done it i will be done .
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miikae
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| posted on 5/8/09 at 02:26 PM |
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Mil spec Tantalum caps charged and left around the bench can make one see stars.
They look good and always attract attention by passers by.
Mike
[Edited on 5-8-2009 by miikae]
If it can be done it i will be done .
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mookaloid
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| posted on 5/8/09 at 02:42 PM |
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I should say that the popped caps are on the MB - I didn't make this clear on the original post
"That thing you're thinking - it wont be that."
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Agriv8
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| posted on 5/8/09 at 02:52 PM |
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ahhh in that case if its an important PC I would be making sure I had spare MB availble.
regards
Agriv8
Taller than your average Guy !
Management is like a tree of monkeys. - Those at the top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces. BUT Those at the bottom look up and see a
tree full of a*seholes .............
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iank
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| posted on 5/8/09 at 03:01 PM |
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Yeah, popped caps on the MB are a really big sign that a new one will be needed soon. It may take out another PSU on the way out so preventative
replacement might be sensible. Depends on what kind of company you work for and/or how important that PC is.
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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mookaloid
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| posted on 5/8/09 at 03:21 PM |
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Well it's a very important company - it's mine 
Worse it's an incredibly important PC - SWMBOs 
I'll source a MB right away
"That thing you're thinking - it wont be that."
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bmseven
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| posted on 5/8/09 at 10:52 PM |
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Had 3 pcs fail at work all at the same time due to the faulty batch of caps.
Its not a Dell is it?
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 7/8/09 at 04:27 PM |
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Thousands (probably tens/hundreds of thousands) of motherboards have suffered from failing electrolytic caps. The first symptoms (if they don't
actually go pop whilst you are next to the PC) are usually instability of the PC, crashing regularly for no apparent reason etc. It's possible
to replace the caps, but they aren't the easiest things to unsolder from multi-layer boards and for the cost of the new motherboard it's
rarely worth while.
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Staple balls
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| posted on 8/8/09 at 05:49 PM |
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It depends where on the motherboard the capacitors are, and a lot on luck.
If they're voltage regulation caps, you can usually get away with losing a few, it's not ideal, and the mobo is at a much increased risk
of sudden death, but as they're only there to keep the electrickery smooth and ripple free, they're not entirely essential.
Course, it's best to be safe, but cheap is good too.
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RoadkillUK
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| posted on 9/8/09 at 10:51 AM |
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I extended the life of my GFX card for about 4 months last year when I replaced the blown Caps, but in the end the card failed
Roadkill - Lee
www.bradford7.co.uk
Latest Picture (14 Sept 2014)
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