Bad Capacitors?

4328 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by UncleMacro, Sep 8, 2005

planetfall

Discussion Starter · Sep 8, 2005

My computer will no longer work, I thought the video card was shot, because when I booted up the comp, the drives would light up in their sequence, but my monitor did not receive a signal, so I bought a new card, and the same thing occurs.

I noticed discharge crud on the capactors near the cpu on the motherboard, and a distinctive burning smell, has anyone ever had this happen before?

I'm assuming I need a new board, I built this comp about 4 years ago, what are the chances of my finding a replacement board?

Thanks!

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Barry_R

· #2 · Sep 8, 2005

What model and manufacturer is the board? A google search may turn up something.

Why would you want the same board if the caps have gone bad already?

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planetfall

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 8, 2005

well, because it would fit into my case? they're all different right?

i still want to use my case and everything i have attached to it, all my periph's and usb's, cpu, etc...

thanks!

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whodat

· #4 · Sep 8, 2005

if its not a mini atx you will probably be ok
what motherboard is it, also a bad psu can cook a motherboard, keep that in mind.

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Barry_R

· #5 · Sep 8, 2005 (Edited)

:arrowu: I second the above.

Since the machie is 4 years old I would get a new PSU along with the new motherboard. Enermax and Antec make excellent power supplies. Get one that will fit your case with the same or greater wattage as the one you currently have. A little more watts is always better IMHO.

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Volt-Schwibe

· #6 · Sep 8, 2005

there were literally thousands of motherboards that suffer from bad capacitors.

i am on one right now.

i replaced every capacitor above 1000 microferrads, and it works fine now.

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UncleMacro

· #7 · Sep 8, 2005 (Edited)

I noticed discharge crud on the capactors near the cpu on the motherboard, and a distinctive burning smell, has anyone ever had this happen before?

That's the classic symptoms of bad capacitors. My brother's motherboard did the same thing. There are some (sorta okay) pictures of bad caps here. There is no option other than replace the bad caps or replace the motherboard.

You may be able to search your way to someone selling the same motherboard but it's likely that it will also have the same brand of capacitors but just hasn't been run as long. The bad caps came from a huge number of cheap electrolytic caps which were manufactured using a bad electrolyte formula. The more time the motherboard is powered up, the closer to death the capacitors become. If you get another motherboard with that same kind of caps then it's going to die at some point too.

You can replace them yourself but it takes serious skill with a soldering iron. This shows you how to do it if you're game.

If your motherboard is four years old then perhaps it's time for an upgrade. You can probably find a different motherboard which supports the rest of your hardware. If it has a different chipset then you'll either have to run SYSPREP or reinstall Windows.

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