Recapping Abit IP35

[Nadar]

I have a (relatively old) Abit IP35 board with a Q9650 and 8GB RAM that I was hoping could do some service for years to come still.

Everything is working fine at the moment, but when inspecting the board I can see quite a few caps that show every sign of going or being bad. There's only one type/size that show any visual degradation, but it's used loads of places on the board. Many have bulged tops, and 2-3 have dropped electrolyte in the bottom.


They seem to be 1000uF and 6,3V, and the make is Sam Young(?) from what I can read.

There will be quite a lot of soldiering to replace all of them, I haven't counted them yet but it's somewhere around 20. Is this one of the terrible ones so that all should be replaced, or should I take a chance and only change those with visual deformations?

The cost isn't the issue, I'm more worried about the time it will take me. My "tin suction thing" is some cheap chinese thing that really doesn't do the job very well and spend more time jamming than sucking. I haven't been able to find a decent one locally, and it's hard to judge their quality by a photo on a web shop. If any of you have a tip for a good one, I guess replacing all would go pretty quick.

Also, looking in the master list here on badcaps.net I can only find one that seems to match (article number 131):

1000uF 6.3v Nichicon HM 8mm 13mm

This cap seems to be unavailable. I'm measuring the existing ones to be about 8,3mm in diameter and 13-14mm high. I don't think the 10mm diameter ones will fit, as some of these are in some tight spots.

Any and all suggestions/feedback are appreciated.

[Dan81]

Re: Recapping Abit IP35

Just replace all 20. Don't replace only the failed ones because if you only replace the specific ones you pictured,others will follow the same fate soon. Better replace them from one run and be happy with it.

[Sparkey55]

Re: Recapping Abit IP35

Here is my suggestion for a cheap soldering iron that will (with practice) work on the board. Find a cheap 30 to 40 watt pencil iron that can accept a thick copper wire with a diameter of about 3/16" to 1/4". It must be the type of iron where the tip slides down into the barrel of the heating element and is held in tight with a screw. Leave about 1/2 to 1" of copper wire sticking out. File or cut the tip to give you a chisel tip (IMPORTANT) then tin the copper tip well. I think the wire gauge will be somewhere between #8 or #4.

[Nadar]

Re: Recapping Abit IP35

I have a quality temperature regulated soldier iron and I know how to soldier, I'm just missing a quality tin suction device. The one I have won't properly remove the tin the few times I can get it to work.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: Recapping Abit IP35

if u cant get a good solder sucker like me, use the safety pin/needle method like the owner of this website/forum suggested. its waaaay faster and much more efficient at clearing the holes. solder suckers dont work too well in removing solder from copper heavy pcbs like computer motherboards. either safety pin/needle or soldering braid is the way to go.

[Nadar]

Re: Recapping Abit IP35

if u cant get a good solder sucker like me, use the safety pin/needle method like the owner of this website/forum suggested.

It might be that I'm a bit thick, but what safety pin/needle method are you referring to?

I've nothing but bad experience using soldering braid, I've too often ended up over-heating the component to get the braid to suck up enough tin.

[momaka]

Re: Recapping Abit IP35

I have a quality temperature regulated soldier iron and I know how to soldier, I'm just missing a quality tin suction device.

You *don't* need a solder sucker / solder vacuum pump for this. In fact, it is usually very hard to use one on a motherboard and actually have it work.

The way I normally remove caps is with this method:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...7&postcount=23

Then I use a sewing needle or cork board tac/pin to push solder out of the holes on the board. To do that, I simply heat each hole with my soldering iron and use the pin/needle/tac to push the solder out from the other side of the board. Of course to do this, it is best to have the motherboard propped sideways so that you have easy access to both the solder and the component side.

Also, most of the time I don't even clear the holes all the way. Instead, to make the installation of the new caps easier, I pre-cut their leads to proper length so that I can then use the above same method to put the new caps back on the motherboard.

I hope this helps.

And yes, definitely replace all of the Sam Young capacitors. In fact, not just those, but anything that is not Japanese-made. That is, the only caps you should see on your motherboard should be Rubycon, Nichicon, Panasonic, Sanyo, Fujitsu, and United Chemicon (but beware of KZG and KZJ series, as those are failure-prone as well). Oh and Samxon GC and GD series are okay too (they are not Japanese, though ).

[Nadar]

Re: Recapping Abit IP35

Thanks momaka. I agree that I don't need a sucker for most of them, but some are in tight spots where I'm not sure that there's room to "bend" the caps. I'll manage anyway, the caps only have two leads so I can always go back and forth moving it a little bit on the tight ones - most should be easy enough.

I didn't really think (?) when I asked about the desoldering, it's a general issue I've come across when desoldering and that I find troublesome (on 3+ leads/legs close together). I'm a bit afraid that I'll make some stupid mistake and ruin the motherboard (it's still working, if it was dead I would have nothing to loose), so I just thought that having some proper way to remove the tin would reduce the chance of any trouble. Working LGA775 boards aren't that easy to source anymore (at least not here in Norway).

I've used a needle to clean the holes myself, I just didn't think it was that "simple" and figured it was some smart trick I hadn't heard of

It seems the 1000uF's are the only Sam Youngs on the board, all the others look completely different and have no sight of bulging/leaking. Most of the others are physically smaller as well, and I have a hard time to read their values without desoldering many of them first, so I think I'll stick with replacing all the 1000uF's for now. This site doesn't seem to sell 8mm 1000uF's anymore, but I've found a local source for some 8mm Panasonics so I guess I'll go for those.

[momaka]

Re: Recapping Abit IP35

Thanks momaka. I agree that I don't need a sucker for most of them, but some are in tight spots where I'm not sure that there's room to "bend" the caps. I'll manage anyway, the caps only have two leads so I can always go back and forth moving it a little bit on the tight ones - most should be easy enough.

I haven't found a motherboard where I can't bend the caps. At the worst, there may be other caps around the cap you are trying to remove. When that happens, I sometimes remove the caps that get in the way. It's only a bit more work.

I'm a bit afraid that I'll make some stupid mistake and ruin the motherboard (it's still working, if it was dead I would have nothing to loose), so I just thought that having some proper way to remove the tin would reduce the chance of any trouble.

Well, just so you know... bad caps can ruin the motherboard and render it unrepairable sometimes. In particular, beware if you see bad caps around any inductors and coils. Buck regulator circuits don't take it too well when their output caps go bad and the energy stored in the inductor has no place to go (it actually does have a place to go - through whatever IC it is powering.... whether that IC needs it or not).
So don't be too afraid to change the caps - at least the bad ones anyways.

Yes, there is always a risk involved - even if you have done this many times before. But to botch the motherboard, I think you'd have to be a complete novice at this. Generally, that would be caused by slipping with your iron and destroying/ripping through fine traces (which actually can be fixed sometimes, so still nothing too terrible).

I've used a needle to clean the holes myself, I just didn't think it was that "simple" and figured it was some smart trick I hadn't heard of

Nah, we're not NASA here

It seems the 1000uF's are the only Sam Youngs on the board, all the others look completely different and have no sight of bulging/leaking. ... so I think I'll stick with replacing all the 1000uF's for now.

That's fine. The small caps are usually not that important. Worst case, you might get a non-booting motherboard if an important small cap (if there is one) goes really bad. But no way you will get a burned coil or shorted chip from that.

This site doesn't seem to sell 8mm 1000uF's anymore, but I've found a local source for some 8mm Panasonics so I guess I'll go for those.

Well, there are these, but the height (16 mm) might be an issue for you near the PCI/PCI-E slots (in particular if you have a video card with a heatsink positioned close to the slots):
https://www.badcaps.net/store/produc...products_id=46

If for any reason you can't find suitable caps, then just know that 820 uF caps will more than likely work fine too. I looked at a picture of the Abit IP35-E, and it seems that most of these 1000 uF caps are used as general filters and only a few of them are critical (hence why your motherboard still works). But if you use good low ESR caps, the reduction in capacitance won't really affect anything.

[Nadar]

Re: Recapping Abit IP35

Well, there are these, but the height (16 mm) might be an issue for you near the PCI/PCI-E slots (in particular if you have a video card with a heatsink positioned close to the slots):
https://www.badcaps.net/store/produc...products_id=46

If for any reason you can't find suitable caps, then just know that 820 uF caps will more than likely work fine too. I looked at a picture of the Abit IP35-E, and it seems that most of these 1000 uF caps are used as general filters and only a few of them are critical (hence why your motherboard still works). But if you use good low ESR caps, the reduction in capacitance won't really affect anything.

I measured the existing ones to 13-14 mm, so 16 mm might work, but why risk it? The GPU is a giant though as it's an old Radeon 4890. The reason I didn't find those was that I only looked at 6,3V caps.

But the Panasonics I've found are the correct size both ways, 6,3 volts and 1000uF and doesn't cost a fortune pluss that I don't have to pay import tax on them. Is there any reason why I shouldn't use those? It's from a serious company so I'm sure they are genuine. As I understood it Panasonic was among the quality brands..?

[momaka]

Re: Recapping Abit IP35

I measured the existing ones to 13-14 mm, so 16 mm might work, but why risk it?

I agree.

But the Panasonics I've found are the correct size both ways, 6,3 volts and 1000uF and doesn't cost a fortune pluss that I don't have to pay import tax on them. Is there any reason why I shouldn't use those? It's from a serious company so I'm sure they are genuine. As I understood it Panasonic was among the quality brands..?

Yes, Panasonic caps are absolutely excellent, so indeed no reason not to use them. Just make sure they are low ESR series, such as FK, FR, FM, FL, and FLS (FL and FLS are typically not sold in retail, so they might be old stock). FC series might not be the lowest ESR, but they should also work.

In any case, anything is better than those bulged Sam Young caps .

[Nadar]

Re: Recapping Abit IP35

Yes, Panasonic caps are absolutely excellent, so indeed no reason not to use them. Just make sure they are low ESR series, such as FK, FR, FM, FL, and FLS (FL and FLS are typically not sold in retail, so they might be old stock). FC series might not be the lowest ESR, but they should also work.

Now we're talking about things I have no idea about, so that's great information, thank you. I did a quick lookup on ESR so I have a basic idea of it now, but that doesn't translate into any knowledge about the cap series

When filtering on the other properties (radial, 1000uF, 6,3V, 8mm diameter, height <= 14) I have the following to choose from:

• Panasonic ECA0JHG102 -55...+105 °C
• Nippon Chemi-Con EKMG6R3ELL102MHB5D -55...+105 °C
• Nippon Chemi-Con ESMG6R3ELL102MHB5D -40...+85 °C
• Panasonic ECA0JM102 -40...+85 °C
• Panasonic EEUFR0J102 -40...+105 °C

The only things I was looking at was the temperature rating and price, assuming that those with the hightest temperature tolerance and higest price would be the best ones. From what you're saying, I'm not sure that any of these are any good? I'm assuming the model designations should start with a F not an E?

Edit: If seems the first three letters are "something else", so EEUFR0J102 might be ok?

Another thing I'm wondering in the hours life specification. Many are rated at 2k hours and some up to 5k hours. What is this number, I can't take it literally. 5k hours is virually nothing and that would mean I'd have to replace caps basicly "all the time". Several of my computers are on 24/7 because they perform some role requiring that, and the last time I checked it's over 8700 hours in a single year... Are they measuring something different that I'm thinking about, like the time spent charging and discharging or something of the sort, or is it just some absurd number they are sure it won't break down before?

[momaka]

Re: Recapping Abit IP35

Edit: If seems the first three letters are "something else", so EEUFR0J102 might be ok?

There you go, you figured it out pretty much by yourself
That Panasonic part number is indeed for the FR series, which should be suitable for your motherboard.

As for the "E" in front of those part numbers: I think this is probably to signify that this is an Electrolytic capacitor.

As for the other capacitors on that list: Panasonic CA and Chemicon KMG and SMG are all general purpose capacitors. They are not really suitable for motherboard use. That said, if you have a motherboard that is not booting due to clearly bad caps and you have nothing better to use, these caps would still work in most cases. It's just that they might overheat and/or not last as long as proper low ESR caps, or you may still get random crashes due to those caps not being able to fully filter the motherboard's outputs.

But really... just about any cap is better than a bulging cap
... except for Sacon FZ - avoid those!!!

Another thing I'm wondering in the hours life specification. Many are rated at 2k hours and some up to 5k hours. What is this number, I can't take it literally. 5k hours is virually nothing and that would mean I'd have to replace caps basicly "all the time".

That's the cap's Endurance rating. It basically specifies for how many hours the cap is guaranteed to take "maximum abuse" on its specs (i.e. max temperature, voltage, and ripple current). For every 10C drop in oprating temperature below the cap's maximum, the lifetime of the cap more or less doubles.

More rading/details (if you are interested ) in this thread:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=28479

[Nadar]

Re: Recapping Abit IP35

Great, thanks for the info. I'll go for the EEUFR0J102's then.