No post :(

[dood]

Well, just did my first recapping. It was a very dirty job and didn't go very well in spots. I think I screwed one of the vias over and now the board won't post, even with the new Rubycons. Now, this might not have been the best board to start with, because it didn't POST in the first place...

I think i"ll pull these Rubycons and try in our other board, which only had one defective cap (still going ot replace the rest of the GSC's.)

[dood]

Re: No post

Well, the second recapping went much faster, but with no more sucess than the first. Machine turns on, but still won't POST. I'm not sure if this one was working before the recap or not... I'm assuming it was. It only had one bad GSC, but I changed out the other 5 as well. Maybe I should've just started with the one...

I'm thinking that maybe I'm having issues getting the solder to wick up into the vias... I'm not sure what the best technique for this is.

[dood]

Re: No post

I'm an idiot. The first board probably worked fine. I realised that the processor that I had installed was a Duron, not an Athlon, and that the FSB switch on the mobo needed to be set to 100, not 133mhz. The board previously ran an Athlon, which is why it was set to 133 in the first place. After flipping the switch, the second board fired right up. Now to load an OS and start the burnin....

[dood]

Re: No post

Ah, this is a good feeling... the board is up and running with Windows XP pro loaded and distributed.net burning in. I'll leave it run this way for a day or so, until I have to scavenge the processor to go back in the machine I stole it from :o.

With everything onboard with this mobo, I'm confident that I did the job right. Video is working fine, without artifacts, network works well, keybaord and mouse both work... only thing I didn't try was the audio, but that's of no consequence to me, anyway.

Now I'm just gonna have to order a few more caps and try my first PSU next.

[willawake]

Re: No post

well done. its a GREAT feeling.

I'm thinking that maybe I'm having issues getting the solder to wick up into the vias

dont worry about that, just close the hole and the via is making the connection.

[Newbie2]

Re: No post

Now I'm just gonna have to order a few more caps and try my first PSU next.

What PSU is that, the Startech?

The feeling of successfully recapping a motherboard is a great feeling.

[dood]

Re: No post

Yes, I actually have two Startech PSUs to recap. I got another one of my machines in over New Years that had one of these PSUs, so I cracked it open to find a bulging cap. Still works fine, just like the other one, but there was no way I was gonna let it back out the door. Just gotta open 'em back up and find out what I need.

[dood]

Re: No post

Went back today and put caps in that first board that didn't post. With the FSB switch set appropriately, it came right up. Loaded windows, ran distributed.net for awhile, everything's stable. Looks like I've got yet another Socket A board sitting around . I didn't really think this one was going to come back to life, because the holes got screwed up pretty back from being my first recap, then decap, then recap again

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Re: No post

Congrats

This reminds me of the time I tried to recap a tiny PCB with SMD components on my JVC SVHS deck... the iron didn't get hot enough even though I waited a good long time for it to do so, and I ended up ripping out part of the PCB trace that ran under the video head. I could have soldered in a jumper wire but for one problem... that trace was supposed to run in a loop under the video head for the VCR to even work. I had to very carefully scrape the enamel off what was left of that PCB trace and solder the new cap directly to it. I managed it with barely a micron or two to spare between the cap lead and the video head.

You can imagine my sigh of relief when I powered it up and realized I had just spared myself from having to junk a $750 VCR

[dood]

Re: No post

THere's such a thing as a $750 VCR? :p

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Re: No post

There was in 1993

It's an HRS-4700U - I bought it on sale in Edmonton for $750 Canadian. It's still hanging in there despite constant problems with the PSU (very dim display - already been recapped, no difference). Mostly gathers dust these days... it works well enough so I'm not wasting any more time on fixing the PSU in there.