Dell XPS 410

[dfilias]

I have an older Dell XPS 410 with the blinking amber power light. A few days ago, it just stopped turning on. No POST. Nothing. I went through the typical troubleshooting, starting with the RAM, then trying another CPU, then another power supply, then unplugging every single peripheral, resetting BIOS, replacing mobo battery, and every combination of above.

Last thing to check of course is the mobo. A detailed look online reintroduced me to the bad cap plague, which led me here. After a closer examination, I spotted some capacitors with black marks on top of them. At first I thought they were just marks from a quality control check point during the assembly process at Dell. Examining them closer, the tops are bulged and slightly cracked. Still, I'm not 100% convinced they are bad because I really don't know exactly what I'm looking for.

Can you guys take a look? Looking for input/feedback. Basically, is it worth fixing? And do I just replace the bad 2200uF 6.3v caps? Or do I need to replace all of the caps on the board? Only the 2200uF caps are bulging.

Thanks!

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Dell XPS 410

They are bad.
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Replace all the KZJ and all of anything else that is bloated.
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[dfilias]

Re: Dell XPS 410

Thanks for the feedback!

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Dell XPS 410

No worries.
It was late. I should have thrown in more info.

That stuff you thought was ink is electrolyte leaking through the vent.
KZJ are a bad series from an other wise good brand. - High failure rates.

Nichicon HN and Nichicon HZ are about the only caps in current production with ratings good enough to replace KZJ.

Rubycon MCZ are also good enough but they quit making them a while back so they might be hard to find.
There are still some around here and there from dealers that stocked up.

.

[dfilias]

Re: Dell XPS 410

Excellent. I found a distributor locally that has the Nichicon HNs that are exactly the same rating and size: 2200 uF 6.3v and 10mmx16mm. Hopefully replacing the KZJ caps will bring the life back to the mobo.

I was worried that this was an uncommon mobo failure since I did not see any Dell XPS 410 capacitor kits for sale here. I would have bought a kit from here if one was available.

Sad to think that $0.50 capacitors wrecked many consumer electronics manufactured 2006 - 2008. Normally, I would have just pitched this computer in the trash. Glad I stumbled upon this site.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Dell XPS 410

With Nichicon HN [and HM] make sure the date codes are 2005 or newer.
They had a manufacturing screw-up from 2001 thru 2004. [Too much electrolyte - overfilled]
-
I haven't seen any of the duds show up in a ~LONG~ time but there still might be some out there.
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Nichicon date code format is like H0433.
The 04 is the year [2004]
The 33 is week of year.
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[Topcat]

Re: Dell XPS 410

Either of these will be perfect:

https://www.badcaps.net/store/produc...roducts_id=137

or

https://www.badcaps.net/store/produc...roducts_id=168

[dfilias]

Re: Dell XPS 410

I was mistaken. Local electronics supplier around the block from me sells Mallory SEK.
Mallory SEK Spec: https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...84433f7daf.pdf

Will the Mallory 2200 uF 6.3v 10mmx20mm be equivalent to the Nichicon HN you are recommending? Also, my bad caps are 10mmx16mm. Will 10mmx20mm make any difference other than they simply take up move vertical space on the mobo?

[Uranium-235]

Re: Dell XPS 410

if it says 'general purpose'...probably not

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Dell XPS 410

Mallory are historically good caps but the SEK isn't a good enough series for the application. Not even close to KZJ specs.
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Height doesn't matter as long as there isn't a clearance problem.
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KZJ 2200uF/6.3v 10x16mm has ESR=0.0125 Ripple=2460
By standard practice:
- You want the same Ripple or more
- You want the same ESR or less.
.
HN 2200uF/6.3v 10x16mm has ESR=0.011 Ripple=2280
HN 2200uF/6.3v 10x20mm has ESR=0.010 Ripple=2900

HZ 2200uF/6.3v 10x16mm has ESR=0.010 Ripple=2960
HZ 2200uF/6.3v 10x20mm has ESR=0.007 Ripple=3770

The 10x16mm HN is a little light on the Ripple compared to KZJ but there shouldn't be anywhere near that much in the circuit anyway.

Caps series like KZJ, HN, HZ are an attempt to get ESR very very low and in the process the Ripple get's 'beefed up' way beyond what is actually needed.
ESR is the real priority. Ripple just follows along for the ride.
.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Dell XPS 410

Might wanna check MOSFET Q17BV and the one next to it to make they are okay.
Looks like the one got hot.
Could very well be due to the bad caps.
The other looks odd in the photo but it might just be debris on it.
.