Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

[chrunchyhobo]

hello,

I just wanted to ask if anyone has had any experience with this motherboard (gigabyte GA-8ID533) and if anyone has had dodgy caps on it.

I recently purchased a brand new (open box, anti static bag still sealed) GA-8ID533 mobo and one of the caps vented about 5 seconds after it posted.

The mobo did not shut itself off, and DID post again (used a different PSU) after the venting (which I probably shouldn't have done).

The cap in question is a Nichicon 1000uF 6.3v 8mm x 13mm cap located below the 5th PCI slot (hopefully shown in the picture if it uploads right) with "EC57" printed on the PCB next to it.




From what I have read, I understand that Nichicons are high quality caps, so this has me confused a little bit.

My questions are:

1. Does anyone know what this cap is for?

2. What could have caused it?

3. Could it have been caused by the PSU I used? PSU was a CWT PUFP305P.

Any info I have missed, please let me know.

[stj]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

what else is writen on the cap?
i see "HN" ??

[chrunchyhobo]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

what else is writen on the cap?
i see "HN" ??

It's HM(M).

Also says A0301.

Cant believe I missed those.

[rhomanski]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

Badcaps or goodcaps doesn't mean you can point to one and say, "It will never fail". It means you can point to one and say, "It probably won't fail". Ever been left standing on the side of the highway by a new car? Stuff happens.

[chrunchyhobo]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

Badcaps or goodcaps doesn't mean you can point to one and say, "It will never fail". It means you can point to one and say, "It probably won't fail". Ever been left standing on the side of the highway by a new car? Stuff happens.

I know that, its just a bit more unexpected when a "good" brand fails.

[eccerr0r]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

Maybe Gigabyte put the wrong capacitor there and really needed a higher voltage one...

Then again this should have been caught during initial testing...

[Wester547]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

That's a Socket 478 board. A0301 means it was manufactured during the 1st week of 2003 (January) in Asahi, Japan. Nichicon had a large, bad batch of ultra low impedance capacitors (HM and HN series) from 2001-2005. They make good caps otherwise. I'm not surprised they would fail upon POST, after all those years of sitting in a sealed bag. It sounds like the electrolyte had attacked the aluminum oxide layer as it continually thinned in storage (when the electrolyte broke down, it could not repair the oxide film), so when bias was finally applied to the plates, BANG! Even the circuit voltage proved too much for those defective caps. That particular cap appears to be on the output of a linear regulator but tracing the underside may reveal otherwise. (M) is the capacitance tolerance (-+20%), not part of the series name.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

yes what he said. this is why i avoid gigabyte boards during the p4 and athlon xp and 64 eras. i saw a lot of gigabyte boards from that time period use nichicon hms. if u get one of those, it usually means a time consuming full recap of the board due to the faulty batch in the 2001-2005 time period when p4s and athlon xp/64s were being made.

suitable replacements for your recapping exercise would be rubycon mbz, sanyo wg and panasonic fj.

[chrunchyhobo]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

That's a Socket 478 board. A0301 means it was manufactured during the 1st week of 2003 (January) in Asahi, Japan. Nichicon had a large, bad batch of ultra low impedance capacitors (HM and HN series) from 2001-2005. They make good caps otherwise. I'm not surprised they would fail upon POST, after all those years of sitting in a sealed bag. It sounds like the electrolyte had attacked the aluminum oxide layer as it continually thinned in storage (when the electrolyte broke down, it could not repair the oxide film), so when bias was finally applied to the plates, BANG! Even the circuit voltage proved too much for those defective caps. That particular cap appears to be on the output of a linear regulator but tracing the underside may reveal otherwise. (M) is the capacitance tolerance (-+20%), not part of the series name.

Thank you VERY much for that incredibly detailed reply, that has taught me quite a bit.

Got a pic of the underside in case that helps (top side pic for reference):




I presume that the chances of this being caused by my CWT featherweight PSU are slim?

And I bet you knew this question was coming: what should I replace it with and would it be a good idea to replace all the caps of the same type (total of 6)?

I know that I need a 1000uf 6.3v, would something like a Panasonic FC series or a Nichicon FW be suitable?

All the ebay listings for them say "for audio" or some such nonsense, I presume this is just a marketing term to get more hits?

And I suppose I should ask about the other caps on the mobo, which are 4x Rubycon MBZ 1500uF 6.3v T0245, 2x Rubycon MBZ 3300uF 6.3v T0242, 3x Rubycon MBZ 1500uF 16v T0241, 4x CHOYO MR 22uF 16v 11YJ and 6x TEAPO SS A3 100uF 10v.

Any of those out of a bad batch?

[chrunchyhobo]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

yes what he said. this is why i avoid gigabyte boards during the p4 and athlon xp and 64 eras. i saw a lot of gigabyte boards from that time period use nichicon hms. if u get one of those, it usually means a time consuming full recap of the board due to the faulty batch in the 2001-2005 time period when p4s and athlon xp/64s were being made.

suitable replacements for your recapping exercise would be rubycon mbz, sanyo wg and panasonic fj.

so a full re-cap is recommended?

the board also has TEAPO and CHOYO caps (specs in above post).

[Pentium4]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

That's an awesome board! Little caps are cheap, so I usually replace them if they're from terrible brands, like the ones you listed....Some might say leave low microfarad caps alone, but I have seen a lot of them fail. Definitely not as critical as the VRM, buck regulator caps but they're already old caps from bad brands, and they won't be getting any better over time.

[chrunchyhobo]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

That's an awesome board! Little caps are cheap, so I usually replace them if they're from terrible brands, like the ones you listed....Some might say leave low microfarad caps alone, but I have seen a lot of them fail. Definitely not as critical as the VRM, buck regulator caps but they're already old caps from bad brands, and they won't be getting any better over time.

I think I am just going to replace them all just to be safe.

Looks like I might have to do the same with my Gigabyte GA-8IPE1000 Pro-G that I am going to be using in one of my many projects too.

should probably look at the caps on the ASUS P2B that I have in my '98 gaming pc too.

[stj]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

DONT USE EBAY.

use RS for free delivery.
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/alumin...itors/7083548/

[chrunchyhobo]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

DONT USE EBAY.

use RS for free delivery.
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/alumin...itors/7083548/

I am poking around their site already, its just trying to choose what to get.

picking the right one is hard when you have absolutely ZERO experience in capacitors.

[stj]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

that's why i put a specific link

the best thing is to use datasheets and then search for the part numbers at RS.
dont use FR around the cpu btw - they arent really good enough - you need poly's there.

[chrunchyhobo]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

that's why i put a specific link

the best thing is to use datasheets and then search for the part numbers at RS.
dont use FR around the cpu btw - they arent really good enough - you need poly's there.

too tall.

to replace the Nichis I need 12.5-13mm height and 8mm diameter.

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/alumin...itors/7497123/

these are what I found so far.

[Wester547]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

You could probably get away with leaving the Rubycon MBZ. They are good capacitors. Although given that they are 14 years old at this point, replacement may work in your favor.

[stj]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

YXJ arent good enough.
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/alumin...itors/7660040/

MBZ would have to be replaced by poly's - nobody makes electrolytics wih spec that high anymore.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

the board also has TEAPO and CHOYO caps (specs in above post).

get rid of those too. teapo may be barely acceptable for psus but they are garbage in mobos. choyo is just plain junk... nuff said.

since ultra-low esr caps are hard to find these days, personally, i think u can get away with leaving the rubycon mbzs alone. i have an abit ic7-g max 2 with a boardful of rubycon caps. the cpu vrm output has 2004 datecode mbzs and they are still good as im typing this msg from it.

[chrunchyhobo]

Re: Gigabyte GA-8ID533 went pop!

YXJ arent good enough.
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/alumin...itors/7660040/

MBZ would have to be replaced by poly's - nobody makes electrolytics wih spec that high anymore.

I am NOT questioning your advice here, but what makes the Panasonic ones better?

I would like to know what to look out for in the future.