Can these new caps be bad or just sloppy manufacturing?

[bupkus]

I just got back my 8RDA+ from Epox. I had sent it RMA due to bad caps. I inspected the board and noticed 3 of the new Sanyo 3300uF/6.3V have a white chaulky material on the tops of the caps. It's not leaking from the vents, but from where the sides seam to the tops. None of that material is on the painted parts of the cap, but only on the silver vented tops.
Since the issue of this board is still open I posted to Epox tech support about the leak and here's my statement and their reply:

ME: "I received your replacement motherboard yesterday and upon inspection I can see a white chalky material on the tops of three of the new capacitors apparently leaking from inside. The capacitors are the three closest to both the cpu and the top edge of the PCB. There are 6 there in a tight row.
The caps are made by Sanyo and are marked as 3300uF and 6.3 V. There doesn't appear to be any bulging on their tops so I don't know if they will last or not. Please advise. Thanks."

EPOX TECH SUPPORT: "It should be perfectly fine, those are replacement capacitors. The matrial maybe from the previous caps. Thanks"

These caps may be leaking and they may not be. The residue at the top may be squeezed out as a result of the manufacturing process. I've assumed that they are new and that they haven't yet been subjected to an electric current that could cause a sudden leakage.

You say you have intimate knowledge of the manufacturing process and you know the answer to this question? Good, cause I don't have a clue.

[willawake]

Re: Can these new caps be bad or just sloppy manufacturing?

pic?

[AK0R]

Re: Can these new caps be bad or just sloppy manufacturing?

These caps may be leaking and they may not be. The residue at the top may be squeezed out as a result of the manufacturing process. I've assumed that they are new and that they haven't yet been subjected to an electric current that could cause a sudden leakage.

You say you have intimate knowledge of the manufacturing process and you know the answer to this question? Good, cause I don't have a clue.

The material may, in fact, be chalk. It's non-conductive and easily brushes off. Others have reported seeing ink marks on the tops of replacement caps or on new boards. We presume that this is marking by the manufacturer to indicate that those particular caps tested good, or that the board has been tested. I don't know about Epox and their RMA process, but any vendor with a shred of integrity, whether it's the OEM or some outfit subcontracted to do repair work, would power up the board to make sure it would at least POST, so your assumption that they haven't been subjected to an electric current is probably not valid.

[PeteS in CA]

Re: Can these new caps be bad or just sloppy manufacturing?

The rubber plug on lytics is in the base, and the can is seamless. The scoring is an intentional "weak" point so that if the cap vents, it will do so at the scoring. It sounds like the white substance could be from cleaning in the mfg process or a foreign substance from an outside source. But that's speculation and you probably need/want better assurance of the MB's quality.

[kc8adu]

Re: Can these new caps be bad or just sloppy manufacturing?

the residue is likely from washing.
is the board stable?

[bupkus]

Re: Can these new caps be bad or just sloppy manufacturing?

the residue is likely from washing.
is the board stable?

I'll be building and testing the system today. It's my belief, albiet unsupported by the benefit of either experience or knowledge, that even if the board was tested, it wasn't tested long enough to precipitate a mobility of "that stuff inside". It seems reasonable to believe the chalk is residue from some other source or process, whether washing or marking. Of course, if the board is unstable that would shoot that "reasonable" theory right in its arse.