eMac with defective Nichicon 1800uf 6.3 volt caps

[jellison]

Hello from Oregon; I would greatly appreciate any advice from any Bad-Cap Members that have already replaced the bad Nichicon HN(M) series 1800uf 6.3 volt caps on the main Logic board of a 1.25 Ghz eMac. After extensive research, I have decided to re-cap the 9 Culprits myself. Being a certified Consumer Bench Technician with 30 years experience, & having a make-shift repair Bench set-up in one room for years, and reading lots of horror stories from others who took their eMacs to Apple Service centers for essentially what is a Logic Board swap-out. A few more technically savy reponses mentioned that they just replace the bad Nichicons themselves with success. This is the same series of Capacitor that plagued Dell PCs, plus iMacs & other Electronic equipment. I have replacements already for the 9 Nichicons that are bumped up to 2200 uf @ 16 vdc @ 105 C ( NTE ). Thousands of eMacs & iMacs manufactured during 2004 have the bad Nichicon Capacitors. Apple has issued a repair Extension warranty for my model-S/N, but I am under the assumption that replacing bad electrolytic filters was one of my easier tasks in my 30 years experience; versus the hassle of hauling this eMac 50 miles away & waiting god knows when for a Board swap. The eMac is still functional, as it is the unit I'm using right now, but has to run in Safe-boot to avoid crashes, where-as any high-demand on logic or graphics power-bus causes Filtering to fail or faulter. I have all manuals & pictures on eMac disassemble. I am looking for someone who has already dealt with eMac or iMac re-capping of main Logic board for the bad Nichicons, for additional insight into the task. Or any tips or advice beyound what I've listed would also be greatly appreciated on similar Mac or PC Logic Boards. A question that I'm pondering is should I remove the small back-up battery on logic Board while soldering on main power bus circuits, or does this create a risk of data loss or operating system / Preferences failure ? ? Thanks to anyone who can shed any light on eMac re-capping. Sincerely, jellison, Oregon.

[willawake]

Re: eMac with defective Nichicon 1800uf 6.3 volt caps

Hello from Greece; i would greatly appreciate paragraphs in any post

2200 uf @ 16 vdc @ 105 C ( NTE )

what are those? use only low-esr caps for success

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2280

[PeteS in CA]

Re: eMac with defective Nichicon 1800uf 6.3 volt caps

NTE is a re-brander. You don't know what you are getting. I'd recommend looking into UCC KZE series parts from Digi-Key or contacting BadCaps's proprietor, TopCat, for Rubycon MCZ or similar Samxon parts. TC's parts are more similar in electrical performance to the HNs than are the KZEs.

[jellison]

Re: eMac with defective Nichicon 1800uf 6.3 volt caps

Thanks to you Guys warning of this issue, I spent alot of surf-time getting Educated on the ESR issue in the last 24 hrs, & locating acceptable specs replacements. The bad Nichicon HN(M) series Caps are 1800uf @ 6.3 volt, so i've located 3 suitable replacements that are available, & would appreciate your opinions on them; [ 1 ]--is Vishay*BCcomponents; 2200 uf / 10 vdc, Low ESR Aluminum Electrolytic / Features Low Impedance, Series:150 RMI --PN is 2222 150 64222,__ [ 2 ]-- is a Sanyo 10 vdc / 2200 uf, PN is --10MV2200FZ with Z-ohms at 0.051. __ [ 3 ]-- is a Panasonic with similar specs, Z = 0.015, PN is --EEUFC1C222, or My other option is to go through this site for 9 suitable Rubycon Caps. I sent NTE an Inquirey email on if the Caps I purchased locally are considered to have low esr properties just for kicks, but will probably save them for some Switchmode Power Supply work that comes along. Thanks very-much for the posts, probably saved me alot of Grief. Any input on replacing the bad Nichicons on this eMac still appreciated. THANKS--jellison, Oregon.

[PeteS in CA]

Re: eMac with defective Nichicon 1800uf 6.3 volt caps

Sounds like you're looking at Newark Electronics. I'd still recommend either KZE series from Digi-Key or buying Rubycon or Samxon parts from TC. The Sanyo and Panasonic parts are good, but KZE is much closer to the impedance of the HNs (the "(M)" simply means that the tolerance is +/-20%, standard for such parts from most vendors; the "(M)" is not part of the series name). And TC's Rubys and Samxons are probably the same impedance as the HNs. The impedance and ripple current ratings are very important in the kind of application you're looking at.

As for the NTE parts, maybe I'm being a snob, but I would only use low impedance parts from Nichicon, Rubycon, UCC, Panasonic, Sanyo (maybe) or Samxon (maybe) for SMPS O/P caps. BTW, I worked with SMPSs for 25 years.

[Spacedye69]

Re: eMac with defective Nichicon 1800uf 6.3 volt caps

Buying from Topcat is the easiest way to go.

Off-Topic!!!!- Where in Oregon?

[jellison]

Re: eMac with defective Nichicon 1800uf 6.3 volt caps

Silverton, 45 mi south of Portland, 15 mi east of Salem, in the Willamette Valley & gateway to Silverfall State Park---the Local Chanber of Commerse made me say that last part. Yea--I'll send TopCat an email & probably get the Rubycons. I'm a sucker for these eMacs & set-out this morning to surf ebay for a 2nd Apple to use while I have this one tore-apart ( Take My Time Senereo ) wanted a 2nd Mac anyway, but wanted to try another style like an older Power Mac or a Mac-Mini, but suckered myself into another eMac cause I couldn't pass-up the features for the price. Hope I don't have those Damm Nichicons in that one too ---( shouldn't though--older model not listed for that fault ). Anyway, I'll be a quasi expert on eMac disassembly & Cap replacement when this Project is all done. Thanks very much on the advice & tips too all at Bad-Caps, --- and you weren't being snobbish on the NTE comments, I knew that the best they could be is middle of the road quality & wouldn't meet any special needs outside of mayde a switchmode P.S. in a VCR or likewise device ( they rated for Computer applications ). I just didn't realize the demand cycle being placed on 21 century digital circuits like a Computer, and that these ESR caps would have caracteristics similar to a critical safety cap in T.V. Flyback circuit or likewise. All let you all know how the surgery went, Sincerely J.E. Silverton, Oregon. P.S.--did send NTE an email & got a response today---Tech doesn't think they are rated for low ESR---Ha Ha.

[gdegagne]

Re: eMac with defective Nichicon 1800uf 6.3 volt caps

Hmmm.. no update from jellison on "how the surgery went"... oh well, you can check out pics of my eMac 1.25 GHZ cap replacement at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gdegagne...torReplacement

I got the caps from www.badcaps.net, since I wanted to be sure they were good quality.

BTW, I replaced the caps with 9 of the exact same rated 1800uf 6.3 volt caps.

[Krankshaft]

Re: eMac with defective Nichicon 1800uf 6.3 volt caps

The new caps are nice and shiny .

Those Su'scon in that shot are known crap too but sometimes they fare well depending on where they are used.

Well I guess you should feel lucky at least they didn't put Nichicon's in their position or you'd have more work .

I never thought I'd take shot at Nichicon but I still use them on occasion. Everyone makes a mistake every once in awhile.

I'm more of a Panasonic guy myself though.

[Sir Punk]

Re: eMac with defective Nichicon 1800uf 6.3 volt caps

1. what capacitors should I buy? I know they are 1800microF and 6.3V. There's a supplier close to my house that has them but it's the same brand and they go to 105 degrees, so it's what already on the machine. They are Nichion but they are asking me $1.60+tax, should I avoid this brand? I am fixing this emac because I need to sell it. I know I can get $150 for it. But I don't want to waste too much time or money for this emac
how about these http://cgi.ebay.com/12-Rubycon-MBZ-2...QQcmdZViewItem

someone suggested just to put a higher rating.

2. how many will I have to replace? 8? 13? I'd rather replace them all to be on the safe side, I read different numbers around. Should I replace the 1000microF as well?

3. is there a specific solder wire that I have to buy? I already have a pretty good soldering station but no solder.

4. should I desolder the old cap leads or cut them off and solder the new cap leads to the old one?

thanks.

[roilea]

Re: eMac with defective Nichicon 1800uf 6.3 volt caps

Not sure if I should start a new thread here or just stick with this one since it's on the subject.
Anyway...
I work for a school system where we have quite a few eMacs with bad Nichicon 1800mF 6.3v caps that swell and pop. Well, I got a bag full of Rubycon replacements from Topcat and have been happily replacing them and fixing boards when I came across a board which also has a blown 1000mF 16V cap (C20) sitting next to the memory slots. The other nest of 4 on the other side of the board look fine. Yes they are all Nichicon capacitors :-( This is the first time I've seen this particular one blown. So the obvious question is this; in addition to the eight 1800mF's should I be replacing one or ALL of the 1000mF caps too or just the ones that pop?? Does anyone out there have any wisdom regarding this issue?

[PCBONEZ]

Re: eMac with defective Nichicon 1800uf 6.3 volt caps

You should replace all HN and HM with date codes from 2001 thru 2004.
They were faulty due to a manufacturing error.

The ones that 'work' hardest will be the first to go but the others will most likely go too eventually.

Date codes are as: H0344 .. which would be week 44 of 2003.
I dunno what the letter means. Just look at '03' position for the year.