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    #1

    Acer Aspire RC950

    Hi,

    I have an Acer Aspire RC950 desktop which has suffered a hdd failure, it looks like the hdd control board as it isn't recognised even on another pc.

    I see 4 bulged capacitors which I think are Nichicon HN(M) 10v 1000uf which obviously need replacing and there are also 5 KZE 16v 1200uf capacitors which I suspect would also need replacing.
    All the rest of the capacitors are 85 degree types apart from 9 Sepc 4v 560uf around the cpu and a single 4v 560uf (not Sepc) next to the pcie slot.

    Would I be okay to replace only the bulged caps and the KZE's or should I replace all of them? Any suggestions what replacements to use?

    I assume that the hdd failure was caused by ripple/over voltage due to the bulged caps so I am not going to try a new hdd without repairing the mobo first. The psu has been taken out so I will need to obtain a new one which at least rules out further problems on the power supply side.

    The chipset is an Intel 915 of some sort but I haven't found anymore information about the mobo.

    Stu
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: Acer Aspire RC950

    KZE are reliable and likely do not need to be replaced. KZG and KZJ are the United Chemicon series that have issues.

    SEPC are Sanyo polymer capacitors and are extremely reliable.

    HM had known manufacturing problems until 2005. They likely failed due to this manufacturing error. Badcaps.net sells replacement capacitors that you can use to replace the HM. You did not specify the size of your failed HM capacitors.

    If they are 8mm diameter use these:
    https://www.badcaps.net/store/produc...products_id=46
    or
    https://www.badcaps.net/store/produc...roducts_id=124

    If they are 10mm diameter use these:
    https://www.badcaps.net/store/produc...products_id=47
    or
    https://www.badcaps.net/store/produc...products_id=68

    There are other sources for capacitors out there as well, but why not support the site if you can? Beware of buying capacitors from eBay as there are lots of counterfeit products out there.

    As for the other capacitors, some people like to replace the 85 degree rated capacitors to be thorough, as they do sometimes go bad, especially in hotter systems. However, this is usually not necessary unless there are problems, or they are known unreliable brands. As for the other capacitors, photos would be useful in making an identification and determining if they are reliable or not.

    Comment

      #3
      Re: Acer Aspire RC950

      This is a list of the various caps and sizes on the board:

      nichicon hn(m) 10v 1000uf a0418 105deg 10x12
      nichicon vr(m) 16v 470uf 85deg 8x10
      nichicon vr(m) 10v 470uf 85deg 6x10
      nichicon vr(m) 25v 100uf 85deg 6x10
      nichicon vr(m) 10v 470uf 85deg 6x10
      nichicon vr(m) 25v 22uf 85deg 5x10
      kze 16v 1200uf 105deg 10x20
      sepc 4v 560uf 413 8x8
      sme 25v 220uf 85deg 8x10
      sme 25v 33uf 85deg 5x10
      sme 6.3v 100uf 85 deg bp 6x10
      rubycon za 6.3v 220uf a0419 105deg 6x10
      4v 560uf code 4751u and m 105deg 8x10

      My camera doesn't do close ups I'm afraid.

      I am in England so I have no idea how I would go about buying caps from the USA. Having had a really good look about on British websites however I am very disappointed with the availability, or lack of on offer over here.

      Comment

        #4
        Re: Acer Aspire RC950

        Originally posted by stu2007 View Post
        I am in England so I have no idea how I would go about buying caps from the USA.
        If you take a close look at the badcaps.net store, you will see that there is international shipping .

        Comment

          #5
          Re: Acer Aspire RC950

          From your description of the capacitors used, I'm going to hazard a guess that this is a board produced by Intel for Acer. Your descriptions are excellent, and almost as good as photos.

          nichicon hn(m) 10v 1000uf a0418 105deg 10x12 -> The date code on these is 2004, week 18. Replace them.

          nichicon vr(m) (all the VR) -> Replace if you want to be thorough, or if the board still has issues after replacing the obvious bad caps.

          kze 16v 1200uf 105deg 10x20 -> Reliable, no need to replace.
          sepc 4v 560uf 413 8x8 -> Reliable, no need to replace.
          sme (all SME) -> Same grade as VR. Replace if you want to be thorough.

          sme 6.3v 100uf 85 deg bp 6x10 -> BP indicates bipolar, which is a special kind of capacitor. Probably used for filtering for the on-board audio. I'd say this one is unlikely to go bad as there likely is little load on it. If you replace it, make sure to replace with another bipolar capacitor.

          rubycon za 6.3v 220uf a0419 105deg 6x10 -> Reliable, no need to replace.

          4v 560uf code 4751u and m 105deg 8x10 -> From your description, this is the only one I'm unsure of. It sounds like a polymer capacitor based on the values. Is it wrapped in a bright yellow jacket? If so, it's Fujitsu FPCAP, which is reliable and no need to replace.

          So, I'd replace the HN for sure. Replace the VR/SME if you want to be thorough, but there's probably no need.

          I took a look on uk.farnell.com, but did not see anything that would work as replacements for the bad HN. I am unaware of any other UK suppliers, but I'm sure others on the board can chime in as there are a few members from the other side of the pond. I believe Topcat (site owner) ships internationally if you are unable to find them locally.

          Comment

            #6
            Re: Acer Aspire RC950

            You're very good.
            I should have noticed that the BP caps were bipolar, the lack of a polarity marking is a dead giveaway. They are indeed clustered around the audio jack sockets and the ALC880 audio chip

            The 4v 560uf cap is yellow, all the other caps are black apart from the HN(M) which are gold and the KZE which are green.

            I have ordered some Rubycons from Badcaps to replace the bulged HN(M) caps. I will then rebuild the system with a newish PSU which I have and hopefully I can use an IDE hdd (which I also have) in place of the failed Sata to test it thoroughly.

            Stu

            Comment

              #7
              Re: Acer Aspire RC950

              Update:

              All is not well I'm afraid. I replaced the bulged 1000uf 10v caps but maybe a full recap would have been a better idea.

              When I first turned it on there were some nasty looking pixels flashing about until windows started, I also got errors when trying to install the video drivers.
              Removing the graphics card and running on the onboard graphics instead seemed to cure this so it looks as if the graphics card was another casualty.

              After working fine for 3 days the pc locked up and when rebooted it showed that the hard drive had failed. So that's a sata and now an ide hard drive that have failed when connected to this board.

              Stu

              Comment

                #8
                Re: Acer Aspire RC950

                you might wanna check your PSU..

                HDDs have very little protection against excessive ripple coming from a PSU with bad caps in it..

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: Acer Aspire RC950

                  I used a different PSU this time, one which has been working fine on another pc for the last month.

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Re: Acer Aspire RC950

                    The IDE HDD could well have failed because it's old... where are you based in the UK? I would be good if you updated your location in your profile.

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Re: Acer Aspire RC950

                      The problem is that I didn't want to risk a brand new drive on this board, it's pretty much got to the point where a new mobo would be more economical than further repair and possible failed drives.

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Re: Acer Aspire RC950

                        I don't subscribe to the motherboard damaging the drive theory, I would consider the PSU though - open it up and check the caps inside.

                        That PC is getting on a bit, perhaps a new PC is the better option if you don't want to throw any more money at it.

                        Comment

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