Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

[Yatti420]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

I went one for one on recapping.. 2 Linksys routers.. The 1 was already pretty much shot.. The other one I acquired was practically new.. Recapped for safety measures with the sanyo caps(perfect fit on the linksys case).. Works fine..

[bgavin]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

Would you mind publishing the capacitor dimensions and values please? That would be very helpful so I can stock-up in advance.

[Yatti420]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

Hi bgavin..

Sanyo WG Series..
1000uF - 16V
8mm diam
I forget length.. I think 15 not sure though.. Just under the the top of case... fits perfectly..
105degC SUPER LOW ESR

Those were for the caps I replaced.. 1 working router \ 1 pooched router overall (probs just died of old age)..

I used this guy for the router.. I still have caps left im gonna look at my eMachines tomorrow..

See ya..

[Leopard]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

Hi,

I'm getting one flaky one tomorrow. Symptoms are that it needs to be reset every once in a while since it stop responding. This is probably due to caps.

I believe there are two revisions of this router, v1 and v2? Could someone post the cap values for both revisions? I would really appreciate the info since I need to get this up and running before wednesday.

Also, quality 105C gp caps should be ok in the small value spots? But the 1000uF filter cap replacements should be Low ESR?

Thanks

[Leopard]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

Received the router today.

There are only 2 caps on this revision of the board.
CD1: G-Luxon SM 1000uF 25V (105C general purpose, according to datasheet rated ripple 855mA)
CD2: Empty spot. It is silkscreened for a 8mm capacitor.
CD3: Hermei LE 220uF 25V (105C low impedance, according to datasheet rated ripple 620 mA, ESR 0.09)

Replaced the G-Luxon with a Rubycon YXG 1000uF 16V. (105C low impedance, according to datasheet rated ripple 1400mA, ESR 0.046)

The Hermei was replaced with a Rubycon MBZ 470uF 16V. (105C low impedance, according to datasheet rated ripple 1140mA, ESR 0.036)

I measured the voltage at cap spot CD1, it gets 12V so the Rubycon should be ok in there. Cap spot CD3 gets 3.3V.









Works like a charm now.

[ratdude747]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

good job!

[shadow]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

I would also recommend checking the little power brick for these consumer level routers.
On these forums someone was having problems with their router and by replacing the crappy capacitors in the power brick fixed everything.

I suspect that the power brick also has crappy capacitors along with the router itself.

[Leopard]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

I would also recommend checking the little power brick for these consumer level routers.
On these forums someone was having problems with their router and by replacing the crappy capacitors in the power brick fixed everything.

I suspect that the power brick also has crappy capacitors along with the router itself.

Thanks for the advice. Will check that tomorrow. I have found bulged Teapo in the past from a wall wart that came with a D-Link WLAN router - those things run hot.

It's about 3AM here in Finland so I'm off to get some sleep.

[paulpsomiadis]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

Re-capped my Linksys BEFSR41 v2 tonight!

Bye-bye G-cr@pson caps...

Hello Rubycon, United-chemicon and nichicon.

YAY!

[golemmaster]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

Reading this thread (and others) made me dig out a BEFSR41 ver2 and BEFW11S4 ver4 that I have. I am a pack rat. I don't throw things away like I should. Especially electronics that fail for no reason. Might need spare parts or learn to fix them some day!

D-paston caps on the BEFSR41. No bulge but will replace anyway.
Also the bridge rectumfire is getting 12.5VAC but outputting about 9.5VDC.
Is that expected and within tolerances?

BEFW11S4 uses a 12VDC wall wort. Has HERMEI caps. Will replace.

Let's see what happens!

[golemmaster]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

I am not sure how I botched testing the rectifier. Turns out it's fine.
At first I just changed the two big filter and smoothing capacitors. That didn't fix it.
There are other small caps on the board. Like 22uf 16V and such. I pulled something close to that out of my scavenged cap stash. I went around touching the leads to the bottom side of the installed caps. One of them I touched... The router woke up! Red light went out and seemed to function. I desoldered it and replaced it.
I don't have an ESR meter. The only thing I could think of to check caps is to set my DMM to diode test beep. I touch the leads of a cap and if I hear a brief "blip" that means it is not open or short and is charging. Then I switch over to DC voltage check and watch how fast it discharges.
The cap I replaced was open. I started probing around and found another cap that didn't "blip" (open). Replaced that one too.

The router seems to function. Need to test it for a while before I pat myself on the back.



---------------------------
cap cap cap cap cap cap I said "cap" too many times.

[golemmaster]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

I have to admit the router still isn't perfect. I still have some detective work to do. Performance/throughput is bad. Even logging into it's own web-based settings is slow and pages don't load completely.
I didn't replace all the capacitors. Only the ones that are known to go bad (filters) and could identify as bad with my piss-poor technique.

I'm trying. I'm learning.
Real equipment would be nice.

I want to get some test equipment before working on the routers and other things I have started to collect.
I have a box of scavenged capacitors that need testing and a bunch of dead/bad motherboards that I might scavenge more parts from.
Hopefully the ESR micro v3.1.
But might fall back on the Blue ESR because it's probably easier to obtain.
I'll just dream about getting a scope. I got some learning to do before I could put it to good use anyway.
For a long time I've been using a butane iron. No cord to deal with and gets good and hot. No risk of voltage leakage from the tip. If the butane iron is a terrible idea, let me know and why.

Thanks. More later.

[golemmaster]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

Well I finally got an ESR meter. I tore into the BEFSR41 as well as a NetGear WNR834Bv2 that looked like it had a cap with a leaky bung .
With my new meter, I found that ALL but 2 itty bitty caps in the BEFSR41 were bad. Tested out of circuit. Wow. Replaced them. There is such an improvement. It responds like it's better than new. Neato!
That was a spare BEFSR41. The one at home has been acting poorly for some time too. I also have a Linksys cable modem. Gonna check that too.
WHEEEEEE!!

[golemmaster]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

My home BEFSR41v2 has been sluggish. The caps were mostly fine but I replaced them anyway. Still sluggish. Takes about 20 seconds to exit POST. Must have other problems. Measuring at one of the little caps, the voltage slowly climbs to 3 volts and holds. When it hits 2.5volts the router completes its POST and is online. Wonder if the sluggish performance and the slow charge up are related.
The BEFCMU10v3 cable modem did have a bulging TEAPO 1000/10v 04/03 A3 cap. I left the rest alone.

[Per Hansson]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

golemmaster; did you check the power adapter?

[golemmaster]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

I have tried other adapters. No behavior change. I don't have a scope to check quality and ripple. The router adapters output AC. A little higher than the label but not by much. The cable modem adapter provides DC.

I am curious and want to figure things out but I am reaching the end of: free time, my very limited knowledge, the usefulness of the tools at hand. I am spending far more time on the router than it's actually worth. It wasn't going to be used anywhere. I was looking for that "I fixed it!" accomplishment and gratification. I may reclaim my caps, chunk it and move on to the next project.

Thanks for listening.

[picturemaker]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

Not 100% the right thread for this, but it is related as I have a Linksys WAG54GP2 Gateway router/adsl modem and it has developed the problem of failing to proceed past the startup sequence when it is turned on about 90% of the time. It goes through startup, but then reboots itself and goes through startup again, before the attached computer can get an IP address. It will kepp doing this, and often needs to be completely reset to get it beyond the initial startup. There are also problems with the network connection when it does start up correctly, as you will only pickup an IP address if the network card is forced to 10Mb Half-duplex.

From reading some of what you ahve in this thread, I assumed it would be bad caps, so I checked it out and found 1 x 100uF 63v cap that while not bulged, had an orange substance on the top indicating it was leaking. I replaced this cap but still have the same problems... All the other caps 'looked' okay, so just after some advice whether you think:

A. There are more bad caps and I should replace them all
B. Possible I did not install the replacement cap correctly (but then it wouldn't turn on at all would it?)
C. There is something else wrong and I should chuck the whole modem :p

Thanks for this great forum and thanks for your time in giving an opinion on this problem

[picturemaker]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

For the interest of anyone reading my post above, I changed also a capacitor in the power adapter and - ta da - it works!!

The only problem with it now is the hissing on the VOIP lines... But it was like that when I got it, so seems to be back to normal.

[Yatti420]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

I dissembled my working linksys that I Recapped awhile back to take quick look.. 1 more cap looks like it needs to be done.. CD7 is fine.. CD6 looks bulged.. Both are 16V 470uF.. Can I replace these with Nichichon VZ(M) Series?

[Yatti420]

Re: Linksys BEFSR41 Router Capacitor Solution

Bump.. CD6/CD7 both D-Paston 16V 470uF.. The remaining 11 D-paston are 16v 10uF..

I was thinking VZ(M) series on the 16V 470uF.. Direct replacements.. They are ebay sourced however .. I need to get pictures up as they look counterfeit.. In the meantime does anybody have high quality recommendations? For CD6/CD7?

Edit: CD6 Pics Included.. You can see the other CD7 16V 470uF which looks fine.. Going to do them both if I have a suitable replacement with the VZ..