Recappinq question on Abit VP6

[MeshedP]

Hi all, I'm a newbie from Italy.

I have an Abit VP6 motherboard with capacitors problems.
About two years ago a frien of mine helped me in recapping the mobo (he changed the originals 1500uf 6.3v with Panasonic 1800uf 25v).
All have been working fine until now, but in these days I had once again random power-off, freezing and rebooting problems.
So I decided to recap all the principal capacitors again.

I read the FAQ but I have still some doubts.
My mobo doesn't have 1000uf 10v 10mm capacitors (mentioned in the VP6 recapping threads)!! It has only 1500uf 6.3v, 1000uf 16v 10 mm and 1000uf 16v 8mm caps.

I'm planning to make these replacements:

• 1500uf 6.3v with Panasonic 2200uf 6.3v 10 x 25 mm (EEUFM0J222L) or Panasonic 1500uf 10 x 20 mm (EEUFC0J152)
• 1000uf 16v 10 mm with Panasonic 1000uf 16v 10 mm (EEUFM1C102)
• 1000uf 16v 8mm with Panasonic 1000uf 16v 10mm (the same above)

I would like to use 2200uf or 1500uf FC series because 1500uf FM aren't available in the shop. Could this cause a problem? Which one is better between those two?

Is it ok if I use 1000uf 16v 10mm to replace 1000uf 16v 8mm?

One more question: is it possible that the capacitors issue has caused the death of my antec truepower 480W power supply?

Thank yuou all! Regards.

[kc8adu]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

testing by tc and i both came to the conclusion that using 2200 in the vrm output gives slight improvement in overclocking.
i have several vp6 with fc 2200 in the vrm(l of caps near sockets)

[gonzo0815]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

I would suggest 2200uF too, it at least won`t hurt.
Regarding the Antec, do a search here on the subject Antec, and you will find the answer. I thin k there is all said abotuh that.

[MeshedP]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

Thanks all. I have already read the posts where someone says that 2200uf is the best choice... I was just wondering if the lenght of 25mm (instead of the classic 20mm) could be annoying...

[stretch0069]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

Thanks all. I have already read the posts where someone says that 2200uf is the best choice... I was just wondering if the lenght of 25mm (instead of the classic 20mm) could be annoying...

if i remember correctly (damned CRS )...the only place it might be an issue is the one cap next to the AGP slot. Due to the video cards I have, the cap would interfere witht he heatsink on the video card. So I just put to heatshrink tube in the leads. (i estimated tube length based on preinstalliton bend of the leads). The cap looks like it bent over, which it is, but the tubing protects from shorting.

[Lance Thornton]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

I had a problem with a 25 mm cap near the AGP slot on mine. You might want to use the shorter one just to be safe, or lay it on it's side as suggested. Good luck and we need pictures!

[MeshedP]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

well... my favourite shop has the 2200uf caps, but...not enough! So I decided to order the other ones (1500uf) because I should have them at home quickly. I will try to post some pictures, but unfortunately there isn't visible damages Anyway, thanks all and... stay tuned if you wanna listen to my desperate shout!

[stretch0069]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

keep us informed on how you get along. its always nice to hear about the resurrection of a VP6. well...for me anyway.

[MeshedP]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

well... after one month waiting for the panasonic fm 1500uf 6.3v, bounced from one delay to another one... I have been informed by the vendor that the availability for these caps will be only from MARCH 2007 onwards!!!!! (rs-components)....

Now I must choose a substitute and I can't decide between:

1. Rubycon 1500uf 6.3v ZL series (6.3ZL1500M10X20)
2. Panasonic 2200uf 6.3v FM series (EEUFM0J222L)

The problem is that the height of the second one is 23 mm (while the Rubycon is 20) and I saw that I could have troubles whith caps higher than 25 mm. So with the panasonic I'd have a gap of only 2 mm :S

Which is yours 2 cents?

[kc8adu]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

use the 2200 fm.
common upgrade on the vp6 is to use 2200 uf in the "l" of caps near the cpu's

[stretch0069]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

i second what kc says.....

[MeshedP]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

well... it seems that I wasn't lucky.

finally I did these replacements:

• 15 x 1500uF 6.3v Panasonic EEUFM0J152 (I would have had to use the 2200uF caps, as said in the last discussion, but RS-COMPONENTS made a disaster with my order and for me it's like a miracle that I could get the 1500 ones...)
• 4 x 1000uF 16v 10 mm Panasonic EEUFM1C102
• 4 x 1000uF 10v 8 mm Panasonic EEUFM1A102L

I removed all the caps, I cleaned the holes and finally I solded the new caps respecting the polarity....

The mobo powers on, checks the processors, finds the iIDE drives, finds the hard-drives, launches the boot (I had two OS installed) but when it should launch the OS nothing happens...
I try to boot from a BART PE cd but it freezes on the system loading bar.

What's wrong with it??? I'm really sad

These is some pictures:

BEFORE







AFTER








EDIT

I don't know how I could have been so stupid!!!! I used 10v caps instead of 16v... well now I'll try to substitute them with the 1000uF 16v 10 mm Panasonic EEUFM1C102... Trying to respect the diameter of the caps I haven't realize that I was using 10v caps

[MeshedP]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

The situation hasn't changed.

Now all the caps are right. The first time I switched the pc on everything seemed working fine. Windows XP loaded.... I did the login.... but after one minute my pc rebooted itself and now the situation is the same described above.

I can enter into the bios, the mobo finds the peripherals but when it tries to boot nothing happens (black screen), also from a rescue cd (BART PE).

Dunno... I think the solderings are ok

Please help!!!

[kc8adu]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

try a known good psu.
a customer had a vp6 i had rebuilt get cranky and we found his brand new powmax psu was the problem.
the bad psu may cause the caps on the input of the vrm to go as they eat ripple the psu's caps should have cleaned up.

[willawake]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

i doubt the 16v caps are necessary so dont worry about that mistake.
if the soldering was bad i would expect no post at all

[MeshedP]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

before the recapping my pc could at least load the OS...

If now it can't, I think I have mistaken something... because even if the power supply is bad, however I should be in the same pre-recapping situation, shouldn't I?

The question is.... I don't know what the hell is wrong.



In the next days I'll look for another psu and try with it.

Anyway I'm very grateful for your support

[stretch0069]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

kc8adu has given you some good advice.....make sure you have a good PSU. My first dive into the badcaps world was with the VP6. After cap replacement, I was still having problems. Thats when I got a better PSU. That very VP6 has been running 24/7 ever since.

[gonzo0815]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

Examine yur board very carefully, may be you have scrachted it of broke an conection during soldering. I suggest to use some Ethanol or Acetone to clear up the flux if any left there and then take a manginfying galss and a flashlight. And yes, check your PSU first.

[MeshedP]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

I did some other tests without any result. I tried the motherboard with another psu but nothing changed.
I also tried to clean the flux... but with no results.
The system starts to load but hangs after few seconds... (BART PE completes 1 step of the loading bar...) it seems like a memory problem.

Examining the board, the only "strange" thing noticeable is that a trace could seem damaged but sincerly I'm not sure about that and I really don't know how I can repair it.

I post some pictures (before cleaning):

The L zone:





Near the AGP slot:





Between memory and the AGP slot:





Near the memory:





Between the AGP and PCI slots:





Damaged trace:

I will post it tomorrow...

[MeshedP]

Re: Recappinq question on Abit VP6

YEAH! Finally I got success

I'm very happy... my little Frankenstein is still alive and sincerly I was losing hope.
Yesterday I wanted to make the last attempt. I took my tester and verified all the solderings. One of them seemed to be not well done, so I decided to remake it once again, substituting the cap with the next to last one.
It was very difficult to sold the cap to the board because the tin didn't want to move away from the iron. By the way I bended one lead to make a better contact with the board and did the soldering.
I retouched also two other solderings and now the board magically runs again!!!

Now we'll only have to see how long it will be on...

I want to tank you for your suggestions and for having supported my long, desperate, post

The bad soldering: