Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

[dood]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

Are the caps failing over again? Or do they still look okay?

[kacper69]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

hello
this is my first post ...
very offen with capacitors on the GX270 board is a problem with original power supply in Gx270 tower.
This dell power supply has PN: HP-P2507F3CP .
Anybody knows :with capacitors I need replace in this power supplay? , a have a lots of this power supply .
After presing power button the LED flash in yellow , PC is not starting.

[willawake]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

can we see some internal pics of the psu?

[kacper69]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

I can't attach a foto to this message.
If you help me , i will send a foto , meybe on e-mail?
At this moment we have over 20 pices of PSU with thi simptoms ,with date of poduction around APR.2003,
REV H04.
All capacitors on PSU PBA looks well.
I wish to repair this PSU semself ,because the cost on new PSU in Dell is aprox. 100$ , and we have in the field over 200 GX270 with this PSU.

[willawake]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

heres how to attach a foto
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1868

[linuxguru]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

> This dell power supply has PN: HP-P2507F3CP .

I've repaired several of these PSUs - they're very nice Hipro PPFC 250W units, with the only problem being bad caps - usually Arcon, Asiacon or similar crap. It's otherwise heavily over-engineered, almost like a Delta.

Just replace all the large secondary side caps with the recommended Japanese replacement series, as well as one 47uf/50v or 100 uF/50v on the primary side near the Aux PSU transformer. The large primary caps are usually Panasonic or Hitachi, and don't usually fail.

After recapping, it will work probably work forever, barring fan replacement. NMB/Minebea 3" ball-bearing fans are excellent choices for fan replacement.

I've started hunting down these units as and when they're available in the grey market - they sell for about $3 each around here in busted condition, and they require only a few bucks worth of Nichicons and NCCs to make them better than new.

[kacper69]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

thank you willawake for "photo support".

My PSU has a lots of Arcon, Asiacon caps ,like write linuxguru.
I was thinked about repacing all capacitors in second part of this PSU , but i wish reduce cost/time only to necessary .
Thank you linuxguru for suggestions.
I atached a foto this PSU unit from GX270 tower case.

[kc8adu]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

replace all secondary caps and resolder all large or heatsinked parts.iirc these are early rohs units and soldering was poor.

[econodude]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

Hi All,
I'm new to the forum and I'm a total newbie when it comes to capacitors and other electrical stuff. I'm a single parent living in Australia without much money and only the one PC.
What encouraged me to join the forum was the hope that i might be guided in how to repair (recap) my Dell Optiplex GX270 Mobo with good capacitors and how much it might cost me to do so ? Since browsing I have noticed that this problem re-Thermal Event Dell Optiplex GX270 is also related to bad caps and fans in the power supply but I see that is a seperate forum.

The problem has been rare until the last month and several times the PC has shut-down at bootup and just randomly while the system is either idle or performing a task.

Firstly how do I identify exactly what model mobo my PC has and do you guys think I can accomplish this recap myself.

Thanks,
econodude

[Topcat]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

They say a picture is worth a thousand words..... post a pic of the motherboard if you can. There were several revisions of the GX270, but most had the same cap configurations. If you have a good soldering iron and a little previous skill, yes you can recap your board. Practice on some old junk board until you get a feel for it.

Welcome aboard!

[linuxguru]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

Kacper: The Hipro unit in your pic is fairly good shape actually - most of those that I've seen have vented secondary caps, usually the large caps on the +5v and +12v rails, and the single large cap on the +5Vsb rail right next to the heatsink. I also change the single 100uF cap right next to the aux flyback transformer, regardless of the condition it appears to be in. I use 100 uF/35v NCC LXA series as the replacement, but various other choices are possible.

Also reflow the solder at all secondary-side rectifier connections to the PCB, especially the +12v rail. Use fresh 63:37 or 60:40 solder if necessary.

[econodude]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

They say a picture is worth a thousand words..... post a pic of the motherboard if you can. There were several revisions of the GX270, but most had the same cap configurations. If you have a good soldering iron and a little previous skill, yes you can recap your board. Practice on some old junk board until you get a feel for it.

Welcome aboard!

Thanks for the reply and the welcome just another couple of questions. Is it O.K to take a couple of shots of the mobo still in the case with everything still attached ? or will i need to remove cables, cpu fan etc for you see to the info needed.
Secondly i went to take a shot of the mobo and found that the USB cable from the mobo to the front ports had a bared wire where the weight of the screen sitting on top of the box had pushed the floppy disk housing onto the cable causing the damage. It also looked like it had heat damage as well.
I cut out the bad section and don't seem to have the thermal event now and I could not see any swollen or damaged caps is it possible the thermal event was created by the damaged USB cable.

Thanks again,

econodude

[econodude]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

They say a picture is worth a thousand words..... post a pic of the motherboard if you can. There were several revisions of the GX270, but most had the same cap configurations. If you have a good soldering iron and a little previous skill, yes you can recap your board. Practice on some old junk board until you get a feel for it.

Welcome aboard!

Thanks for the reply and the welcome just another couple of questions. Is it O.K to take a couple of shots of the mobo still in the case with everything still attached ? or will i need to remove cables, cpu fan etc for you to see the info needed.
Secondly i went to take a shot of the mobo and found that the USB cable from the mobo to the front ports had a bared wire where the weight of the screen sitting on top of the box had pushed the floppy disk housing onto the cable causing the damage. It also looked like it had heat damage as well.
I cut out the bad section and don't seem to have the thermal event now and I could not see any swollen or damaged caps is it possible the thermal event was created by the damaged USB cable.

Thanks again,

econodude

P.S sorry about the double post i got caught with the 10 minute post edit limit
and could not find remove post option

[eocit]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

In the past few months the company I work for have been having problems with a number of GX270's. We presumed it was just a fault with a couple of our systems but we have had about 8 GX270's gradually getting worse and worse.

The general consensus is the following:

The first thing to start failing is the onboard video card - the monitor just goes blank and a fiddle with the cable or a reboot brings the video card back to life.
After a while the PC may start to randomly hang and reboot.
Eventually the PC will stop booting up altogether.

Now I found the problem to be the bulging capacitors and all 8 of the pc's that were displaying these symptoms have bulging capacitors. Is there any chance that dell will replace them even though they are out of warranty? (Approx 4 months out of warranty).

[scarfman]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

Dell is very good about replacing motherboards if they are bulging. I had seven GX270 systems that I purchased on Ebay and four of them had bulging capacitors. I called Dell & they still replaced them anyway. They were all out of warranty, too.

[MD Willington]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

Check it out, GX 270 lets out the "magic smoke".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx8AcJ-MO8Q

The video is crap, but you get to see the flames...

[Noclissa]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

I've been working with Dell today and manged to find this site through Google. Thought you guys might be intresting in the numbers I got from Dell today.
Our company bought an estimated 750 GX270's.
718 Motherboard issues have been called in to date.
217 Maxtor Hard drives called in to date.

I'm not sure about a long term fix. The motherboards should be covered until January of 2008, but when we call support they show to be out of warranty. One of sales persons is working with me to find a solution.
Just thought you guys might like to see our numbers.

[archae86]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

Our company bought an estimated 750 GX270's.
217 Maxtor Hard drives called in to date.

Just thought you guys might like to see our numbers.

The numbers are fascinating. Which particular Maxtor drive were these systems afflicted with? My impression is that drive problems track models much more strongly than vendors.

Thanks.

[Rainbow]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

I guess that they're from those "slim" Maxtors (like 6E040L0) - they're VERY unreliable.

[Noclissa]

Re: Dell OptiPlex GX270 - multiple bad cap failures

Yup, our dead drives are the slim Maxtors.

They did go through and do a mass replacement of quite a few motherboards in our company, but unfortunatly most are continuing to die.