Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

[amesghali]

Hi,

I'm doing my very first build. While installing my sound card, I accidentally knocked off one of the small capacitors. See picture.

The Markings on the capacitor are:
A?A
10
10V

I take that to be a Surface Mount Aluminum
Electrolytic Capacitors.

10 uf
10 Volt

My question is can i jus replace this with regular electrolytic capacitor from Radio Shack?

10 uf
16 Volt

Thanks much.

My Build - HTPC
GA-X48-DQ6
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650
8GB Kingston DDR2 Hyper X
Gigabyte GV-N96TSL - 1GI
2TB Western Digital Caviar
LG GGW-H20L Bluray burner
Thermaltake ToughPower 750W Supply
Thermaltake DH 101 Case

[ratdude747]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

that is a polymer capacitor. try to find replacemnts of that type instead of radio shack. sanyo makes good polys from what i hear

i personally don't know how to translate the codes, surely someone will post in wth how

[PM650]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

Is there anything wrong with the knocked off cap (dented/smashed/leads damaged)? If not, just reuse it.

[amesghali]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

Is there anything wrong with the knocked off cap (dented/smashed/leads damaged)? If not, just reuse it.

Leads were snapped off at the very base of the cap.

Just out of curiosity why wouldn't any 10uf cap work?

[amesghali]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

The one I found at Radio Shack was a

10uF 16V 20% Dipped Tantalum Capacitor.

[amesghali]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

With a little more research I found this great source of information:

Benefits of Polymer Capacitors

Polymer capacitors are characterised by lower ESR and ability to handle higher ripple current than their wet electrolytic counterparts. They are also characterised by not changing their ESR when their operating temperature changes and also having a much longer life. Sanyo quotes a 10 times increase in lifetime for a 20degC reduction in operating temperature for their OS-CON polymer capacitors whist a wet electrolytic capacitor in comparison would increase lifetime by 4 times.

Low ESR

Low ESR is so important in electronics because the lower the ESR the faster the capacitor can discharge. This is a great benefit because it means the capacitors can respond faster to large current transitions. However there are several wet electrolytic capacitors which offer similar ESR as their polymer counterparts.

High Ripple

The high speed power delivery to the latest CPUs subjects the capacitors in the VRM to high ripple. This is why you will see polymer capacitors more often on vcore output on the latest motherboards as they can handle much more ripple than wet electrolytics ever will. Failure of electrolytic capacitors on vcore output can be partly attributed to exposure to ripple current that was beyond their specification.

Replacing Wet Electrolytics with Polymer Capacitors

Because some series of Polymer capacitors have lower ESR you can replace wet electrolytics with them but use about half the capacitance value instead. But it is important to first check the specification of both capacitors to see that you are not replacing a wet electrolytic with a polymer that has higher esr. Not all Polymer capacitors have lower ESR therefore just trying to obtain any polymer capacitor for your modding project is simply not going to be an upgrade

[Bobdee]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

With a little more research I found this great source of information:

Benefits of Polymer Capacitors

Replacing Wet Electrolytics with Polymer Capacitors

Because some series of Polymer capacitors have lower ESR you can replace wet electrolytics with them but use about half the capacitance value instead.

Can some Member put a laymans explanation as to why this is, (the half capataince part that is)
also is that a must or could you replace them with same value,
eg 1000uf electrolic = 1000 polymer and vice versa
Thanks in advance
bob

[Toasty]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

No Radio Shack caps. Mid grade at best and not made for this application.

10uF @ 10 volt is correct. Surface mount Polymer. Looks like it might be a Nippon-Chemicon brand. You can use a radial leaded cap there, if necessary.

As suggested, if it just "popped" off and didn't pull the leads off or any other physical damage, then just solder it back on. If it is damaged, time to go junk-bin searching for a board that has one that is identical in capacitance. Voltage up to 16 would be fine there and likely to fit also.

Toast

[amesghali]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

I'm having no luck locating a similar radial leaded.

Any leads is much appreciated.

Anyone out there with a junk board who can send me a couple of these caps, I will gladly pay for it.

thanks,

[lucky13]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

Have you checked at digikey.com?

[amesghali]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

...little more presistence and patience.

I located a place called MCM. It appears that they have everything you can imagine for retail in small quantitites.

My question now is can I use the replacement in the attached picture?

My concern is that the replacement capacitor is rated for 25V. It is my novice understanding that capaticence is not generally negotiable, but voltage rating of capacitor can be higher than engineered....is this true?

Thanks to all the gurus for their help...it is much appreciated.

[ratdude747]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

all voltage means is the max it can take.

for example, you can use a 200 volt cap on a 3 volt circuit, but not vice versa

if the physical size matches, go ahead and recap away

[amesghali]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

Thanks!

I appreciate everyone's help.

[ratdude747]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

hey

its what we do

[shadow]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

for example, you can use a 200 volt cap on a 3 volt circuit, but not vice versa

This sort of situation is not recommended for electrolytic capacitors.
However you are right, it will work just fine.

[ratdude747]

Re: Broken Capacitor GA-X48-DQ6

when i say "can" i do not imply "should"

maybe i need to be more specific