Stupid question...replace 10v with 6.3v?

[yyonline]

So, I've never bothered to recap a power supply before. I took one of my PCs offline for awhile as I'm waiting on a HD RMA from Western Digital. I'm taking the time to go over it, clean out the dust bunnies, etc.

It has an Antec Basiq 430 watt PSU. It's one of the Delta built units.

I opened it up. It's a weird mix of caps. At least half of it is good caps - Rubycon and Chemi-con and a Samxon primary. The other half it Ltec and Aishi.

So, I'm going to replace the Ltec and Aishi as a preventative measure, and swap out the sleeve bearing fan for a ball bearing fan.

There is one cap that is 10V 2200uF. Looking at what caps I have at the moment... can this safely be replaced with 6.3V 2200uF? I know you can substitute 6.3 for 10V on motherboards, as long as the ESR/ripple specs are sufficient. Does the same hold true for power supplies? I would think so, since a 10V cap can only be on a 5V rail. But I also wanted to verify with those who do this more often than I do.

Thanks!

[Quasar]

Re: Stupid question...replace 10v with 6.3v?

They use higher voltage caps because they are cheaper in many cases. Check and make sure it doesn't exceed 5 volts on that cap and you should be fine. A 20% over-voltage buffer would be 6 volts, so 6.3 would be fine. Look up the specs and compare what was there to what you are using for ESR and ripple.

[stj]

Re: Stupid question...replace 10v with 6.3v?

ripple &esr will be worse because of the reduction in size - i wouldnt downsize it.
your not leaving much margin for the voltage ripple anyway - so it will run hot.

[Quasar]

Re: Stupid question...replace 10v with 6.3v?

There is no mention of size reduction by yyonline. Actually, there is no mention of any specs except for voltage and capacitance. No series identification of what is there and no info on the replacement to be used except again, the voltage and capacitance.

If the same size as original and a better grade of cap, the capabilities would be equal or better.

If the original has a ripple rating of 2000 ma and the replacement is equal or better, it won't run any hotter.

[stj]

Re: Stupid question...replace 10v with 6.3v?

6.3v on a 5v rail is too close, 6.3v on a 3.3v rail is o.k. - another thing to take into acount.

as a rule, an electrolytic should be rated at 1.5x running voltage as a minimum to allow for voltage spikes without reducing the life of the cap.

[Quasar]

Re: Stupid question...replace 10v with 6.3v?

If 5 v reaches 7.5v, you probably killed the $150 motherboard. Screw the 10 cent cap.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Stupid question...replace 10v with 6.3v?

Ripple and ESR will only be worse if you down size -and- stay with the same ESR grade of cap.

You can usually down size and improve ESR/Ripple by using a grade of cap that is better than original cap.
Have to look up the specs on the original to know though.

A smaller diameter cap with the same or higher Ripple rating than the original is actually a good thing as more air flow [hence cooling] can get around the cap.

A 6.3v cap on a 5v rail is standard practice even for original caps.
Is not a problem at all.

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[stj]

Re: Stupid question...replace 10v with 6.3v?

on stuff with a 5year lifespan maybe, i work on stuff 30years old.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Stupid question...replace 10v with 6.3v?

Bogus.
Same old and new.

[berniedd]

Re: Stupid question...replace 10v with 6.3v?

I've done dozens of 10v replacement by 6.3 v caps. You will be fine so long as you use the same capacitance or even slightly better than the original.