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    The Bad Capacitor FAQ

    Here is the beginning of a FAQ, only what i have found time to do yet. I would appreciate if all mods could work on it, updating it, adding sections, correcting mistakes, whatever you like. I guess we can split the sections off when they get too big.
    capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

    #2
    Introduction to the Problem

    1. [ Introduction to the Problem ]

    1.1. What is the story behind the BadCaps phenomenon?

    Well, the rather dubious story behind this problem is that a scientist working for the Japanese company Rubycon left the company and began working for Luminous Town Electric in China. He developed a copy of the Rubycon P-50 water based electrolyte which is what they use in the Low-ESR caps that are present on all motherboards. Unfortunately his staff left and stole his electrolyte formula. They started producing tons of the electrolyte and supplied many Taiwanese capacitor manufacturers. Unfortunately the formula was incomplete and did not contain the additives that prevent electrolysis from occurring inside the capacitors and releasing hydrogen gas which bursts the capacitor at the vents at the top or at the bottom of the capacitor can.

    Check also the following link :
    Topcat's - What Causes Bad Caps?
    https://www.badcaps.net/causes/

    1.2. Should we believe this story?

    It has gone on far too long to be a result of this one incident of industrial espionage. It still goes on today. Now bad capacitor manufacturers are just using cost cutting measures in manufacture and choice of raw materials in order to achieve the best price. As a result the capacitors fail early. One method used is to dilute the chemical mix of the electrolyte with water. Another method is to use natural rubber bungs instead of more expensive synthetic rubber ones. The natural rubber bungs go hard with age and temperature and cause electrolyte to leak from the bottom of the can. Furthermore impurities in the aluminum foil, the ph of the electrolyte and reduced aging procedure in manufacture are other reasons for failure.

    1.2.1. Are there any technical documents about this issue?

    Identification of Missing or Insufficient Electrolyte Constituents in Failed Electrolytic Capacitors - Craig Hillman / Norman Helmold - University of Maryland


    1.3. Which computer components can have BadCaps?

    Motherboards, Graphics Cards, Networking equipment (hubs, switches, routers, wireless hubs, KVM), Power supplies. CRT and TFT monitors.

    1.4. Which computer components are unlikely to have Bad Caps?

    PCI modems, PCI NICs, Sound Cards, CD/DVD Roms, Floppy Disk Drives, Mouse, Keyboard. You might be extremely unlucky and have smt caps or small value caps fail but probably not.

    1.5. Which products use good caps?

    It is difficult to say because manufacturers are changing their specifications all the time. ABIT and Albatron are pretty reliable for having good caps now but that might change. Gigabyte also. Asus goes from good to bad caps or mixes both. Intel original motherboards if we exclude their recent badcaps incidents can usually be relied on for good caps.

    A lot of server equipment uses good caps also like Cisco networking equipment, HP servers and also APC UPS units.

    It is impossible to make a list of all the good equipment you just have to familiarise yourself with the names of the good cap manufacturers and then check the caps on the products before you buy them.

    1.6. Which products have their been reports of capacitor failure for on these forums?

    Motherboards from ABIT, ASUS, Aopen, Gigabyte, Epox, ECS, MSI, Soyo, Shuttle, Supermicro, PC Chips, Chaintech, FIC, DFI, Matsonic. Motherboards in computers from HP/IBM/Dell, Graphics Cards from Leadtek. Lots of products. There are posts all over these forums and those are only the ones people chose to report, there will be lots more incidents out there.
    Last edited by willawake; 12-04-2005, 02:21 PM.
    capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

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      #3
      Introduction to Capacitors

      2. [ Introduction to Capacitors ]

      2.1 What is the purpose of a capacitor?

      A capacitor serves the purpose of supplying clean power to your board. It stores a specified charge and then releases it. Components such as the CPU and RAM like to receive a constant supply of voltage that does not fluctuate too much. The capacitors serve this purpose.

      2.2. How can I identify the value of a capacitor?

      It is usually written on the side of the capacitor along with the voltage. You will need to blow the dust away from the capacitor and use a flashlight to see. Capacitance is measured in microfarads or uf. Voltage is of course measured in volts. So some examples of capacitor values would be 1000uf 6.3V, 1500uf 10V, 3300uf 6.3V, 330uf 25V.

      2.3 How can I identify the manufacturer of a capacitor?

      This is not always written on the side of a capacitor. Most BadCaps do have the manufacturers logo written up the side of the capacitor. It may be difficult to read so you might make a spelling mistake. Generally you should get a few hits in google with the manufacturers name and the word capacitors. If you get no relevant hits then you have probably spelled it wrong. Some manufacturers like United Chemi Con do not show their name on the capacitor, just the series for instance KZE. So with a search for KZE capacitors you would eventually come up with United Chemi Con. Capacitors from a certain brand also have certain characteristics which are common like some manufacturers use a certain type of vents on the top of the cap. They also use certain colours for the capacitor body and the negative stripe down the capacitor which are common for each capacitor series. Anyway check the list in the badcap manufacturers forum to see if you can match up a name.

      2.4 How can I tell the polarity of a capacitor?

      A capacitor has two leads, one of which is the positive and the other is the negative. The negative lead is indicated by a stripe which runs down the side of the capacitor next to that lead. The position of the capacitor on the board is indicated by a white circle stencilled on the board. One half of the circle is coloured white. It is this white hemisphere which indicates the position where to install the negative lead of the capacitor on the board. Pay attention to the position of the original capacitors on the board. We have seen cases where the board stencil was incorrect for one or two capacitors and also boards where the entire stencil was incorrect (Asus TUSL2 and CUSL2-M). Trust the orientation of the original capacitors on the board and not the stencil. It is most likely that the stencil is incorrect instead of the capacitors.

      2.5 What type of capacitors are used on computer motherboards?

      Aluminium Electrolytic Radial Capacitors which are Low ESR. Radial means that two leads exit the capacitor from one end. Another type is Axial where one lead exits the capacitor each end. Capacitors which are NOT Low ESR are no good for motherboards. Capacitors are in the section "passives" on suppliers sites.

      2.6. I want to learn more about capacitors, where should I look?

      Check the following site
      Capsite 2004
      http://my.execpc.com/~endlr/
      capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

      Comment


        #4
        Capacitor Manufacturers for Motherboard Applications

        3. Capacitor Manufacturers for Motherboard Applications

        3.1. Bad Capacitor Manufacturers

        Check the following link :
        List of Bad Capacitor Manufacturers

        3.2. Good Capacitor Manufacturers

        Check the following link :
        List of Good Capacitor Manufacturers

        3.3 Reference of Good Capacitor Series for Motherboard Applications

        Aluminium Electrolytic Radial Capacitors (Liquid Electrolyte)

        Good manufacturers, with their caps in order of highest to lowest ESR (lower is better, but usually higher cost):

        Nichicon : PM , PW , HE , HD , HV , HM* , HN* , HZ
        http://www.nichicon.co.jp
        * HM and HN with manufacturing years 2000 to 2005 are NOT good caps! All other Nichicon series are good. *

        United Chemicon : KMG , LXZ , KY , KZE , KZH , KZG* , KZJ*
        * KZG and KZJ are NOT good caps! They will even go bad on the shelf! All other UCC series are good.
        Note: possibly this series is ok with 2008 and later manufacturing years
        *
        http://www.chemi-con.com/

        Rubycon : YXG , YXH , ZT , ZL , ZLH , ZLG , MCZ
        http://www.rubycon.com/
        Series Chart, List of Substitutes for Old Series
        ZL is probably the easiest to find and our badcaps.net can supply top Rubycon caps or similar, please PM Topcat

        Sanyo : WX , WG
        http://www.sanyo.com/components/

        Panasonic : FC , FM
        FM is sometimes cheaper than FC and better. Both are great though.

        NIC Components - NRSZ , NRSJ , NRSG , NRSX , NRSK
        http://www.low-esr.com

        3.4. Can I use any old cap to replace the ones on the board?

        It is recommended to use only Low ESR caps from the above manufacturers to repair the board properly. You will probably not find Low ESR caps at a local store and you will have to order them from one of the mail order companies or PM the forum owner Topcat who will sell you some.

        3.5. Can I use caps from one of the bad caps manufacturers to repair the board?

        It is also not recommended, they will probably fail in the same amount of time. Caps can either fail open or make a short. If they make a short your board is probably toasted so you are taking a big risk. We have seen with the newer boards the caps are failing much faster than before, like in less than 1 year. Perhaps this is due to the higher voltage requirements of the new CPUs/Chipsets. If you use caps from one of the good manufacturers the board will last 7 years or more.
        Last edited by Per Hansson; 02-12-2020, 09:46 AM. Reason: KZG/KZJ & HM/HN are indeed bad. This wasn't known back in 2003.
        capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

        Comment


          #5
          Identifying BadCaps

          4. [ Identifying BadCaps ]

          4.1. How can I tell that my caps are bad?

          You could have one of several of these issues. The problem is that some of them could be a result of other issues. If a computer is crashing you really should check the caps/check the memory/check the temps/check the hdd/replace the psu with a known good one/ think about driver issues if you recently installed a device.
          Here are some symptoms which may be related to badcaps.

          - Motherboard fails to POST (Can be CPU, RAM, Graphics card not inserted properly)
          - Fails to boot until after repeated tries (can be failing psu)
          - Memory Test Fails (can be also bad ram or too aggressive ram timings)
          - Install of windows fails with "cannot copy file (can be also bad ram or media problem)
          - System randomly and/or constantly reboots itself. (can be also driver or heat issue)
          - System randomly and frequently freezes or Blue Screens of Death (BSOD) (can be also driver, hdd, heat issue)
          - Data corruption (can be also bad ram or excessive overclocking)
          - BSoD or hard freeze under heavy drive activity (can be also HDD problem or driver problem)
          - CPU temps abnormally higher than usual under typical or less load.
          - CPU VCORE & other system voltages are erratic or far out of tolerances (can also be bad psu)
          - Resetting the system after a freeze and the system will not repost. (You have to completely power down then power back up.)
          - Computer does not power up at all (can be bad psu)
          - Computer smells bad when running (fishy or ammonia kinda smell)
          - Something smells burning (it is probably too late)

          Dont forget that your PSU can also have bad capacitors and even though your motherboard is looking good, the PSU can cause some similar problems. Unfortunately most psus have a sticker that prevents you from opening them without voiding your warranty. Not all do though. You can always take a peek through the air vents in the psu with a torch.

          If you are doing a memory test, please do not trust the memory test which runs on POST from the bios, it is not reliable. You must use Doc Memory from http://www.simmtester.com/ which is a reliable one but does not run on all boards and memory configurations. if it does not work you can use memtest86 from http://www.memtest86.com/ You should not be having crc errors or corruptions at all. If you are having these on file transfer it is important to run a memory test outside windows to verify if the ram is bad or badcaps are causing a problem. Maybe also your memory settings are too agressive. You want to see no memory errors even after 24 hours of memory testing. I personally do about 5 runs of the tests unless it is a recapping when i let it run for 24 hours. if you get no errors outside windows then you are looking like a driver or other hardware issue.

          Check also the following link :
          Topcat's - Identifying Bad Caps
          https://www.badcaps.net/ident/

          4.2. What visible signs show that the caps are bad?

          Not all caps show visible signs of failure even though they may be still performing below the required specs. The ones which do can be bulged at the top of the cap (it is supposed to be flat. The vents at the top of the cap could also be obviously split open in extreme cases. There may be a brown/orange/yellow discharge which can be very small in the centre of the top of the cap. It can also be a larger quantity all over the top of the cap. The bottom of the caps may not be flat on the board because there is swelling there. The bung at the bottom of the cap may have been pushed out and the cap is making a discharge on the motherboard which may have dried on the board.
          Last edited by willawake; 05-02-2005, 12:47 PM.
          capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

          Comment


            #6
            Avoiding recapping the board yourself

            5. [ Avoiding recapping the board yourself ]

            5.1. Can I send the board back to the manufacturer to repair?

            You could do that but we do not recommend it. You could spend money on shipping costs or out of warranty repairs and the result may not be perfect. We have seen reports of slow service by manufacturers, we have also seen reports of the manufacturer repairing only the visibly bad caps and leaving the rest. Even using the same type of Bad Caps to repair the board. At best you could receive back a new board but with the same type of caps which failed last time and you can expect the new board to fail in a similar length of time. We recommend to replace all the bad caps yourself or get a technician to do it. If the replacement caps are high quality then they should last the useful lifetime of the board, like around 7 years or more.

            5.1. Can I get replacement caps from the motherboard manufacturer?

            Actually I have read of one user who did get a bag of caps from the motherboard manufacturer Soltek. Again this is not recommended, they probably will give you the same type of bad caps that failed on your board before. Better to get the best quality replacement caps yourself.

            5.2. Who can I get to repair the board?

            We recommend to deal only with technicians that you have seen to be recommended as offering a good service. The owner of the forums Topcat and also another moderator KC8 offer great professional recapping services. However they only deal with customers based in USA like they are. Several people on these forums who are outside USA have got their boards repaired by the local television repairman but I would make sure that the repairman understands exactly what to do and what caps to use, he may not have worked on motherboards before. You could also repair the board yourself, it is not that difficult at all, many have had great success with their first board.

            5.3. If I or someone else recaps the board will my warranty be affected?

            Yes it definitely void the warranty.
            Last edited by willawake; 01-28-2006, 04:52 PM.
            capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

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              #7
              Soldering Equipment?

              6. [ Soldering Equipment? ]

              6.1. What kind of equipment do I need to repair a board?

              A 60W soldering station, a solder pump/sucker, 60/40 solder, a sewing needle or dental pick, small wire clippers, flux cleaner spray, some kind of board holder.

              6.2. Which soldering equipment manufacturers are the best?

              Weller
              http://www.cooperhandtools.com/weller/
              (Great availability of products and parts all over the world)

              Metcal
              http://www.metcal.com/
              (Metcal uses special technology so that there is no temperature control knob, the interchangeable tips are rated for specific temperatures and then the station adjusts the power to the tip to maintain the required heat. A very popular brand in industry but expensive)

              Pace
              http://www.paceworldwide.com/
              (Along with Metcal, preferred by industry)

              Hakko
              http://www.hakkousa.com/
              (Recommended by several members and good priced)

              Goot
              http://www.goot.co.jp/
              (Goot is pretty difficult to find but quality tools. )

              Ersa
              http://www.ersa.de/en/index.html
              Ersa is similar quality to weller. Facom appear to now have rebranded Ersa stations in their catalogue. willawake uses Ersa 60 watt no probs

              6.3 Do I need a digital soldering station?

              An analog station will be fine and much cheaper. An analog station has a knob to control the temperature instead of a digital readout with buttons. A digital station is used when you need to solder at exact temperatures. For motherboard cap replacement you will have it on 450oC all the time which is may be the highest temperature available.

              6.4. Can I use a soldering gun to repair my board?

              It is not recommended because they are much higher wattage than the pencil irons and make too much heat. Some experts use these for extremely stubborn traces but they are more familiar with how much heat to use.

              6.5 Can I use a lower wattage than 60W soldering iron.

              It depends on the shape/length of the tip. You might have some success with a 40W but it probably will not be able to maintain enough heat at the tip to melt the original solder on the motherboard. Better get a 60W. You will have no success at all with a small 22W iron.

              6.6 Do I need an ESD Safe soldering station

              It would be nice to have one which is FULLY ESD Safe to military specifications. They are more expensive. The most important function to have is that the tip of the soldering iron is grounded. If it has that then you will be ok, You will also be wearing an antistatic wrist strap when working for more protection against esd discharge, especially when handling the board.

              6.7 Do I really need a soldering station?

              No, several of our members are happy with corded irons. But they must be GROUNDED irons, that is very important. A 60w is a good choice, an 80w the best. If the design of the iron and tip is good then you can get by with a 40w but we consider that to be the absolute minimum wattage. You might find a quality 40w and it will heat good but you may not also. It is important to go in hot and fast on motherboards, heating for a very long time because your iron is poor will probably damage the board.

              It is recommended to go with the good popular brands whatever you choose. Better not to get the cheapest iron because it is a useful tool in your toolbox and if the tip can be replaced later, it will last a long time through many projects.

              Recommended to get a stand with sponge holder though, it is very useful to put the hot iron safely in the stand when you are messing around. Most important though is to have the sponge which is wetted with water and you use it to wipe the excess solder from your iron while you are working. This ensures you will do the best soldering job.
              Last edited by willawake; 10-21-2010, 10:22 AM.
              capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

              Comment


                #8
                How do I do the cap replacement?

                7. [ How do I do the cap replacement? ]

                7.1. Please read the following links :

                Topcat's HowTo - Overview of Recapping
                https://www.badcaps.net/tips/

                Topcat's HowTo - Capacitor Removal
                https://www.badcaps.net/tips/rem/

                Topcat's HowTo - New Capacitor Installation
                https://www.badcaps.net/tips/inst/

                7.2. I want to learn good soldering, do you have any tutorials?

                Yes, check the following links :

                Elecraft Builder Resources (Click on Soldering Tutorial)
                http://www.elecraft.com/Apps/K2info.html

                Apogee Kits Downloads (Click on ApogeeKits Free Illustrated Guide to Electronics Soldering)
                http://www.apogeekits.com/downloads.htm

                The Basic Electronics Soldering & Desoldering Guide
                http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderfaq.htm

                University of North Carolina - Soldering Techniques paper
                (Click on soldering.pdf)
                http://www.chem.unc.edu/undergrads/...m142l_wightman/

                There is no easy way to teach soldering. It is like an art. You have to learn what is a good solder joint and then practice to achieve it. One of the tricks is to get the hole wetted with a tiny bit of solder before you start to feed solder down the hole. Watch closely what is happening to the solder while you are working and you will learn.

                7.2. I think I can ignore all the advice given on this forum and repair my board the way I like, it's gonna be ok right?

                You might be lucky but probably you will trash the board. Badcaps members and moderators offer good guidance, please do not ignore their advice.

                7.3 What values of caps should I use to replace the ones on the board?

                You can either be safe and stick to the same values already on the board or you could use other values. You should be careful about decreasing the voltage, it is generally not recommended but it is ok to increase it. You can increase the capacitance (uf) as you see fit but the larger the voltage and the larger the capacitance, the wider and taller the capacitor. The larger cap may not fit in the place of the original cap. So if we give some examples :

                1000uf 6.3V - You could replace with 1000uf 10V or 16V there is no problem.
                330uf 25V - These are seen on some boards like Gigabyte. You can probably replace with 1000uf 16V like we did on a few boards without problems

                Another consideration is cost. The larger the cap value, the more expensive it will be. No point to increase the cap values too much and pay more than necessary for a stable machine. The board will be perfectly stable using the same values of caps that were already on the board but this time using caps from a good manufacturer.

                The safest thing to do is to keep to the same values as are already on the board. Use some 10V capacitors instead of 6.3V if you wish but trust that the board designers did know what they were doing when the designed the board.

                7.4 There is a row of caps close together and I do not have small enough caps to fit the same number of caps there.

                Generally a row of caps are connected in parallel so all the + leads of the caps are connected together and all the - leads of the caps are also connected together. You could for instance use half the number of caps but with double the value and only place the caps in every other capacitor position, leaving each position inbetween free. When you remove the caps however you must refill the holes of the positions you leave vacant with a little bit of solder to ensure that the circuit remains complete. When you remove the caps and dont clear the holes there is probably enough solder remaining there to complete the circuit but let's be sure and add a little solder to each hole while heating the solder pad of each hole.

                Please note that it is not 100% certain that a row of caps is connected in parallel so this might not work in all cases.
                Last edited by willawake; 01-21-2006, 12:00 PM.
                capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

                Comment


                  #9
                  Safety Concerns

                  8. [ Safety Concerns ]

                  8.1. Is it ok to handle bad capacitors?

                  Yes of course but you should wash your hands afterwards and do not rub your eyes or skin while you are working, the electrolyte is an irritant. Do not eat the electrolyte or any part of the capacitor, it will not be tasty at all.

                  8.2. Are there precautions about soldering?

                  Yes solder which contains lead can cause lead poisoning. So you must wash your hands after handling solder before eating, drinking, smoking. Soldering also makes toxic fumes so you must solder in a ventilated area. Flux off spray also makes fumes as well. Don't leave any soldering products within the reach of children. When soldering you MUST wear eye protection, whether your normal prescription glasses or protective work goggles/glasses. This is VERY important because a flux splatter/hot solder in the eye will make you BLIND. Not forgetting even the possibility of having the hot iron slip and poke you in the eye.

                  8.3. Soldering irons are HOT

                  This is pretty obvious but it is very easy to get concentrated on the board and not the iron and burn a finger or burn a component on the board. If you drop the iron on the floor it is pretty certain you just made a big burn on the carpet and your wife/mom is going to be very happy about that. Especially when you are working on the front of the board, think through the action first and make some test moves before you go ahead and burn a customers PCI slot or something. Keep the iron perpendicular to the board (coming in vertically not at an angle when you are working on the front of the board)

                  8.3. Is it ok to view bulging capacitors up close when the power is on.
                  It is not a good idea at all. If the capacitor vented violently the gas escaping would be 100oC and would burn you. It might splatter electrolyte in your eye. It is not a good idea anyway to poke around in your computer case while the power is on. You might make a short.
                  Last edited by willawake; 05-02-2005, 12:40 PM.
                  capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Terminology

                    9. [ Terminology ]

                    Here is some terminology in brief that may be used on the forums. Since the internet is a global thing and some people visiting here may not have English as their first language, included are some obvious ones.

                    BER Equipment : Beyond Economic Repair
                    BS : Bullshit
                    Bungs : They are inside the bottom of the each cap. If they have come out that is bad.
                    Caps : Capacitors
                    Fets : Mosfets, little black boxes with 3 legs on the board
                    KC8 : one of our senior mods kc8adu . listen to him, every info he gives is #1 good info.
                    Leads : The two wires coming out of the bottom of the cap.
                    Lytics : Electrolytic Capacitors
                    Pannys : Panasonic Capacitors
                    Rubies : Rubycon Capacitors
                    Scope : an Oscilloscope (electronic testing device)
                    Shite : (UK version of shit) no good.
                    Short : a short circuit (bad)
                    SMT : Surface Mount components (small components mounted directly on the motherboard)
                    TC : Topcat, the owner of these forums.
                    The Weather Girl : She tells the weather on TCs other site
                    http://www.kabalsrealm.com/ Mikee is in love with her. She doesnt come here because she is not interested in capacitors.
                    They OC like a raped ape : They overclock extremely well (: thanks MD Willington - real funny)
                    Toasted : Burnt (components) = Bad
                    Traces : the many little lines on the board which carry current.
                    Vents : The lines cut into the top of the capacitors to allow gas to escape if they fail.
                    Last edited by willawake; 12-04-2005, 02:11 PM.
                    capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Considering a board for Cap replacement

                      10. [ Considering a Board for Cap Replacement ]

                      Before you start recapping a board you really should evaluate the board before you install $20+ of caps on a board which does not post after you did the job. So :

                      Non Working Boards :

                      If you purchased the board as non working :

                      1) does any component on the board look burnt?
                      2) Does it look like any component even a small smt component has been detached from the board?
                      3) Is any essential connector or HSF clip or ram clip broken that you might need?
                      4) Are any traces on the board scratched or otherwise damaged?

                      If any of the above situations are on the board then expect to have to do a lot more work than just replace the caps. It could be that the board is not worth repairing.

                      If you know the history of the board it is easier.

                      1) If the board was taken out of service early while the caps were leaking but there were no shorts.

                      2) You left the caps a long time and there were shorts, some components were burnt.

                      With no.1 you have a chance of recapping the board sucessfully. With no.2 there is gonna be a lot of work to do and maybe the board is not worth repairing.
                      capacitor lab yachtmati techmati

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by willawake
                        9. [ Terminology ]

                        Here is some terminology in brief that may be used on the forums. Since the internet is a global thing and some people visiting here may not have English as their first language, included are some obvious ones.

                        BER Equipment : Beyond Economic Repair
                        BS : Bullshit
                        Bungs : They are inside the bottom of the each cap. If they have come out that is bad.
                        Caps : Capacitors
                        Fets : Mosfets, little black boxes with 3 legs on the board
                        Leads : The two wires coming out of the bottom of the cap.
                        Lytics : Electrolytic Capacitors
                        Pannys : Panasonic Capacitors
                        Rubies : Rubycon Capacitors
                        Short : a short circuit (bad)
                        SMT : Surface Mount components (small components mounted directly on the motherboard)
                        TC : Topcat, the owner of these forums.
                        The Weather Girl : She tells the weather on TCs other site
                        http://www.kabalsrealm.com/ Mikee is in love with her. She doesnt come here because she is not interested in capacitors.
                        Toasted : Burnt (components)
                        Traces : the many little lines on the board which carry current.
                        Vents : The lines cut into the top of the capacitors to allow gas to escape if they fail.
                        LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nice work!! Nothing better than a creative moderator!
                        <--- Badcaps.net Founder

                        Badcaps.net Services:

                        Motherboard Repair Services

                        ----------------------------------------------
                        Badcaps.net Forum Members Folding Team
                        http://folding.stanford.edu/
                        Team : 49813
                        Join in!!
                        Team Stats

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: The Bad Capacitor FAQ

                          It has been suggested that a table comparing caps be produced. The four table below cover frequently used cap values from manufacturers that have not garnered a bad reputation.

                          You can now compare performance, size and endurance.
                          Attached Files
                          Gigabyte EP45-DS3L Ultra Reliable (Power saver)
                          Intel E8400 (3000Mhz) Bios temps. 4096Mb 800Mhz DDR2 Corsair XMS2 4-4-4-12
                          160Gb WD SATAII Server grade
                          Nvidia 8500GT 256Mb
                          160Gb WD eSATAII Server grade for backup.
                          Samsung 18x DVD writer
                          Pioneer 16x DVD writer + 6x Dual layer
                          33 way card reader
                          Windows XP Pro SP3
                          Thermaltake Matrix case with 430W Silent Power
                          17" Benq FP737s LCD monitor
                          HP Officejet Pro K5300 with refillable tanks

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: The Bad Capacitor FAQ

                            Originally posted by willawake
                            1.2.1. Are there any technical documents about this issue?

                            Identification of Missing or Insufficient Electrolyte Constituents in Failed Electrolytic Capacitors - Craig Hillman / Norman Helmold - University of Maryland
                            sorry, cause this is an old thread, i just want to update that link

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                              #15
                              Re: The Bad Capacitor FAQ

                              It would be nice to see some information also included about testing for caps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4tnH...eature=related

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                                #16
                                Re: The Bad Capacitor FAQ

                                lol.
                                a. was that copy + pasted from the main badcaps.net site?
                                b. is that SPAM in your sig

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                                  #17
                                  Re: How do I do the cap replacement?

                                  Originally posted by willawake View Post
                                  7. [ How do I do the cap replacement? ]

                                  7.1. Please read the following links :

                                  Topcat's HowTo - Overview of Recapping
                                  https://www.badcaps.net/tips/

                                  Topcat's HowTo - Capacitor Removal
                                  https://www.badcaps.net/tips/rem/

                                  Topcat's HowTo - New Capacitor Installation
                                  https://www.badcaps.net/tips/inst/
                                  These links do not work... Please update as this is a good reference guide.

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                                    #18
                                    Re: How do I do the cap replacement?

                                    Originally posted by LuSiD View Post
                                    These links do not work... Please update as this is a good reference guide.
                                    All are in the FAQ section at

                                    https://www.badcaps.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=24
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                                    We respectfully ask that you make some time and effort to read some of the guides available for basic troubleshooting. After you have read through them, then ask clarification questions or report your findings.

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                                      #19
                                      Re: The Bad Capacitor FAQ

                                      Thanks for the information it will help me out as a beginner.
                                      You can only get better by playing a better opponent. Teach me.

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                                        #20
                                        Re: The Bad Capacitor FAQ

                                        maybe i missed it but does this faq cover ESR values? i would like to know what the cutoff point is for ERS values where too high means a bad cap
                                        Don't fear the repair...

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