Motherboard cap's issues

One of my motherboards quit working, the effect being video corruption
like issues and lock up. I looked at the motherboard and noticed 3
1000uF/16.3V caps were bad(all the tops were bowed out and one had some
black residue below it). I replaced them with one 1000uF/100V cap since
they were all in parallel. This allowed the computer to function normally
again but the cap is getting rather hot(obviously the issue before) and
will eventually fail again.

One of my motherboards quit working, the effect being video corruption like
issues and lock up. I looked at the motherboard and noticed 3 1000uF/16.3V
caps were bad(all the tops were bowed out and one had some black residue
below it). I replaced them with one 1000uF/100V cap since they were all in
parallel. This allowed the computer to function normally again but the cap
is getting rather hot(obviously the issue before) and will eventually fail
again.

Of course I already have a new MB on the way but I'm curious as to what is
causing this as I imagine it is an easy fix. Something seems to be either
shorting out or supplying a rather large voltage. The caps are near some
large mosfets which obivously have something to do with the cpu power(they
are near the extra V2 connector that gives the cpu more juice).

Any ideas what is the most likely cause of such an issue? My guess is either
the mosfets, something causing a short, or potentially a cpu issue(it is not
overclocked but something may have failed and put it in such a mode causing
excess power usage). I have tried different power supplies and graphics
cards with the similar issues. I've checked the mosfets near the caps and
they all look fine although I'm not really sure what exactly there function
is(such as regulation or current limiting, etc...)

One of my motherboards quit working, the effect being video corruption like
issues and lock up. I looked at the motherboard and noticed 3 1000uF/16.3V
caps were bad(all the tops were bowed out and one had some black residue
below it). I replaced them with one 1000uF/100V cap since they were all in
parallel. This allowed the computer to function normally again but the cap
is getting rather hot(obviously the issue before) and will eventually fail
again.

On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 15:57:30 -0600, "Jon Slaughter"
Jon_Slaughter_at_Hotmail.com> wrote:

One of my motherboards quit working, the effect being video corruption like
issues and lock up. I looked at the motherboard and noticed 3 1000uF/16.3V
caps were bad(all the tops were bowed out and one had some black residue
below it). I replaced them with one 1000uF/100V cap since they were all in
parallel. This allowed the computer to function normally again but the cap
is getting rather hot(obviously the issue before) and will eventually fail
again.

Of course I already have a new MB on the way but I'm curious as to what is
causing this as I imagine it is an easy fix. Something seems to be either
shorting out or supplying a rather large voltage. The caps are near some
large mosfets which obivously have something to do with the cpu power(they
are near the extra V2 connector that gives the cpu more juice).

Any ideas what is the most likely cause of such an issue? My guess is either
the mosfets, something causing a short, or potentially a cpu issue(it is not
overclocked but something may have failed and put it in such a mode causing
excess power usage). I have tried different power supplies and graphics
cards with the similar issues. I've checked the mosfets near the caps and
they all look fine although I'm not really sure what exactly there function
is(such as regulation or current limiting, etc...)




Probably switching regulator ripple current, not excessive voltage.
You need three (or more!) caps with low ESR, rated for lots of ripple
current. Cooling air would help, too.

The original caps were probably junk.

John

"Jon Slaughter" <Jon_Slaughter_at_Hotmail.com> wrote:

One of my motherboards quit working, the effect being video corruption like
issues and lock up. I looked at the motherboard and noticed 3 1000uF/16.3V
caps were bad(all the tops were bowed out and one had some black residue
below it). I replaced them with one 1000uF/100V cap since they were all in
parallel. This allowed the computer to function normally again but the cap
is getting rather hot(obviously the issue before) and will eventually fail
again.

Sigh> Never heard of low ESR caps?

The issue before is simply bad quality. Loads of computers suffer from
this problem.

John Larkin wrote:
On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 15:57:30 -0600, "Jon Slaughter"
Jon_Slaughter_at_Hotmail.com> wrote:

One of my motherboards quit working, the effect being video corruption like
issues and lock up. I looked at the motherboard and noticed 3 1000uF/16.3V
caps were bad(all the tops were bowed out and one had some black residue
below it). I replaced them with one 1000uF/100V cap since they were all in
parallel. This allowed the computer to function normally again but the cap
is getting rather hot(obviously the issue before) and will eventually fail
again.

Of course I already have a new MB on the way but I'm curious as to what is
causing this as I imagine it is an easy fix. Something seems to be either
shorting out or supplying a rather large voltage. The caps are near some
large mosfets which obivously have something to do with the cpu power(they
are near the extra V2 connector that gives the cpu more juice).

Any ideas what is the most likely cause of such an issue? My guess is either
the mosfets, something causing a short, or potentially a cpu issue(it is not
overclocked but something may have failed and put it in such a mode causing
excess power usage). I have tried different power supplies and graphics
cards with the similar issues. I've checked the mosfets near the caps and
they all look fine although I'm not really sure what exactly there function
is(such as regulation or current limiting, etc...)




Probably switching regulator ripple current, not excessive voltage.
You need three (or more!) caps with low ESR, rated for lots of ripple
current. Cooling air would help, too.

The original caps were probably junk.

John


I have had two motherboards and a power supply from reputable
manufacturers fail on me due to capacitor problems in the past year.
The capacitors don't fail in the spectacular fashion that the "capacitor
plague" caps I have seen pics of do, and there's no obvious signs of
damage to the caps, but they just kind of quietly go open circuit. I'm
wondering if there's anything I'm doing incorrectly in the construction
of these computers that might be causing premature failure. I always
use dust filters on the air intakes of the system, and they're kept cool
with several fans (more fans than I'd like, really). Temperature
logging on one of the systems showed that the board was always well
within safe limits, though I don't know about the power supply. If I
built hundreds of computers a year professionally I'd just chalk it up
to probability, but I only build a couple for myself and family.

Recently I purchased a motherboard that had all organic polymer
capacitors on board as one of its selling features. I bought the board
based on other specs and actually didn't know about this feature until
it arrived, but it made me curious: does it actually lead to a more
reliable board, or are organic polymer capacitors just as likely to be
of poor quality and fail but in different and unique ways from their
liquid electrolyte cousins?

On Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:22:12 -0500, Bitrex





bit...@de.lete.earthlink.net> wrote:
John Larkin wrote:
On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 15:57:30 -0600, "Jon Slaughter"
Jon_Slaugh...@Hotmail.com> wrote:

One of my motherboards quit working, the effect being video corruption like
issues and lock up. I looked at the motherboard and noticed 3 1000uF/16.3V
caps were bad(all the tops were bowed out and one had some black residue
below it). I replaced them with one 1000uF/100V cap since they were all in
parallel. This allowed the computer to function normally again but the cap
is getting rather hot(obviously the issue before) and will eventually fail
again.

Of course I already have a new MB on the way but I'm curious as to what is
causing this as I imagine it is an easy fix. Something seems to be either
shorting out or supplying a rather large voltage. The caps are near some
large mosfets which obivously have something to do with the cpu power(they
are near the extra V2 connector that gives the cpu more juice).

Any ideas what is the most likely cause of such an issue? My guess is either
the mosfets, something causing a short, or potentially a cpu issue(it is not
overclocked but something may have failed and put it in such a mode causing
excess power usage). I have tried different power supplies and graphics
cards with the similar issues. I've checked the mosfets near the caps and
they all look fine although I'm not really sure what exactly there function
is(such as regulation or current limiting, etc...)

Probably switching regulator ripple current, not excessive voltage.
You need three (or more!) caps with low ESR, rated for lots of ripple
current. Cooling air would help, too.

The original caps were probably junk.

John

I have had two motherboards and a power supply from reputable
manufacturers fail on me due to capacitor problems in the past year.
The capacitors don't fail in the spectacular fashion that the "capacitor
plague" caps I have seen pics of do, and there's no obvious signs of
damage to the caps, but they just kind of quietly go open circuit.  I'm
wondering if there's anything I'm doing incorrectly in the construction
of these computers that might be causing premature failure.  I always
use dust filters on the air intakes of the system, and they're kept cool
with several fans (more fans than I'd like, really).  Temperature
logging on one of the systems showed that the board was always well
within safe limits, though I don't know about the power supply.  If I
built hundreds of computers a year professionally I'd just chalk it up
to probability, but I only build a couple for myself and family.

Recently I purchased a motherboard that had all organic polymer
capacitors on board as one of its selling features.  I bought the board
based on other specs and actually didn't know about this feature until
it arrived, but it made me curious: does it actually lead to a more
reliable board, or are organic polymer capacitors just as likely to be
of poor quality and fail but in different and unique ways from their
liquid electrolyte cousins?

The polymers have very low ESR, so should run cool. And they have no
liquid inside to diffuse out. I'd expect them to be more reliable than
wet alums in high ripple current situations. But that's a guess.

The polymers that I've tested have very low leakage up to about 2x
rated voltage, then abruptly fail shorted.

John- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

"Jon Slaughter" <Jon_Slaughter_at_Hotmail.com> wrote:

One of my motherboards quit working, the effect being video corruption
like issues and lock up. I looked at the motherboard and noticed 3
1000uF/16.3V caps

were bad(all the tops were bowed out and one had
some black residue below it). I replaced them with one 1000uF/100V cap
since they were all in parallel.

This allowed the computer to function
normally again but the cap is getting rather hot(obviously the issue
before) and will eventually fail again.

Sigh> Never heard of low ESR caps?

The issue before is simply bad quality. Loads of computers suffer from
this problem.

Yeah, I know about the bad caps... some chinese company stole some formula
but forgot or missed one key component and made a bunch of bad caps...

I know about the ESR but I figured it shouldn't matter too much and seems to
work fine. The cap was getting hot by touch but I put a small fan over it
and it is pretty cool. This should work fine until the new MB arrives.


If you had put the 'right' caps in you wouldn't NEED a new MB.

work fine. The cap was getting hot by touch but I put a small fan over it
and it is pretty cool. This should work fine until the new MB arrives.


If you had put the 'right' caps in you wouldn't NEED a new MB.

When my HP computer quit, I replaced 7 bad caps, about year ago, all is

On Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:22:12 -0500, Bitrex
bitrex_at_de.lete.earthlink.net> wrote:

John Larkin wrote:
On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 15:57:30 -0600, "Jon Slaughter"
Jon_Slaughter_at_Hotmail.com> wrote:

One of my motherboards quit working, the effect being video corruption like
issues and lock up. I looked at the motherboard and noticed 3 1000uF/16.3V
caps were bad(all the tops were bowed out and one had some black residue
below it). I replaced them with one 1000uF/100V cap since they were all in
parallel. This allowed the computer to function normally again but the cap
is getting rather hot(obviously the issue before) and will eventually fail
again.

Of course I already have a new MB on the way but I'm curious as to what is
causing this as I imagine it is an easy fix. Something seems to be either
shorting out or supplying a rather large voltage. The caps are near some
large mosfets which obivously have something to do with the cpu power(they
are near the extra V2 connector that gives the cpu more juice).

Any ideas what is the most likely cause of such an issue? My guess is either
the mosfets, something causing a short, or potentially a cpu issue(it is not
overclocked but something may have failed and put it in such a mode causing
excess power usage). I have tried different power supplies and graphics
cards with the similar issues. I've checked the mosfets near the caps and
they all look fine although I'm not really sure what exactly there function
is(such as regulation or current limiting, etc...)



Probably switching regulator ripple current, not excessive voltage.
You need three (or more!) caps with low ESR, rated for lots of ripple
current. Cooling air would help, too.

The original caps were probably junk.

John

I have had two motherboards and a power supply from reputable
manufacturers fail on me due to capacitor problems in the past year.
The capacitors don't fail in the spectacular fashion that the "capacitor
plague" caps I have seen pics of do, and there's no obvious signs of
damage to the caps, but they just kind of quietly go open circuit. I'm
wondering if there's anything I'm doing incorrectly in the construction
of these computers that might be causing premature failure. I always
use dust filters on the air intakes of the system, and they're kept cool
with several fans (more fans than I'd like, really). Temperature
logging on one of the systems showed that the board was always well
within safe limits, though I don't know about the power supply. If I
built hundreds of computers a year professionally I'd just chalk it up
to probability, but I only build a couple for myself and family.

Recently I purchased a motherboard that had all organic polymer
capacitors on board as one of its selling features. I bought the board
based on other specs and actually didn't know about this feature until
it arrived, but it made me curious: does it actually lead to a more
reliable board, or are organic polymer capacitors just as likely to be
of poor quality and fail but in different and unique ways from their
liquid electrolyte cousins?

The polymers have very low ESR, so should run cool. And they have no
liquid inside to diffuse out. I'd expect them to be more reliable than
wet alums in high ripple current situations. But that's a guess.

The polymers that I've tested have very low leakage up to about 2x
rated voltage, then abruptly fail shorted.

On Feb 4, 7:55 pm, John Larkin
jjlar...@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote:
On Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:22:12 -0500, Bitrex





bit...@de.lete.earthlink.net> wrote:
John Larkin wrote:
On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 15:57:30 -0600, "Jon Slaughter"
Jon_Slaugh...@Hotmail.com> wrote:

One of my motherboards quit working, the effect being video corruption like
issues and lock up. I looked at the motherboard and noticed 3 1000uF/16.3V
caps were bad(all the tops were bowed out and one had some black residue
below it). I replaced them with one 1000uF/100V cap since they were all in
parallel. This allowed the computer to function normally again but the cap
is getting rather hot(obviously the issue before) and will eventually fail
again.

Of course I already have a new MB on the way but I'm curious as to what is
causing this as I imagine it is an easy fix. Something seems to be either
shorting out or supplying a rather large voltage. The caps are near some
large mosfets which obivously have something to do with the cpu power(they
are near the extra V2 connector that gives the cpu more juice).

Any ideas what is the most likely cause of such an issue? My guess is either
the mosfets, something causing a short, or potentially a cpu issue(it is not
overclocked but something may have failed and put it in such a mode causing
excess power usage). I have tried different power supplies and graphics
cards with the similar issues. I've checked the mosfets near the caps and
they all look fine although I'm not really sure what exactly there function
is(such as regulation or current limiting, etc...)

Probably switching regulator ripple current, not excessive voltage.
You need three (or more!) caps with low ESR, rated for lots of ripple
current. Cooling air would help, too.

The original caps were probably junk.

John

I have had two motherboards and a power supply from reputable
manufacturers fail on me due to capacitor problems in the past year.
The capacitors don't fail in the spectacular fashion that the "capacitor
plague" caps I have seen pics of do, and there's no obvious signs of
damage to the caps, but they just kind of quietly go open circuit.  I'm
wondering if there's anything I'm doing incorrectly in the construction
of these computers that might be causing premature failure.  I always
use dust filters on the air intakes of the system, and they're kept cool
with several fans (more fans than I'd like, really).  Temperature
logging on one of the systems showed that the board was always well
within safe limits, though I don't know about the power supply.  If I
built hundreds of computers a year professionally I'd just chalk it up
to probability, but I only build a couple for myself and family.

Recently I purchased a motherboard that had all organic polymer
capacitors on board as one of its selling features.  I bought the board
based on other specs and actually didn't know about this feature until
it arrived, but it made me curious: does it actually lead to a more
reliable board, or are organic polymer capacitors just as likely to be
of poor quality and fail but in different and unique ways from their
liquid electrolyte cousins?

The polymers have very low ESR, so should run cool. And they have no
liquid inside to diffuse out. I'd expect them to be more reliable than
wet alums in high ripple current situations. But that's a guess.

The polymers that I've tested have very low leakage up to about 2x
rated voltage, then abruptly fail shorted.

John- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

"The polymers that I've tested have very low leakage up to about 2x
rated voltage, then abruptly fail shorted.


John "

I clearly have not been having enough 'fun' with my capacitors.

George H.

John Larkin a écrit :
On Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:22:12 -0500, Bitrex
bitrex_at_de.lete.earthlink.net> wrote:

John Larkin wrote:
On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 15:57:30 -0600, "Jon Slaughter"
Jon_Slaughter_at_Hotmail.com> wrote:

One of my motherboards quit working, the effect being video corruption like
issues and lock up. I looked at the motherboard and noticed 3 1000uF/16.3V
caps were bad(all the tops were bowed out and one had some black residue
below it). I replaced them with one 1000uF/100V cap since they were all in
parallel. This allowed the computer to function normally again but the cap
is getting rather hot(obviously the issue before) and will eventually fail
again.

Of course I already have a new MB on the way but I'm curious as to what is
causing this as I imagine it is an easy fix. Something seems to be either
shorting out or supplying a rather large voltage. The caps are near some
large mosfets which obivously have something to do with the cpu power(they
are near the extra V2 connector that gives the cpu more juice).

Any ideas what is the most likely cause of such an issue? My guess is either
the mosfets, something causing a short, or potentially a cpu issue(it is not
overclocked but something may have failed and put it in such a mode causing
excess power usage). I have tried different power supplies and graphics
cards with the similar issues. I've checked the mosfets near the caps and
they all look fine although I'm not really sure what exactly there function
is(such as regulation or current limiting, etc...)



Probably switching regulator ripple current, not excessive voltage.
You need three (or more!) caps with low ESR, rated for lots of ripple
current. Cooling air would help, too.

The original caps were probably junk.

John

I have had two motherboards and a power supply from reputable
manufacturers fail on me due to capacitor problems in the past year.
The capacitors don't fail in the spectacular fashion that the "capacitor
plague" caps I have seen pics of do, and there's no obvious signs of
damage to the caps, but they just kind of quietly go open circuit. I'm
wondering if there's anything I'm doing incorrectly in the construction
of these computers that might be causing premature failure. I always
use dust filters on the air intakes of the system, and they're kept cool
with several fans (more fans than I'd like, really). Temperature
logging on one of the systems showed that the board was always well
within safe limits, though I don't know about the power supply. If I
built hundreds of computers a year professionally I'd just chalk it up
to probability, but I only build a couple for myself and family.

Recently I purchased a motherboard that had all organic polymer
capacitors on board as one of its selling features. I bought the board
based on other specs and actually didn't know about this feature until
it arrived, but it made me curious: does it actually lead to a more
reliable board, or are organic polymer capacitors just as likely to be
of poor quality and fail but in different and unique ways from their
liquid electrolyte cousins?

The polymers have very low ESR, so should run cool. And they have no
liquid inside to diffuse out. I'd expect them to be more reliable than
wet alums in high ripple current situations. But that's a guess.

The polymers that I've tested have very low leakage up to about 2x
rated voltage, then abruptly fail shorted.


No worries, they are protected by that big Pentium zener...