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Its not very hard to replace your own caps (Reply to this comment)
by tb421ny
You can replace your own caps and save a lot of money. Replacement refurbished boards from Dell cost $200 while you can get a kit of capacitors for your motherboard for under $30. If you have a lot of boards to replace like I did 30 it adds up fast. You can get them from my site www.thecapking.com or badcaps.net. The install is pretty easy if you know how to solder. The polarity is clearly marked on the board and the capacitors so it’s pretty hard to get them in wrong if you pay attention. I deal with a lot of people who replace there own and I have done a lot of them with success.
Capacitor lab has a good how to guide at http://www.capacitorlab.com/replacing-motherboard-capacitors-howto/index.htm
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Aug 20 '08
7:35 am PDT
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Asus is no saint either.... (Reply to this comment)
by znapper
I bought a Asus p4g8x motherboard early 2003 (i think), and these past 4 weeks, the computer has become more and more unstabile for some weird reason.
After reinstalling windows, buying a new SATA card and generally just bickering and swearing a bit, I finally janked the pc into the living room to take it apart and put it together again, making sure that everything was connected properly.
I then discovered the 4 capacitors which was placed up close to my processor:
http://home.no.net/~helino/images/P1040264web.jpg
I realized what this was, because I had experienced the same issue with a server (IBM, cannot remember the motherboard type though, allthough it was a 700 mhz processor in it) at work at one point; faulty capacitors indeed.
My motherboard is out of warranty and cannot be replaced (only found replacements in the US, but they don't ship to Europe). So basically, I will try and replace the capacitors myself (3300µF 6,3V) as I have nothing to loose at this point.
So, you can add ASUS to your list, as well as IBM servers produced around 2002-2003 (that one was replaced under warranty), repairguy confirmed "popped capacitors" as he was poking around in the server.
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Mar 14 '07
3:23 am PDT
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Bulging capacitors (Reply to this comment)
by computergoblin
Gday, im a Computer n00b, just got my friends to help me overclock my CPU.
Wo0t! look its gone from 1.6 to 2 gig, yay, but wait, whats this, those 6 capacitors dont look like the ones, they have a slightly bulged top, damn.
The PC is working fine and i dont really want to spend the money sending it back to get repaired or anything like that, also im most definantly sure the warranty has run out.
I've done quite abit of soldering in the past, and am quite confident that i could replace the capacitors myself (makeing sure to get the polarities right) but is there anything i should know before i pull the board apart for a DIY job that results in a big bang and a wierd smell?
Also is there really any problem with just leaving them as they are, i would say they have bulged less than 1/3 a millimeter on a 1 inch cap.
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Apr 10 '06
8:26 am PDT
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another board maker you can add... (Reply to this comment)
by armageddon_x
I have a Soyo Dragon Plus (SY-K7V) with bad caps. Did a quick Google and others have had problems also with Dragon boards. I went back to a Asus board. Asus boards have never given me any problems but you do pay a premium for that.
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Jan 26 '06
1:57 am PST
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Dell PC - Suspect faulty motherboard? - Advice Please (Reply to this comment)
by seracher73
Hi,
I have read this report with interest as my 11 month old Dell dimension 2400 pc has just died on me at the weekend. It didn’t have any of the lead up symptoms mentioned; what happened was I switched my pc off on Saturday night with no problems at all, next day when I switched it back on, nothing apart from blinking amber light.
I spoke to Dell as the pc is still under warranty and they asked me to do the following:
1. Asked what colour monitor power button was (amber) got me to disconnect and it changed to green and displayed dell test signal.
2. Remove onboard modem and start PC - still wouldn’t start.
3. Remove memory and start PC and report any bleeps or beeps - still wouldn’t start.
He came to the conclusion that the motherboard was faulty from these tests and arranged for the system to be picked up.
My question is why would the motherboard pack in if no there were no lead up symptoms? And after researching this type of problem on the net, I've read about faulty capacitors on motherboards with certain Dell PC’s but not the dimension 2400. Could this happen with me doing anything wrong? I do have one of those surge plug extensions so I doubt it was me that has surged the motherboard or anything but I am just a wee bit concerned that I get my PC back and it happens again out with the warranty next time.
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Sep 27 '05
5:44 am PDT
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Re: Re: MH!! (Reply to this comment)
by Gr8ful
Actually, I did think it was the OS at first. Then I replaced the power supply in the latest system before giving up. Now that I know what the problem was, I am sending the board RMA to Intel.
The older boards are out of warranty and I guess I will have to bust out the old soldering iron and try to fing the correct capacitors to relpace them. This article was the most helpful one I have read in weeks... THANKS!
Gr8ful :-)
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May 18 '04
12:07 am PDT
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Re: Soldering (Reply to this comment)
by ivplay,  in Computer Hardware
I agree that it can be done, and in my case I would get my father to help me through it, as he is an electrician. For me, though, I would rather RMA it, as I have several other boards laying around to run in the interim, and most come with a lifetime warranty.
Your point is well taken, though, that if someone had the knowledge to do the fix, it is very simple and cheap to do!
It is good to see you back here, Abrax. Hope you are staying a while! Thanks for the comment!
Jason
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May 16 '04
9:33 am PDT
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Re: MH!! (Reply to this comment)
by ivplay, in Computer Hardware
Thanks, and I am sorry that you have been affected; especially three different boards! Were the tops popped in your case? Hopefully you didn't blame the OS or the hard drive first and change out/wipe them! That was what almost happened in the case of my friend with the Gigabyte...
I have not seen any documentation yet that says ASUS boards have been affected. I have two Abit boards and an MSI board, none of which are showing any ill effects (yet). I am keeping my fingers crossed!
Thanks for the rating and comment!
Jason
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May 16 '04
9:28 am PDT
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Soldering (Reply to this comment)
by Abraxmed
It is really quite easy with a cmponent as large as a capacitor. Of course you'd have to buy the right kind, but they are very, very cheap. And as long as you are careful and don't get solder everywhere and short out connections, if you do it wrong, nothing should be broke. It just won't work. But soldering can be dangerous with a more the merrier additude. You than bypass resistors and burnout ics, and those are expensive. I would say if you do have this problem and want to learn to solder. Take out that dinosaur computer in your closet, and start clipping capacitors on that one. Because it's not like you were ever going to break it out of retirement anyway. If you fry it, o'well. Radioshack should have everything you need, and I am sure there are plenty on intstruction online to ehlp your soldering education. But as ivplay said, I wouldn't start out on your actual computer.
brax
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May 16 '04
6:04 am PDT
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MH!! (Reply to this comment)
by Gr8ful
I wish I could give you an MH rating for this. I actually have 3 motherboards with all these symptoms. I juct checked and sure enough, the capacitors are shot.
Just F.Y.I., the three motherboards I have with bad capacitors are...
1) Abit KA7100
2) Gigbyte 71X
3) Intel D-845
Each one of these boards has more than one bad capacitor. I was suprised to find Intel has these shoddy capacitors as well as Abit! Abit was always one of my favorites. Oh well, time to go back to ASUS.
Thanks tons,
Gr8ful :-)
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May 15 '04
9:33 pm PDT
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Re: Good job (Reply to this comment)
by ivplay, in Computer Hardware
Thanks, Jon. My only reservation with writing reviews like these is that people may not know to look in this section for advice, and so this may not help all the folks that it otherwise could. Hopefully they can find it via a search of the the web, though.
Thanks for the rating and comment!
Jason
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May 15 '04
2:36 pm PDT
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Good job (Reply to this comment)
by opinionated3
Sometimes what might appear to be an obscure topic can be more helpful to consumers that don't know where else to turn for answers. You did a good job bringing attention to a possible problem that most people wouldn't think to be a cause of problems with their computer.
Jon
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May 14 '04
4:51 pm PDT
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Re: Good thing this didn't turn out to be my problem. :-) (Reply to this comment)
by ivplay, in Computer Hardware
Thanks for stopping by!
With your computer problem, you told me right off that if you took the side off of the computer, the freezing would stop. While the heat will contribute to the failure of the capacitors initially, it will not cause a failed capacitor to freeze your computer more often. Also, you were freezing during word, which is not a graphics intensive app, only lots of memory usage. Because of this, I didn't think that the capacitors were the problem!
Thanks for leaving a comment and rating the review; I look forward to your 200th, both to see my name in lights and to congratulate you on the accomplishment. I am on 99, and trying to figure out if I do something special for 100 or just write another run of the mill review!
Jason
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May 14 '04
4:12 pm PDT
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Good thing this didn't turn out to be my problem. :-) (Reply to this comment)
by hist
But still a valuable lesson to be learned. I assume that, if my specs hadn't explained my freezing, that this would have been the next suggestion? Or was that one of your early ones? I can't remember, we spent so much time emailing back and forth on the issue. :-)
Just keep an eye out for my 200th Epinion for some special thanks.
And, of course, this is a great job as always.
Dave
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May 14 '04
3:52 pm PDT
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Re: I'm relieved, my Motherboard is a OK... (Reply to this comment)
by ivplay, in Computer Hardware
Thanks for the comment and rating, Paul. I really do not think that most folks should try to replace their own capacitors, as even if they know what they are doing and can do it safely, it is a very precise job requiring some skill. If we were talking about $400 components I would say that a 'certified' repair would be in order, but with the price of boards what they are, you can probably benefit from an upgrade anyway!
Once again, thanks for the comment and rating!
Jason
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May 14 '04
3:39 pm PDT
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Re: as always (Reply to this comment)
by ivplay, in Computer Hardware
Thanks for the rating and comment, Jeff!
Jason
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May 14 '04
3:36 pm PDT
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I'm relieved, my Motherboard is a OK... (Reply to this comment)
by paulphoto, in Computer Hardware
Great review, Jason! As always...
If I were someone taking your advice to troubleshoot my computer, and found the specified symptom, I would choose your third recommendation -- get a new motherboard (if the dead motherboard is out of warranty). Capacitors are polarity dependent, that is, they are very sensitive to the direction of the flow of charges (electrons). If a capacitor was installed (soldered) in reserve order (positive to negative or vice versa), even with a few picofarads (pF, unit of a capacitor), it could explode like a firecracker or a small pipe bomb. And as you said, you would not recommend someone unfamiliar with capacitors to solder it on their own. I second that!
I'm so glad my motherboards were not on your list!
Paul
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May 14 '04
2:44 pm PDT
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as always (Reply to this comment)
by jps246
an excellent review!
Jeff
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May 14 '04
12:15 pm PDT
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