Motherboard capacitors fried!!!!!! :-(

[Meractik]

been having pc lockup problems and figured id open up the ol' pc and see if theres any physical problems after trying everything else in my power to fix the pc lockups and random reboots and well to no availability i finally figured out what the problem was..... needless to say im rather pissed, i have $ cash and no replacement boards

see link for details (might be down sometimes cuz geocities sucks for bandwidth)

http://www.geocities.com/meractik/death.htm

the mobo is going to be three years old in december i e mailed abit gonna see if they can help me somehow maybe with a replacement....

 

[ken008]

If it is Abit $25 plus shipping to them. Abit is one of the few to admit the problem and offer to do something about it. 25 bucks out of warranty or not. Check out their website.

 

[kylef]

My MSI K7T-Turbo-R did the same thing to me two weeks ago. My caps have yellow crud leaking out of the top, and they're bulging just like yours are.

Well, kudos to Abit for doing something about it. Too bad they're charging for it, though, given that their faulty parts caused the problem in the first place...

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: kylef
My MSI K7T-Turbo-R did the same thing to me two weeks ago. My caps have yellow crud leaking out of the top, and they're bulging just like yours are.

Well, kudos to Abit for doing something about it. Too bad they're charging for it, though, given that their faulty parts caused the problem in the first place...

Stuff like that makes me wish I could operate my own life like a corporation.
"Oops, I screwed up! Give me money to fix the problem I created!"

 

[sector51]

every 2 months or so you should clean out all the dust from the motherboard because the dust creates more heat between the parts. So it will be a good idea to clean it out.

 

[ArborBarber]

Here's the deal...seems there's been some corporate level stealing going on....when it comes to electrolite that makes up capacitors...seems that a "formula" for cheap electolite was stolen from a R&D department in which the formula wasn't complete...the result is crappy capacitors that fail because of the electrolite...it seems that nothing is immune. These faulty capacitors are in everything...very few manufactures are admitting to the problem...demand a replacement of your component, period, except nothing less.

 

[Meractik]

Originally posted by: ArborBarber
Here's the deal...seems there's been some corporate level stealing going on....when it comes to electrolite that makes up capacitors...seems that a "formula" for cheap electolite was stolen from a R&D department in which the formula wasn't complete...the result is crappy capacitors that fail because of the electrolite...it seems that nothing is immune. These faulty capacitors are in everything...very few manufactures are admitting to the problem...demand a replacement of your component, period, except nothing less.

ya i figure they should replace it.... afterall it was there hardware and its 3 year wanratee isn't up yet so it should be covered and they should replace it, i e mailed abit and so far after 2 days have yet to get a response, also is it possible to buy new capacitors and solder them on?

 

[kylef]

also is it possible to buy new capacitors and solder them on?

It is, but unless you have experience working with electrical components and are handy with a soldering iron, I wouldn't recommend it. Soldering components onto a motherboard can be tricky, given that most components are surface mounted by machine in the first place. Plus, making sure you've ordered the right replacement capacitors takes some knowledge of how electrolytic capacitors are rated.

Also, this guy will repair your capacitor problem for a small fee. For a smaller fee, he will sell you the right capacitor kit (with instructions) for the do-it-yourself method.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Meractik
been having pc lockup problems and figured id open up the ol' pc and see if theres any physical problems after trying everything else in my power to fix the pc lockups and random reboots and well to no availability i finally figured out what the problem was..... needless to say im rather pissed, i have $ cash and no replacement boards

see link for details (might be down sometimes cuz geocities sucks for bandwidth)

http://www.geocities.com/meractik/death.htm

the mobo is going to be three years old in december i e mailed abit gonna see if they can help me somehow maybe with a replacement....

Hopefully your RAM is ok - it looks like it caught the tail end of the explosion there.

It was documented somewhere (Anand, HardOCP, somewhere..) the stories of the cheap capacitors used by certain (many) motherboard manufacturers, and among the most notable was Abit. Fortunately, I believe they switched to the better ones since the article, but Abit and a bunch of other manufacturers were using capacitors which were known to blow. ASUS was one of the only companies that never used those cheap, faulty capacitors, and I think Epox used them for a little bit but switched to better ones way back in the KT266 days...

 

[Cashmoney995]

I think that most taiwanese motherboard makers have accepted the problem and are replacing motherboards inwhich the problem has surfaced. mobo's that dont have this problem are Leadtek, Shuttle, and MSI. If you DO have a motherboard made by any of these three and u have had busted capacitors then put it up here so we know.

 

[maluckey]

MSI can be added to the list. We had two at work that died a premature death from the caps alongside the CPU.

On a side note, my own Abit, was RMA'd for 25.00 dollars, and pre-authorized cross-shipping. The new one had all new Nichicon caps.