Leaking Capacitors.

[Mikeyman64]

I've got a PC that has leaking capacitors on the motherboard right next to the processor. When you turn on the PC, the fans turn on, the various LEDs turn on (bot don't necessarily function normally), but the POST doesn't load, there is no video and it does not boot or make any sounds. So my plan is to replace the caps, and see what happens (I've already ordered them).

My question I guess would be, does anyone have any ideas as to why the caps leaked? The last thing I want is to replace the caps and have them leak again.

For the record, there are 8 caps and they are each rated at 6.3V and 2200µf

BTW, please no comments saying things like: "Just get a new board" or "forget it and buy a new computer".

[nevermind1534]

overfilled or a bad... liquid or whatever inside of them. They were probably just bad caps to begin with, that were bound to start leaking at some point in time.

[bicostp]

Replace the caps with ones that have:

- An identical capacitance (uf)
- A voltage rating that is the same as the old one's or greater

A lot of manufacturers a few years ago used very, very cheap, poorly made Chinese capacitors that were prone to leaking. Pretty much any ones you can get from Digikey will be better.

[Bibin]

A lot of manufacturers a few years ago used very, very cheap, poorly made Chinese capacitors that were prone to leaking. Pretty much any ones you can get from Digikey will be better.

If I recall, this was due to them using stolen formulas that weren't quite complete.

[MegatronUK]

Correct. Dell had a massive problem with this; they had a whole range of different (cheap) motherboards that used the same capacitors.

Over the last few years they had to do huge amounts of motherboard swaps for free to keep a lot of corporate clients happy.

[timmeh87]

what kind of motherboard is it?

Just replace them, I had to do this once. The manufacturer used bad caps.

ok yeah I didnt read this thread until after i posted.. go me.

[Mikeyman64]

It's from an Emachine running an Athlon 64.

That's the plan. My caps arrived earlier today from Mouser.com.

[nitro2k01]

It's from an Emachine running an Athlon 64.

That's the plan. My caps arrived earlier today from Mouser.com.

Just make sure one and two and three times that you get the polarity right! And try to make nice solder joints. But you know that of course.

[Mikeyman64]

Just make sure one and two and three times that you get the polarity right! And try to make nice solder joints. But you know that of course.

Regardless, the input is still appreciated.

[marshallh]

What make and series did you get? You can throw in just about any compatible cap but they won't all work. If it's part of the cpu switching PS circuit, you NEED to get a Low-ESR type capacitor. Panasonic FM series is a good one. My friend used cheap capacitors and blew his capacitors again the next week. My recapping jobs (2 mobo so far ) run fine.

[Mikeyman64]

Mission complete.

It's an eMachine T3092. I just got the same caps it had (as far as V and µf go) and it's working fine. I guess if it goes bad again I'll just get nicer caps.

[nevermind1534]

Mission complete.

It's an eMachine T3092. I just got the same caps it had (as far as V and µf go) and it's working fine. I guess if it goes bad again I'll just get nicer caps.

You normally want the same voltage and µf, especially. Whatever caps that you got are probably better than what was on there.