Capacitor looking things near CPU have corrosion on top of them!!!!!

[mh454]

I built my current system in summer of 2001 (Athlon XP 1600+ and Epox board). I used to keep track of CPU temps but didn't after awhile. Lately I've noticed that it has been running hotter and it alarmed out on my one time playing America's Army. I installed Mobo monitor and let it run all day. My high was 141F and average was 137F and my system temp was around 90F (and my room is 70F). I decided to open the case up and check things out. Examined the cpu heatsink/fan and was just packed with dust. I decided to pull the heatsink/fan off the CPU to make sure that was fine. The CPU looked fine but the the heatsink goup stuff was completely hard. I was looking at the mobo and noticed all the little capacitor things around the area had corrosion looking stuff on the top of them (like the stuff on top of really old batteries). These capacitors are all over the board but only the ones near the CPU have this crap on them. Anyone know what this is all about? I'm gonna get a can of compressed air so I can clean the thing out well but this corrosion kind of worries me. Also think I will scrape off the heatsink goup and put fresh stuff on.

 

[Bonesdad]

I just RMA'd my EPOX 8rda+ mobo to EPOX last week. It stopped working one day. Luckily, all the pieces riding it were OK. Best guess: capacitors. I took several digital photos of capacitors near the AGP slot that either had leakage, or were swollen to the point of bursting. Don't take the chance, get a new mobo.

 

[Bozo Galora]

your 3 year old Epox board has gone to mobo heaven.
nothing you have mentioned will help.
all the caps that look good are leaking underneath.

 

[mh454]

Originally posted by: Bonesdad
I just RMA'd my EPOX 8rda+ mobo to EPOX last week. It stopped working one day. Luckily, all the pieces riding it were OK. Best guess: capacitors. I took several digital photos of capacitors near the AGP slot that either had leakage, or were swollen to the point of bursting. Don't take the chance, get a new mobo.

Really! So I'm not the only one who has had this problem. My board is an EP-8KHA+ but I'm sure it would have no warranty all all since I ordered it sometime in summer 2001. I planned on upgrading my computer very soon here so I will be ordering a new board anyways but I was hoping to sell this current setup. If these capacitors are capable of of bursting I don't know if I should keep this board or not.

 

[Bozo Galora]

its not a question of bursting - they wont

the electrolyte formula in the cans was faulty and took out thousands of boards back then. Thats why you see "only japanese caps" used for advertising on top end boards today. You no longer have reliable power to the cpu, its gonna spike and dip.

eventually, your board will stop booting - only a blinking cursor on a black screen, but MAY take out your CPU.


http://motherboardrepair.com/

 

[Bonesdad]

Yep, your warranty is over. EPOX has 3 year warranties, so yours just ran out last summer. I got luckier, I had 6 weeks left on my warranty, and my new board is on the way. It's cheap and ez to pick up a new NF2 motherboard now. Do it soon though, if the board goes, it may take other stuff with it.

 

[Baked]

Heh, I don't see "high end" mobos using Black Gate caps... wonder if Black Gate has caps for computer usage...

 

[Zepper]

It is my opinion that this leaking capacitor problem should be covered regardless of warranty terms - they chose to go with a new cap vendor to save a few cents and then apparently failed to do an accelerated life test on a statistically valid sample of the new caps. Get on Epox's case about it - check with the Atty. General of the state with their US HQ if they don't give satisfaction. See if there are any court decisions out there that may have altered the terms of the warranties of the companies that used these caps.
.bh.

 

[Philippine Mango]

Just try to get an RMA on the board and see what happens. Sure you could lie and with it being Epox's fault, I would just say you bought it 2-3 years ago and now you have this problem. I doubt you registered your board so you should be fine. Just RMA that thing immediately!

 

[Jeffyboy]

Yeah..that's about around the time the industrial capacitor spys were out stealing useless formulas for electrolytes and basically screwed millions of people I am sure. Power supplies blowing up, caps leaking and blowing... I saw it quite a bit 4 years back... you can read up on it all over the web. It's really too bad... I don't think you'd have that trouble today tho with a new board.

Jeff

 

[Cerb]

About 1 in 5 boards from 01 to late 02 have come back with busted caps. You're not alone, and it's been a PITA. IMO, just upgrade. If it's a NF2 board, get a newer NF2 Ultra 400 (such as the DFI NFII Ultra-AL), else set your IDE controller to a standard dual channel, and upgrade to anything. Given the time so far, and the cost of a new board, it wouldn't be worth the RMA.

Heck, selling it with a dinky little PC Chips board powering it wouldn't be terrible, I doubt .

 

[Boobers]

I have 2 Epox 8RDA+ boards, and both of them had the capacitors swell and leak. That "corrosion" you speak of is actually the liquid electrolyte leaking out and drying on the outside of the caps. This happens because the water based electrolyte used in these caps produce hydrogen, which raises the pressure in the cap, forcing out the electrolyte. The bad caps are usually green with gold stripe and lettering, marked "GSC" (the worst!) or "Teapo" (should have been called "Cheapo").

Epox is aware of the problem and has been RMA'ing just about any board for these problems. I'm sending back my second board tomorrow, and they RMA'd it no problem. Usually, they ask for $15 for return shipping, but they didn't even ask me for that. They're doing it for free. However, I am worried that they will simply replace the bad caps with the exact same bad caps! I guess I'll find out when they send the board back to me.

BTW, I repaired my first board myself with help from BadCaps.com . I replaced all the caps 1000uF and above with new Japanese Rubycon caps from CompuTek . I ordered the caps on Monday afternoon and was installing them on Wednesday afternoon. Great service and cheaper the Mouser! My board works again, in fact it's never worked better...

 

[Chadder007]

The leaky capacitor problem has been known for a while.....I would still try contacting EPOX about the board in case they will change it out just for goodwill as they should, since the problem was known and they didn't issue a recall.

 

[Mem]

I had 11 leaking caps on my ex-Epox 8KHA+ board ,I just replaced it with a DFI Infinity Ultra board,btw I know somebody that replaced their Epox NF2 board under warranty lastweek (because of leaking caps) so that`ll be your best bet provided you still have some warranty left on your board.

Other options,you can either replace them yourself if you are skilled with a soldering iron,or buy a new board.

Info on leaking capacitors(old news). .

 

[mh454]

Originally posted by: Boobers
I have 2 Epox 8RDA+ boards, and both of them had the capacitors swell and leak. That "corrosion" you speak of is actually the liquid electrolyte leaking out and drying on the outside of the caps. This happens because the water based electrolyte used in these caps produce hydrogen, which raises the pressure in the cap, forcing out the electrolyte. The bad caps are usually green with gold stripe and lettering, marked "GSC" (the worst!) or "Teapo" (should have been called "Cheapo").

Epox is aware of the problem and has been RMA'ing just about any board for these problems. I'm sending back my second board tomorrow, and they RMA'd it no problem. Usually, they ask for $15 for return shipping, but they didn't even ask me for that. They're doing it for free. However, I am worried that they will simply replace the bad caps with the exact same bad caps! I guess I'll find out when they send the board back to me.

BTW, I repaired my first board myself with help from BadCaps.com . I replaced all the caps 1000uF and above with new Japanese Rubycon caps from CompuTek . I ordered the caps on Monday afternoon and was installing them on Wednesday afternoon. Great service and cheaper the Mouser! My board works again, in fact it's never worked better...

What is the best way to contact Epox about this problem? Do you have to send a reciet or anything as proof when you bought the board? I'm currently in the process of building an entire new computer for myself (should have it done by the end of the week). I still was hoping on being able to sell my current one so if I could get a new board (or fixed) that would be fine. Thanks.

 

[Bonesdad]

Originally posted by: mh454

Originally posted by: Boobers
I have 2 Epox 8RDA+ boards, and both of them had the capacitors swell and leak. That "corrosion" you speak of is actually the liquid electrolyte leaking out and drying on the outside of the caps. This happens because the water based electrolyte used in these caps produce hydrogen, which raises the pressure in the cap, forcing out the electrolyte. The bad caps are usually green with gold stripe and lettering, marked "GSC" (the worst!) or "Teapo" (should have been called "Cheapo").

Epox is aware of the problem and has been RMA'ing just about any board for these problems. I'm sending back my second board tomorrow, and they RMA'd it no problem. Usually, they ask for $15 for return shipping, but they didn't even ask me for that. They're doing it for free. However, I am worried that they will simply replace the bad caps with the exact same bad caps! I guess I'll find out when they send the board back to me.

BTW, I repaired my first board myself with help from BadCaps.com . I replaced all the caps 1000uF and above with new Japanese Rubycon caps from CompuTek . I ordered the caps on Monday afternoon and was installing them on Wednesday afternoon. Great service and cheaper the Mouser! My board works again, in fact it's never worked better...

What is the best way to contact Epox about this problem? Do you have to send a reciet or anything as proof when you bought the board? I'm currently in the process of building an entire new computer for myself (should have it done by the end of the week). I still was hoping on being able to sell my current one so if I could get a new board (or fixed) that would be fine. Thanks.

You have to create a login ID, but
THIS is the website to start your process. Documentation is required in the form of invoice, I believe. Again, good luck...they owe you a new board since it was their fault they used crapacitors to begin with. Every mobo manufacturer should have issued a recall as soon as this was known. I wonder how many people lost equipment besides the motherboard because of this problem?

 

[mh454]

Originally posted by: Bonesdad
You have to create a login ID, but
THIS is the website to start your process. Documentation is required in the form of invoice, I believe. Again, good luck...they owe you a new board since it was their fault they used crapacitors to begin with. Every mobo manufacturer should have issued a recall as soon as this was known. I wonder how many people lost equipment besides the motherboard because of this problem?

Thanks for the link. As soon as I get my new computer built I'm gonna try to see what I can do.

 

[megatron]

epox boards have a 2year warranty, not 3. if manufactured before september 2002, its 1year... no dice for me.

 

[ROcHE]

You could try to replace the caps if you have some soldering experience. I've done it with a couple of MSI motherboard. They are still running perfect 2 years later.

 

[CraigRT]

I had that happen on a 1 year old Soltek FRN2-L mobo, I just replaced all the capacitors for around $7 and sold the board to a friend. that was about 4 months ago. He loves the system

caps are super easy to fix, if you don't want to buy a new mobo, just replace them. Takes like 10 minutes. (assuming you have the caps and the tools of course)