Damn bulging caps....they just won't go away!

[Jeff7]

About two months ago, at my college's Media Center, a digital tape -> DVD-R duplicator died. My supervisor popped open the case, and there was a bulging capacitor in it, which seems to have caused other damage when it died. It got sent back to the company for service.

Here, there was a power outage recently. My Cyberpower UPS, despite showing a charge of 100%, simply shut down instantly. When it turned back on a few minutes later, it showed a charge of 32% - somehow it "lost" a great deal of charge from just switching off. I opened the case (no user serviceable parts inside. Love it. ), and on the main circuit board, two capacitors are bulging. Su'scon brand, 100V, 47uF. I'm also replacing two other caps on the board, also of the same brand, just in case. I wonder how long these damn things are going to keep popping up. Is capacitor quality in general starting to slip?
(I checked the batteries, too - they are in fact fully charged, and in fine shape.)

That's it for this rant. Sorry if it's not NuclearNed-grade.



Update: Dammit, the new caps aren't fixing the problem. As soon as I hit the Test button in the UPS' software, the thing shuts down and says "check battery." Seems one of the batteries really is dead. Thread continued in GH.

 

[BrownTown]

Are you replacing them with the same type of solid caps?

 

[mrSHEiK124]

/mandatory

WRONG FORUM WTF!!!!!!!!!

I've actually only had one experience with bad caps, and it was on an ECS board. Enough said

 

[mooglemania85]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
About two months ago, at my college's Media Center, a digital tape -> DVD-R duplicator fvcking died!

My dumbass supervisor popped open the case, and there was a bulging capacitor in it, which seems to have caused other damage when it died. It got sent back to the company for service.

Here, there was a power outage recently. My friggin Cyberpower UPS, despite showing a charge of 100%, simply SHUT DOWN INSTANTLY.

When it turned back on a few minutes later, it showed a charge of 32% - somehow it FVCKING "LOST" a great deal of charge from just switching off. :|

I opened the case (no user serviceable parts inside. fvcking Love it. :roll, and on the main circuit board, two capacitors are bulging. Su'scon brand, 100V, 47uF.

I'm also replacing two other caps on the board, also of the same brand, just in case. I wonder how long these GAWD damn FRACKING things are going to keep popping up.

Is capacitor quality in general starting to FVCKING slip?
(I fvcking checked the batteries, too - they are in fact fully charged, and in fine shape.)

&$^&*^@#*&^$!!!!! :|

/fixed, slightly better rant, now maybe 1/10

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124
/mandatory

WRONG FORUM WTF!!!!!!!!!

I've actually only had one experience with bad caps, and it was on an ECS board. Enough said

It was a rant, it didn't seem quite appropriate for General Hardware.
I've had bad caps on at least two Epox boards (KT133A and nForce2 chipsets), and one Abit board (NF7-S rev2.0).

Originally posted by: BrownTown
Are you replacing them with the same type of solid caps?

I'm replacing them with low-ESR caps, from Mouser. I was a little limited in my selection, based on the component placement on the board - diameter was the limiting factor. What I could find is still going to be a tight squeeze. One cap is 330uF, 50V, in a really small package size - it measures .788"L x .399"D (20mm x 10mm).

Oh well, it was a good excuse to order from Mouser. I needed some other parts, and I didn't want to go to Radio Shack. Good god the stuff there is expensive. Solder-cup banana plugs - $1.50 each at Radio Shack, $0.25 online.


Thanks moogle, though my supervisor isn't a dumbass.