Fixing a broken capacitor?

hotshot2000

Member
Feb 13, 2005
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I was removing the video card from my Biostar T-Force 550 and knocked off one the capacitors. Unfortunately, the board is out of warranty (just over a year) and in any case it looks like such damage wouldn't be covered. Is it possible to simply resolder the capacitor on, and if so, does it have a specific polarity and how would I be able to tell? If I make a mistake and power it up, would it cause damage to the chip or cards? (The capacitor that fell off is the one right behind the PCI-E x16 slot in this image -- it's the rightmost one in the set of four on the top side of the board behind the PCI-E slots.)

Thanks in advance for any advice and help.
 

SerpentRoyal

Banned
May 20, 2007
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Buy a new cap. It should come with long legs. Solder the end of each leg to the board. Put enough solder on the board so that the leg will "stick" to the solder. There is no need to drive out the broken legs from the MB.
 

hotshot2000

Member
Feb 13, 2005
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Thanks SerpentRoyal. Do the caps have a polarity, and if so, how can I tell? (I don't have access to the board and will be asking a family member to do the work, so I want to make sure I have all the info up front.)
 

SerpentRoyal

Banned
May 20, 2007
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A white/colored bar on the cap is the (-) post. You should also see a (-) symbol on the MB. Often, the negative post on the MB will be of a different color (white).
 

KingRoLo

Junior Member
Sep 15, 2007
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Hi, i just did the same thing to my new Asus P5K yesterday while trying to screw in a backplate for a HS. The screwdriver slipped and the capacitor went flying across the room. So i tried to resolder it on but the legs are too short for me to apply solder to.

My question is:

What happens if you try to turn on a PC with a capacitor missing? will it even post? could it damage other equipment such as CPU?

Regards.
 

Cutthroat

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2002
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Originally posted by: KingRoLo
Hi, i just did the same thing to my new Asus P5K yesterday while trying to screw in a backplate for a HS. The screwdriver slipped and the capacitor went flying across the room. So i tried to resolder it on but the legs are too short for me to apply solder to.

My question is:

What happens if you try to turn on a PC with a capacitor missing? will it even post? could it damage other equipment such as CPU?

Regards.

It's a crap shoot, anything could happen. But it probably just won't work, or not work correctly. I would not attempt to use it until fixed.
 

SerpentRoyal

Banned
May 20, 2007
3,517
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Originally posted by: KingRoLo
Hi, i just did the same thing to my new Asus P5K yesterday while trying to screw in a backplate for a HS. The screwdriver slipped and the capacitor went flying across the room. So i tried to resolder it on but the legs are too short for me to apply solder to.

My question is:

What happens if you try to turn on a PC with a capacitor missing? will it even post? could it damage other equipment such as CPU?

Regards.

Buy a new cap.