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If the caps go bad on a board will it fry components?

S

smopoim86

Senior member
I have a processor and mem from a computer that was given to me and would like to know if either could be fried since the board was killed by bad caps?
 
Go over to http://www.badcaps.net/ >FAQ

Generally caps will fail in an open condition and cause some problems as they head down that path. It's when they fail shorted that VRMs pop and RAM or CPUs can get damaged. Thankfully, failing shorted is uncommon.


...Galvanized
 
As GalvanizedYankee notes, bad caps CAN take out VRMs. That wouldn't be good. But, so far, I haven't had any boards that couldn't be fixed by simply replacing the caps.
 
depends on how the caps fail, but yes they can take other components with them. The failure mode can be frequent brief shorts followed immediately by voltage spikes building toward the BIG short that will eventually stop a properly short-protected PSU from operating. The heating caused by the multiple brief shorts is what generally starts the cap bulging. It's the spikes that do the dirt.

.bh.
 
the reason i'm asking is because i have some ram and a processor off a board with bad caps and would like to sell them but have no way to test.
 
If you aren't going to test them before you takes someone's cash for them...
Sell them "AS IS" and price them accordingly.
 
Hi, Most caps on a MB are for voltage filtering. Open caps may kill the board, but should cause no damage to other components. Shorted caps should shut down the PSU and will probably not do any damage to other devices. No way to be certain. Always best to test the components.

Good Luck, Jimi
 
Originally posted by: JimPhelpsMI
Hi, Most caps on a MB are for voltage filtering. Open caps may kill the board, but should cause no damage to other components. Shorted caps should shut down the PSU and will probably not do any damage to other devices. No way to be certain. Always best to test the components.

Good Luck, Jimi
Click to expand...

Third paragraph down. http://www.tpub.com/content/neets/14179/css/14179_205.htm

I can find more later, like pics of MOSFETs with holes blown in them. Open caps won't
cause that but shorted caps can/will.


...Galvanized

 
When they slide down the PCB, we are looking at around 230C...Right? Something has to warm up the surface mounting solder.

The cracked/broken one is "cute" but seeing them with holes blown in them is impressive 😀


...Galvanized
 
Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
When they slide down the PCB, we are looking at around 230C...Right? Something has to warm up the surface mounting solder.

...Galvanized
Click to expand...
230C = 466F
I'd say "Something has to warm", not solder tip warm, but barely warm enough for most solder. 😛

 
Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
When they slide down the PCB, we are looking at around 230C...Right? Something has to warm up the surface mounting solder.
Click to expand...

Solder is liquidous at that temp. But like Blain said, we're probably only talking about 150C for those VR's to slide down the board. Still... hot as a mofo! 😀


The cracked/broken one is "cute" but seeing them with holes blown in them is impressive 😀


...Galvanized
Click to expand...

Yeah.... well I didn't start taking photos of damaged stuff until after we quit selling PC Chips motherboards, so I don't have any of those. But what would've been really cool is to get a picture of the VR with a 3" blue flame shooting out of it.
 
my Dell 400SC mobo had bad caps that were leaking, but the only problem that I was having was a stability issue. Both the processer and video card where find once I swapped out the Dell mobo.
 
Yeah, when I worked in a service shop for a while we had some ECS and PC Cheaps with exploded regulators on them - quite impressive. Partly the reason why I still won't buy or recommend either brand.

.bh.
 
Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
Biostar: http://www.jonnyguru.com/mishaps/damagedBoards/pages/mobo-fiasco.html
Click to expand...
How can you tell that those caps are swollen? They don't really look it from the picture.

I'm having a problem with a made-in-China QDI P4 S478 mobo, and I think I might have funky caps too, but they don't look obviously swollen. It has freezing problems, I can either run at 166FSB (2.0Ghz CPU), with one 512MB dimm, or I can run at 133Mhz FSB (1.6Ghz CPU), with two 512MB dimms. But not @ 166Mhz with both dimms.

It seems like the onboard VRM can't supply enough power to both the CPU and the DRAM. The board is supposed to handle a 200Mhz FSB, but I can't get it to boot at all at that speed, even though the RAM is PC3200.
 
VirtualLarry, that link of jonny's has three with domed tops,plus several
are leaning towers of Piza, caused by the bottom bung coming out.


RandomFool, that poop, is cap venting. Cost about $30 to buy caps to do it yourself. All should be replaced.

EDIT: You found it in the trash...Make sure none of the traces are broken from being tossed around. Even if you decide not to repair it, you can practice on it. That's what I've done.


...Galvanized
 
Hi Virtual, The tops of the caps usually show a bluge. Look at other similar caps on the board. They will have a flat top. Larger caps sometimes have a safety vent in the bottom so do not show the bulge, but do show a residue around the cap. Don't mistake "Glue" put on the cap to prevent vibration damage as leakage.

Hope this helps a bit, Jim
 
Yes they could be fried, though it kind of depends on how the system died. If it still worked but crashed all of the time, then they should be ok. If the system went out in a blaze of smoke, anything is possible.
 
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