Questions about blown capacitors

[aahz19]

My neighbor has an old K7S5A that got hit by a power surge last fall (cheap surge protector). All the fans fried, the PSU blew, and like 5 caps on the mobo blew. I replaced the PSU and fans, and the mobo still works perfectly after almost a year.

So, what does it mean when the capacitors blow on a motherboard? Is it usually a good indicator it's ready to die, and it's just luck that this mobo is still going? If you just solder on new caps, will the board be okay? And what usually makes 'em blow anyway (besides power surges)?

Any info would be much appreciated.

 

[CheesePoofs]

There was a large batch of capacitors made a few years ago that start leaking after a few years. Those were just because they were made incorrectly.

As long as you solder on the same type of cap, you should be perfectly fine.

 

[JEDIYoda]

To understand the technical aspects of blown capacitors you must first understand capacitors as they relate to the propagation of dilithium crystals!
The inhibiting recotorfractal molecular breakdown of the parabolic ohm meter translates into the parabolic non sequentor phase changing capacitor!
yet with out the temporal propagation of dilithium crystals computing as we know it today would be like playing tiddly winks with no tiddly to wink!!

Good Luck!!!

 

[doc2345]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
To understand the technical aspects of blown capacitors you must first understand capacitors as they relate to the propagation of dilithium crystals!
The inhibiting recotorfractal molecular breakdown of the parabolic ohm meter translates into the parabolic non sequentor phase changing capacitor!
yet with out the temporal propagation of dilithium crystals computing as we know it today would be like playing tiddly winks with no tiddly to wink!!

Good Luck!!!

Not that it matters, but I certainly have to agree with all of this...........

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: doc2345

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
To understand the technical aspects of blown capacitors you must first understand capacitors as they relate to the propagation of dilithium crystals!
The inhibiting recotorfractal molecular breakdown of the parabolic ohm meter translates into the parabolic non sequentor phase changing capacitor!
yet with out the temporal propagation of dilithium crystals computing as we know it today would be like playing tiddly winks with no tiddly to wink!!

Good Luck!!!

Not that it matters, but I certainly have to agree with all of this...........

:laugh:

 

[Codegen]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
To understand the technical aspects of blown capacitors you must first understand capacitors as they relate to the propagation of dilithium crystals!
The inhibiting recotorfractal molecular breakdown of the parabolic ohm meter translates into the parabolic non sequentor phase changing capacitor!
yet with out the temporal propagation of dilithium crystals computing as we know it today would be like playing tiddly winks with no tiddly to wink!!

Good Luck!!!

...eh?

 

[aahz19]

Heh, this sounds much like the time in high school when some guys I know convinced this girl that her blinker fluid was low and her muffler bearings were shot....

 

[KeepItRed]

Sounds exactly like that Radio commercial...They prank called some girl and told her it was Midas or something, and they told her, her blinker fluid was low, and her rear tires were switched with her front tires, and someone stole her transmission. ahahhhaa

 

[Peter]

Those capacitors should be replaced - they're ironing out the jagginess in the CPU voltage regulation. Letting them decay will eventually zap something, either on the mainboard or the CPU itself.

The 2200uF, 6.3V, 105 deg C, low-ESR, 10 mm diameter types on the K7S5A are available from Panasonic or Nichicon; the 3300uF type on the K7S5Apro is almost impossible to get.

 

[birdpup]

There are too many off-topic posts in this thread.
Take a look at this article for more information on motherboard capacitors.
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=195
(thanks to FlyingPenguin for introducing this article)

 

[bradley]

Originally posted by: Codegen

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
To understand the technical aspects of blown capacitors you must first understand capacitors as they relate to the propagation of dilithium crystals!
The inhibiting recotorfractal molecular breakdown of the parabolic ohm meter translates into the parabolic non sequentor phase changing capacitor!
yet with out the temporal propagation of dilithium crystals computing as we know it today would be like playing tiddly winks with no tiddly to wink!!

Good Luck!!!

...eh?

These bad capacitors can reverse polarity, and slightly change their phase, and emit gas. But there are no dilithium crystals in computers, just as there's no crying in baseball.

 

[aahz19]

Originally posted by: bradley

These bad capacitors can reverse polarity, and slightly change their phase, and emit gas. But there are no dilithium crystals in computers, just as there's no crying in baseball.

So my theory of JEDIYoda's explanation being a trick proved correct, hey? Funny nonetheless, hehe.

But thanks for all the info everyone. I'm impressed with the effectiveness of posting on an Anandtech forum.

 

[dali71]

I just ordered some from Mouser, they should have everything you need. Check out the PW
series Nichicons here.

 

[Delbert]

http://www.badcaps.com/