should mobo capacitors be flat or domed on top?

[mcveigh]

I was just looking at an old motherboard I haven't trown away yet.
it came out of my parents compter for thier most recent upgrade.

it's a gigabyte KT266A board. It was acting very flakey, random reboots, req lockups, etc.

I just noticed that some of the capacitors are domed on top while most are perectly flat. could this board have some of those bad capacitors from that bad formula flaoting around a few years ago or is this normal?

 

[CraigRT]

suppose to be flat... domed means it could spew at any time... if you plan on using the board, you should investigate on how much the caps will be to buy (they should be cheap!!) and maybe look at replacing them.

i wouldnt use it like that, to be honest. ticking time bomb, IMO.

 

[Mem]

Bulging caps at top like in this pic is a sign of leaking or bulging capacitors,I actually have 11 on my Epox 8KHA+(6 leaking and 5 bulging) but so far it`s rock stable(only matter of time before it goes faulty or I get stability problems).



Back to your question yes bad capacitors will eventually cause stability problems etc.The board should be replaced(normally best solution) rather then replace the capacitors with new ones which does take some skill and not for the average layman.


Check this site out for lots leaking caps photos. .

 

[Thor_Sevan]

Yup, you seem to have that same problem.
You can take a look here if you want: link
Updated pic of my board is here: pic

Personally I haven't replaced the board or changed the capacitors yet. Waiting final exams to be done before doing so..

Thor_Sevan.

 

[mcveigh]

yes that is what they look like.
thanks for the great reply's everyone.

guess it's going in the trash...or FS/FT maybe somebody with time and a soldering gun can fix it.

 

[metalmania]

Does it mean that we should avoid Epox and Gigabyte boards and buy Asus instead?

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: metalmania
Does it mean that we should avoid Epox and Gigabyte boards and buy Asus instead?

No, this was a problem back in the PIII days with cheap capacitors being used on almost EVERY motherboard (Asus included, although they never admitted it).

 

[Mem]

Does it mean that we should avoid Epox and Gigabyte boards and buy Asus instead?

Actually Asus and quite a few other companies also had the problem,

So far, the only motherboard maker to admit to the problem is ABIT Computer Corp. (Taipei), and the only major PC maker to acknowledge being affected is IBM Corp. But the problem is likely to be more widespread. Indeed, those who have repaired the damaged boards say that they have encountered crippled motherboards from Micro-Star International, ASUSTek Computer, Gigabyte Technology, and others.

It is clear now that a faulty electrolyte is to blame for the burst capacitors. The mystery is: where did it come from and which manufacturers used it? Citing Japanese sources, initial reports claimed that major Taiwanese capacitor firms, including the island's market leaders, Lelon Electronics Corp. and Luxon Electronics Corp., had turned out faulty products. But both companies have denied the accusations.

Link

 

[metalmania]

Thanks for the info.