Replacing caps on a PSU

[DragonClaw]

So, I recently took apart my Corsair VS 550 PSU to change the stock fan with a Noctua one I had and to my disappointment, I found out that Corsair were using crappy CapXon branded capacitors. Naturally, I had to change these, as they are known to be among the worst of the bad.

 

As this forum is for modding, I'm not going to cover the things you should have in mind when replacing bad capacitors. There are a lot of exhaustive tutorials out there.

 

Let's get started. Here's our patient:

 

 

And here are our replacements. While Samwha are not the best caps out there, they're the only ones my local electronics store had and I certainly feel much safer with them. Plus, they're 105 C rated.

 

Here's a look inside the PSU:

 

A closer look reveals the mixture of Aishi and CapXon caps:

 

Here's my 'map', showing where to put the capacitors and how to orient them. If you're doing such mod, you should definitely make one of these, as wrong markings on the PCB are not rare and the capacitance on each spot is not marked. I didn't bother to write down the voltage ratings, as all the stock caps are rated for up to 6.3, 10 or 16 volts, and I'm going to be replacing them all with 25V caps just to have bigger safety margin.

 

And here's what the PSU looks like with the caps unsoldered:

 

Here we have the stock "CrapXon" and Aishi ones:

 

And here's the final result. The 25V caps turned out bigger than I expected, so some of them ended up lifted off the PCB. That, I think, is fine, as long as there's no way for the leads to short.

 

Now all I had to do was solder the fan back on and assemble the PSU. I don't have the tools to measure ripple, but like I said, I feel safer knowing that there aren't any more of the CapXon caps inside my PSU. The benefits of doing this mod are longer lifespan and no danger of damaging other components in your PC when the caps go bad ('cause if they are CapXon branded, they will most probably fail eventually). Have fun replacing caps!

[Josh55]

Good job, nothing more I can say to that I guess  :lol:

[Tam3n]

Wow nice work

[kuzimins]

Nice job!

[Valhallatier]

i don't think this is a good idea. changing Caps in PSU's can cause higher Ripple even though it works.

[DragonClaw]

i don't think this is a good idea. changing Caps in PSU's can cause higher Ripple even though it works.

Possible. Infact, I read an article where the guy changed the caps on two PSUs and both of them ended up with higher ripple. But hey, I opted for the possibly slightly higher ripple now, over the eventually enormous and highly damaging ripple when the caps fail. I guess the moral of the story is buy a good PSU in the first place.

[AlwaysFSX]

Possible. Infact, I read an article where the guy changed the caps on two PSUs and both of them ended up with higher ripple. But hey, I opted for the possibly slightly higher ripple now, over the eventually enormous and highly damaging ripple when the caps fail. I guess the moral of the story is buy a good PSU in the first place.

Yeah, because taking one apart can kill you. Have you stressed the psu to see if the caps work well under load or no?

[DragonClaw]

Yeah, because taking one apart can kill you. Have you stressed the psu to see if the caps work well under load or no?

It's been powering a Sempron 145 and a 7870 XT (mining at 19 intensity all the time) for 5 days now. No complaints so far. Plus, a few days before I changed the caps on the Corsair PSU, I did the same with another 400w one, which has been powering an overclocked 7850, also for mining.

 

Also, I don't think it can kill you. I read somewhere that the main input cap is drained a few seconds after the PSU is turned off. However, I cannot find the article in my browsing history. Don't take my word for it and always take precautions when working with high-voltage electronics.

[Stefan Payne]

I've found this thread googeling...

Anyway, there's so much wrong with what's described here...

First off:
You are replacing Low Impedance/Low ESR capacitors with general purpose caps. SRYSLY?!

And then you're replacing CapXon (not that good but not total crap either) with Samwa Caps?! I seriously doubt they are an upgrade, especially not from the CapXon ones. And than you choose general purpose caps. Oh dear...

 

Anyway: What you've done here os total bogus because you made the PSU worse in almost every way. You may NOT exchange low ESR caps with general purpose ones. There is a reason why Low Impedance/low ESR capacitors are used here. So if you replace capacitors, do so with similar types! ie Low Impedance/Low ESR ones with Low Impedance/Low ESR ones. Replacing Low ESR/Low Impedance caps with general purpose ones ist just plain wrong...

That aside but why bother with a 20 buck PSU at all?!

The Corsair VS 550W is so damn cheap over here in Germany that you can not expect a good PSU, just something that wil outlive the warranty...

So why spend an extra 10 bucks or so for new caps and 20 bucks on a fan. Why did you not buy a more expanisve PSU in the first place?!

 

Anyway:

Guys, DON'T do it the way this was done. It is not only dangerous for your life but also for your components! If you don't know what you're doing at is clearly the case here, don't replace caps!
If you seriously want to replace the caps and you don't have a clue what caps to chouse, aks someone who may know that (there is a place for that on the Internet). Don't just choose the next best thing you can grab!
You may not only endanger your own life while replacing the caps, you may also destroy the components the PSU powers when making a wrong choice with the caps as ripple and noise may skyrocket...

Besides that: The same applies to the fan! If you want to replace it, use a part that has the same data as the old one. Don't use some other fan you have lying around!!

With a 120mm fan in a PSU, in most cases, you neet something with at least 2200rpm!! The very common Yate Loon D12SH and D12 BH are both in that range (2200rpm). So don't go under it and put a 1200rpm fan in it!

It will roast the PSU while loaded!

[Guest Generallee]

I've found this thread googeling...

Anyway, there's so much wrong with what's described here...

First off:

You are replacing Low Impedance/Low ESR capacitors with general purpose caps. SRYSLY?!

And then you're replacing CapXon (not that good but not total crap either) with Samwa Caps?! I seriously doubt they are an upgrade, especially not from the CapXon ones. And than you choose general purpose caps. Oh dear...

 

Anyway: What you've done here os total bogus because you made the PSU worse in almost every way. You may NOT exchange low ESR caps with general purpose ones. There is a reason why Low Impedance/low ESR capacitors are used here. So if you replace capacitors, do so with similar types! ie Low Impedance/Low ESR ones with Low Impedance/Low ESR ones. Replacing Low ESR/Low Impedance caps with general purpose ones ist just plain wrong...

That aside but why bother with a 20 buck PSU at all?!

The Corsair VS 550W is so damn cheap over here in Germany that you can not expect a good PSU, just something that wil outlive the warranty...

So why spend an extra 10 bucks or so for new caps and 20 bucks on a fan. Why did you not buy a more expanisve PSU in the first place?!

 

Anyway:

Guys, DON'T do it the way this was done. It is not only dangerous for your life but also for your components! If you don't know what you're doing at is clearly the case here, don't replace caps!

If you seriously want to replace the caps and you don't have a clue what caps to chouse, aks someone who may know that (there is a place for that on the Internet). Don't just choose the next best thing you can grab!

You may not only endanger your own life while replacing the caps, you may also destroy the components the PSU powers when making a wrong choice with the caps as ripple and noise may skyrocket...

Besides that: The same applies to the fan! If you want to replace it, use a part that has the same data as the old one. Don't use some other fan you have lying around!!

With a 120mm fan in a PSU, in most cases, you neet something with at least 2200rpm!! The very common Yate Loon D12SH and D12 BH are both in that range (2200rpm). So don't go under it and put a 1200rpm fan in it!

It will roast the PSU while loaded!

 

Jesus this is frightening

[EpicGeekonFire]

I've found this thread googeling...

Anyway, there's so much wrong with what's described here...

First off:

You are replacing Low Impedance/Low ESR capacitors with general purpose caps. SRYSLY?!

And then you're replacing CapXon (not that good but not total crap either) with Samwa Caps?! I seriously doubt they are an upgrade, especially not from the CapXon ones. And than you choose general purpose caps. Oh dear...

 

Anyway: What you've done here os total bogus because you made the PSU worse in almost every way. You may NOT exchange low ESR caps with general purpose ones. There is a reason why Low Impedance/low ESR capacitors are used here. So if you replace capacitors, do so with similar types! ie Low Impedance/Low ESR ones with Low Impedance/Low ESR ones. Replacing Low ESR/Low Impedance caps with general purpose ones ist just plain wrong...

That aside but why bother with a 20 buck PSU at all?!

The Corsair VS 550W is so damn cheap over here in Germany that you can not expect a good PSU, just something that wil outlive the warranty...

So why spend an extra 10 bucks or so for new caps and 20 bucks on a fan. Why did you not buy a more expanisve PSU in the first place?!

 

Anyway:

Guys, DON'T do it the way this was done. It is not only dangerous for your life but also for your components! If you don't know what you're doing at is clearly the case here, don't replace caps!

If you seriously want to replace the caps and you don't have a clue what caps to chouse, aks someone who may know that (there is a place for that on the Internet). Don't just choose the next best thing you can grab!

You may not only endanger your own life while replacing the caps, you may also destroy the components the PSU powers when making a wrong choice with the caps as ripple and noise may skyrocket...

Besides that: The same applies to the fan! If you want to replace it, use a part that has the same data as the old one. Don't use some other fan you have lying around!!

With a 120mm fan in a PSU, in most cases, you neet something with at least 2200rpm!! The very common Yate Loon D12SH and D12 BH are both in that range (2200rpm). So don't go under it and put a 1200rpm fan in it!

It will roast the PSU while loaded!

 

The truth is out !

[Stefan Payne]

Yeah it is.

Especially since people could die while modding their PSU...

The hous may burn down, you may die of electric shock!

 

You may or may not know this story, where a 16 year old got electrocuted.

there's also a video

So people, please don't do this!

 

And don't buy cheap PSUs. You will regret it later...

As a little more expansive PSUs have much better components inside...

So it's not really worth it to buy a cheapish PSU...