Good capacitors

[BlargKing]

Hello forum!

I've got myself a little Dell Optiplex GX620 Ultra-Small Form Factor machine here. Its pretty old but I put a Pentium D, 4GB of ram, and a 1TB HDD in it and its still got enough grunt to run Windows 8 and playback YouTube and whatnot. 

 

Anyways I had planned on using it to run some BitCoin ASIC hardware and/or do some modest home server stuff, but the most recent time I went to boot it up, I get no video feed. I opened up the case and discovered this unpleasantness:

 

 

Looks like the capacitor plague is still claiming victims after all these years.

 

Anyways, the affected caps are 6.3 v 2200 uF, 16 v 1500 uF, and 6.3 v 1800 uF. All Rubycon brand. I'm good with electronics and soldering so Im going to try replacing them.

 

So my question is, should I use the same brand caps? Are there better brands I should go with? The last thing I wan't is for the replacement caps to pop again. So hoping users on here will be able to help me out with this!

 

Thanks in advance!

[DisconnectedYT]

On 5/9/2016 at 10:17 AM, BlargKing said:

Hello forum!

I've got myself a little Dell Optiplex GX620 Ultra-Small Form Factor machine here. Its pretty old but I put a Pentium D, 4GB of ram, and a 1TB HDD in it and its still got enough grunt to run Windows 8 and playback YouTube and whatnot. 

 

Anyways I had planned on using it to run some BitCoin ASIC hardware and/or do some modest home server stuff, but the most recent time I went to boot it up, I get no video feed. I opened up the case and discovered this unpleasantness:

 

 

Looks like the capacitor plague is still claiming victims after all these years.

 

Anyways, the affected caps are 6.3 v 2200 uF, 16 v 1500 uF, and 6.3 v 1800 uF. All Rubycon brand. I'm good with electronics and soldering so Im going to try replacing them.

 

So my question is, should I use the same brand caps? Are there better brands I should go with? The last thing I wan't is for the replacement caps to pop again. So hoping users on here will be able to help me out with this!

 

Thanks in advance!

I dont know about this kind of thing but im guessing you could use a different company's capacitors as long as they are exactly the same voltage ect...

[comicsansms]

Replace the motherboard/computer, it isn't worth fixing. 

[BlargKing]

Just now, FrozenSpark said:

I dont know about this kind of thing but im guessing you could use a different company's capacitors as long as they are exactly the same voltage ect...

Im not concerned about the compatibility I want to make sure the capacitors I use are of good quality so that they don't pop again.

[BlargKing]

Just now, Comic_Sans_MS said:

Replace the motherboard/computer, it isn't worth fixing. 

Its worth it to me. It costs less than 20$ for new caps and about an hours work to restore a usable computer.

[PlayStation 2]

1 minute ago, BlargKing said:

Its worth it to me. It costs less than 20$ for new caps and about an hours work to restore a usable computer.

You could probably get a proper motherboard for whatever case and CPU socket for it for about as much as the capacitors.

[comicsansms]

1 minute ago, BlargKing said:

Its worth it to me. It costs less than 20$ for new caps and about an hours work to restore a usable computer.

You can buy a working computer with a Core2 Duo for less than $30, it isn't worth fixing. 

[BlargKing]

Just now, Dan Castellaneta said:

You could probably get a proper motherboard for whatever case and CPU socket for it for about as much as the capacitors.

Its not a standard form factor the machine. A replacement motherboard costs near 50$ off ebay. 

[BlargKing]

Just now, Comic_Sans_MS said:

You can buy a working computer with a Core2 Duo for less than $30, it isn't worth fixing. 

Its wasteful. 

[DisconnectedYT]

On 5/9/2016 at 10:23 AM, BlargKing said:

Its worth it to me. It costs less than 20$ for new caps and about an hours work to restore a usable computer.

Hmmm i would wait for someone that know about dis stuff cause idk sorry :c

[comicsansms]

3 minutes ago, BlargKing said:

Its wasteful. 

No, it is life. Take out the hdd, ram and CPU and take the old computer to the recycling centre. Just because you can fix it, doesn't mean it should be fixed or is worth fixing. 

[BlargKing]

1 minute ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

No, it is life. Take out the hdd, ram and CPU and take the old computer to the recycling centre. Just because you can fix it, doesn't mean it should be fixed or is worth fixing. 

Or I could replace 6 caps on a working machine and not bother with finding a new computer and cannibalizing this one. Besides, theres no tech recycling centers within a reasonable distance of my home. 

 

I never asked for opinions on if this machine was worth repairing. I'm going to repair it. I'm asking what the best parts to use are. 

[Moonzy]

i recommend buying the exact same model and spec caps as the circuit might be designed especially for them

you can get other brands only if the spec sheet is exactly the same

[comicsansms]

1 minute ago, BlargKing said:

Or I could replace 6 caps on a working machine and not bother with finding a new computer and cannibalizing this one. Besides, theres no tech recycling centers within a reasonable distance of my home. 

You have to learn to let stuff go. Just because it costed $1,200 in 2006 doesn't mean it is worth anything in 2016. 

 

[BlargKing]

What it cost in 2006 is irrelevant to me. Its a perfectly functional computer save for a few blown caps why waste it?

 

Like sheesh my 7 year old car needs new brakes should I just scrap the whole thing because theres something slightly newer out there?

 

Nobody fixes anything anymore now we've got landfills full of tech that just need some minor repairs. Something breaks now people just bin it because we've made electronics so cheap and crappy that they're basically disposable. 

[Sakkura]

Rubycon is among the best regarded brands for capacitors, and if you can get new caps with identical specs from the same manufacturer, that would be great.

[comicsansms]

3 minutes ago, BlargKing said:

What it cost in 2006 is irrelevant to me. Its a perfectly functional computer save for a few blown caps why waste it?

 

Like sheesh my 7 year old car needs new brakes should I just scrap the whole thing because theres something slightly newer out there?

A 7 year old car is worth something, a 25 year old car is worth something. A 10 year old computer is not worth anything. 

 

I hate when I kill an old motherboard, it feels horrible, but I know it is worthless but I still feel horrible. I know how you feel, but if capacitors have blown, likely there is more than just blown capacitors. It is a money pit, you are spending money on something that is worthless and even worse you are prepared to spend more on fixing it than something that is better than it. 

[Unimportant]

It isn't a money pit, replacing those caps will 99% sure fix the board.

 

Good capacitors are:

-Matsushita (Panasonic)

-Sanyo

-Nippon Chemicon

 

There's surely other good brands but these I have personal experience with.

 

The capacitance value isn't all that critical. Replacing a 1500µF cap with a 1800µF one will work just fine for example, just don't stray too far. For voltage, you may always replace with a higher voltage cap but not the other way around. So, replacing a 10V cap with a 16V one would be fine, for example. But not the other way around.

 

Since most motherboards use about the same value capacitors you could harvest capacitors from broken motherboards if you can get them and the repair of your own board would be free.

[Hawkest]

As long as you get exactly the same rated caps you should be fine. People make money on re-capping electronics.... make sure they are the same type but brand shouldn't be an issue as there a tolerances with analog components. Japanese caps are regarded as some of the best in the world.

 

however.... this may not fix the board and could make it worse, any electronic mods are not a guaranteed fix as there may be other reasons as to why they blown. other than being crappy caps.

 

so make sure the rated temp, voltage and farad ratings are the same as well as their tolerances.

 

[CNY RMB]

Most Japanese brands are decent.

Nipon Chemicon

Nichicon

Rubycon

Panasconic

are some of the best regarded in the industrie. Anything of similar/slightly higher value should be fine . Even though the rubycons failed, they are still very good and have simply been in use for a very long time.

 

Most other ratings shouldn't really matter that much, except maybe capacitance tolerance ratings.

Overall, it is very good though to repair old electronics, it is a great opportunity to learn and improve. It can also be fun and rewarding.

 

I would recommend using octopart to look for the datasheets of the current capacitors and get something similar.

[Delicieuxz]

When an electronic device expires, whether it's a TV, a monitor, a mobo, or most other electronic devices that previously worked and arbitrarily ceased working, I think the usual culprit in their loss of function is failed capacitors, as they have more limited lifespans than other components. And they're regularly easy fixes.

 

My Samsung SyncMaster 2693HM started having screen issues about a year ago, with the monitor progressively taking longer to turn on, and eventually the screen went all messed up. I replaced its capacitors at a total cost of $4 - 6, and then it functioned as good as brand new again. It pretty much became a brand new monitor at that point, because everything else about it is likely to continue working fine for as long as the capacitors I installed do.

 

Also, it could be that the caps some manufacturers use aren't always the best and longest-lasting, and that a company might use cheaper caps to try to force consumers to buy new products sooner rather than later.

 

Fixing that mobo will probably cost less than $5, if you already have solder and an iron, and a store nearby that sells those capacitors. If they have a purpose that fixing that mobo will fulfill, then it's worth fixing.

[iamdarkyoshi]

Rubycon, nichicon, panasonic, pretty much anything from japan. Get low ESR rated caps. Get ones of the same or slightly higher capacitance, and the same or higher voltage. I have used 25v caps to replace a 6.3v cap before, worked just fine. The voltage is like an air hose's pressure rating. You are fine anywhere under it, just don't exceed it. Also, motherboards are a BITCH to work on due to the massive amount of inner copper layers...

[Brennan Price]

You will be fine to use the same brand of capacitor since the ones on the MB have taken ages to deteriorate anyway and if you get a new set they will last just as long.

[N3rot0xin]

As long as you use Caps that are rated exactly the same, you'll be fine. Brand doesn't matter a whole lot as long as you stick within the brands already listed here. Japanese caps are the best in the world, so you should be good. If you do this make a build log or something! I'm curious to see what comes of this.

[BlargKing]

Okay I've been looking on ebay and I found exact replacements for all the capacitors. 15$ gets me enough of all the types to replace every cap on the board. Ill just get Rubycon ones as they come up on ebay a lot.

 

I'm fairly certain that the problem is just the caps and not any external issues, given that this computer came from the time when bad caps were a common problem.