I broke one of the cap on my motherboard

[Bryan Wolfard]

I broke one of the capacitor while removing the cooler. I don't know anything about electronics so please tell me guys... if this is still usable

[iRileyx]

Definitely wouldn't try to use it until you replace the cap, it probably wouldn't power on anyway now that a part of some circuit on it isn't complete.

 

Do ya have a better picture of the capacitor that's come off? you can probably buy one online for a couple quid/dollars, and if you find a nice enough PC shop that can do soldering, they'd be able to solder it on for you.

 

Edit - If it is just the one thats slightly bent that'll still be fine tho, so long as the legs haven't snapped(doubt it with how little it has moved)

[Bananasplit_00]

where did it come off? everything looks fine to me tbh. if its just the bent one then thats likely still fine but you could try to replace it too if you have soldering stuff

[TheRandomness]

Like other have said, you haven’t broken it, you have bent it. It’s most likely fine.  

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

even the worse case, the whole cap drop out, you can just short the cap on mobo, it should still work with some caps missing

[Stefan Payne]

10 minutes ago, Bryan Wolfard said:

I broke one of the capacitor while removing the cooler.

Where?!

I don't see any broken caps in that picture.

Looks pretty normal to me.

[Stefan Payne]

Just now, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

even the worse case, the whole cap drop out, you can just short the cap on mobo, it should still work with some caps missing

Shorting Cap on MoBo?? 

Dude, if you don't know what you're talking about, pls don't say anything. 

Because a Cap is connected between Ground and the supply voltage, if you short that, you short the CPU Voltage Regulator. With the right (shitty) PSU and no OCP on the Board as well, you will kill the Board with "Bridging Capacitors". You don't do that. You either use a cap in that position or you don't...

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

2 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

Because a Cap is connected between Ground and the supply voltage,

you have no idea what a capacitor is 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor

[Stefan Payne]

2 minutes ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

you have no idea what a capacitor is 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor

I wasn't the one talking about shorting out a cap, was I???

And what I described is correct. We are talking about a filtering Capacitor!

That one has on one pin Ground, on the other one CPU VCORE. And it is to filter the CPU VCORE.

If you shor that, you will damage the MOSFETs as they do not like shorts.

 

We ain't talking about RF Caps in series with a dataline like you can see on the PCIe Slots...

[manikyath]

rambling about the theoretics of capacitors aside...

 

few things to note here:

- that cap is part of your CPU VRM.

- it can cause your system to not POST, cause instability, and in extreme (less likely) cases you could cause (minor) damage or excessive wear.

- it is also perfectly possible that your system will run fine

- my guess is while it only looks "bent", it'll most likely have suffered damage from the pull on the leads

 

all those things aside.. if you or someone you know has some electronics soldering skill and a powerful enough iron (that thing is probably wired straight into a big ground plane that loves to drain heat away from the joint) its easy enough to replace, and a replacement cap, even with shipping, is only 5 bucks or so.

 

oh, and one more comment regarding the debate above me: do not, under any condition, short the contacts out while powered if you dont want a very oddly shaped paperweight.

[Stefan Payne]

5 minutes ago, manikyath said:

- my guess is while it only looks "bent", it'll most likely have suffered damage from the pull on the leads

True, that is entirely possible.

And with those bloody Polymers failing short (and exploding when damaged/at the end of their life), 

 

2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

if you or someone you know has some electronics soldering skill and a powerful enough iron (that thing is probably wired straight into a big ground plane that loves to drain heat away from the joint) its easy enough to replace, and a replacement cap, even with shipping, is only 5 bucks or so.

Easy enough to replace, if you have the right Equipment...

I highly recommend to preheat it.

As for the iron: A 60, better 100W regulated iron with a good conducting tip (those with the integrated heating element are to be preffered) and also some kind of measure to preheat the Board (hotair thingy) is recommended because without preheating it is very easy to damage the board or Solderjoint/trace on the Board...

 

As for the Caps:
We are talking about an ultra low ESR Polymer (solid) cap, where you can't just get anything or for example a rather crappy series like Kemet A750 - wich is fine if you want to replace a Nippon Chemicon KZG by the way. Here? no, you need something better than that.

 

2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

oh, and one more comment regarding the debate above me: do not, under any condition, short the contacts out while powered if you dont want a very oddly shaped paperweight.

Thank you for clarifying it.

[manikyath]

Just now, Stefan Payne said:

Easy enough to replace, if you have the right Equipment...

I highly recommend to preheat it.

As for the iron: A 60, better 100W regulated iron with a good conducting tip (those with the integrated heating element are to be preffered) and also some kind of measure to preheat the Board (hotair thingy) is recommended because without preheating it is very easy to damage the board or Solderjoint/trace on the Board...

i tried with an old fashioned analog regulated 35 watt iron once.. not a fun experience..

 

as for a tip, i'd suggest either the tips with built in heating elements, or if your iron doesnt use those, a big wedge with LOTS of thermal mass. it'll take ages to heat up the iron, but it'll hold its temperature much better and make short work of the solder joint. having some extra flux and desolder braid ready does help too.

 

reminds me.. i should add a big chisel tip to the list of accessories to buy when i get a new iron..