Bad Capacitor Motherboard

A bad capacitor is an electronics component that over the course of its life has turned to the dark side.

Bad capacitor motherboard.

How to repair capacitors on computer motherboards and other electronic devices. You should be looking for capacitors that are bulging slightly at the top or. Remove any obstructions like fan shrouds so you can view the entire motherboard and other add in. It is evil now and is no longer serving its intended purpose in life.

Worst case scenario the capacitor explodes due to too much electrical stress. However if you want to give it a go tom s hardware has put together an excellent and well researched guide on replacing capacitors. It is a hazard to all other electronic components that are relying on it functioning properly now too. The bad capacitors or bad caps as they are sometimes called are black and gold colored low esr equivalent series resistance aluminum electrolytic cylinders about an inch in length and marked.

Specifically every single jpcon 6 3v 2200microfarad and jpcon 6 3v1500 microfarad capacitor were either bulged out at the top about to pop or had blown out the rubber stopper at the base and were leaking electrolyte which had turned into a brown crusty stain on the pcb. Repeat this for all bad capacitors on the board. Nearly 12 minutes of babble about capacitors lol. A common cause of motherboard issues or failure is bulged or blown capacitors.

While doing this pull the capacitor away from the leg you re heating freeing the leg from the board. Threw this together with no planning while i was cleaning up my workshop and remembered these boards layin. You d need to not only understand the risk of electrical shock but also that it s difficult to check if a capacitor is dead on modern motherboards. Desolder the bad capacitor.

Spotting a bad capacitor is easy. Don t use excessive force or you ll pull free the motherboard traces. Repeat this process for the other leg and the capacitor can be removed. Most capacitors expel the electrolytic fluid inside them.

It s the one with the bulging top and leaking electrolytic goo. In short it is broken. Checking for bad capacitors power down your computer and remove the power cord from the back of the power supply in place inspection or disconnect all cables relocated inspection open the case. It either dries up on the outer part of the top of the capacitor or leaks on to the circuit board.