I hate cheap capacitors!!! (sourcing)

[zephxiii]

I'm probably going to end up replacing the caps on the mobo of my Dell Precision 690 just because there's only like 4 of them that need replaced and I want that machine to work.

I've done this before with an old Epox 8RDA+, pissed me off when the caps went bad on that one too cuz I really love that board lol.

Just had a Optiplex 745 go down via bad caps too.

It pisses me off to see an otherwise good machine go down due to capacitors crapping out.

What's a good source for them? Also I want some really good quality caps too? any specific Brands/series?

 

[zephxiii]

Also, I'm curious to whether having a machine in a higher ambient temp environment (90+F) vs a cooler one (60s) would noticeably decrease the lifespan of capacitors... I would think so.

 

[Compman55]

Nichicon or Rubycon.

In pinball machines I work on, the sound boards also have caps that go bad. Back in the 1970's and 1980's the tin can was better quality so they just dried out and were out of spec. Now they burst and let you know when they are bad.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I've used Nichicon before. Hadn't heard of Rubycon, but will look into them (always could find what I needed with Nichicon).

 

[Jeff7]

What brand are they? (pics?)

Sources:
Digikey - my preference. I find that they typically have better sorting options.
Mouser

They're big names in components, too, so you shouldn't have to worry too much about counterfeit components. (That was one of the problems encountered, either counterfeits or knockoffs. Rubycon caps? Ok, they're a big name. Others showed up too though, even mimicking the same font: Rulycon, Rukycon, Rudeycon.)

Information you'll want when shopping:

- leaded or surface-mount?
- lead spacing if it's through-hole
- uF rating
- voltage rating
- diameter
- height

If you could post that info, that'd help too.

When I'm source a cap at work, I look for:
- 105°C temperature rating, minimum
- 5000hrs @ 105°C rating. Or 2000hrs @ 125°C rating, thereabouts. Long life caps.
- As high of a ripple current rating as I can reasonably manage to get. There's a lot of variation. Right now I'm looking at Digikey's site, with it filtered down to 1000uF@6.3V. Ripple current ranges from 313mA to 840mA. Longer life and higher ripple current will typically mean that at least one of two things will go up: The size of the cap or the cost.
- Nichicon, Rubycon, Panasonic, United Chemi-Con. Kemet also sells some aluminum caps, but all I think of when I hear "Kemet" is "good ceramic capacitors." I just haven't used any of their aluminum caps.


Even at home, I'll still sometimes look for those good ratings, though I might be more lenient then. If I need to service equipment, it's right there in my house, though it can still be a pain to open a consumer device that was meant to be assembled once.

If a customer needs to service something though, it might be a 2hr drive each way, and they might need a bucket truck to do the servicing. I don't want that to happen for something stupid like a dead capacitor, so that's when I'm definitely going to be looking for a cap that will last a long time.

 

[isekii]

cheaper to just buy a replacement board on ebay no?

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

I'm probably going to end up replacing the caps on the mobo of my Dell Precision 690 just because there's only like 4 of them that need replaced and I want that machine to work.

I've done this before with an old Epox 8RDA+, pissed me off when the caps went bad on that one too cuz I really love that board lol.

Just had a Optiplex 745 go down via bad caps too.

It pisses me off to see an otherwise good machine go down due to capacitors crapping out.

What's a good source for them? Also I want some really good quality caps too? any specific Brands/series?

Old Dells are famous for bad caps, first you state you have done them before. Then ask what is a good brand and place to source them from? :\

 

[zephxiii]

Old Dells are famous for bad caps, first you state you have done them before. Then ask what is a good brand and place to source them from? :\

hah, yeah I've done em... 8-10 years ago lol. I Haven't had any bad cap problems till recently other than on a TV backlight PSU but I just pointed it out to my dad (that it was likely bad caps) and let him have at it which was the problem and has been fine since.

I found www.badcaps.net which has plenty of the info i'm looking for. Interesting to not see the Precision 690 mentioned anywhere.

 

[Jeff7]

hah, yeah I've done em... 8-10 years ago lol. I Haven't had any bad cap problems till recently other than on a TV backlight PSU but I just pointed it out to my dad (that it was likely bad caps) and let him have at it which was the problem and has been fine since.

I found www.badcaps.net which has plenty of the info i'm looking for. Interesting to not see the Precision 690 mentioned anywhere.

It might not be a very common issue.

These caps seem to show up all over the place.

I had an LG monitor, maybe 5 years old, that started acting up a few months ago. The backlight wasn't powering up all the time, and then finally it was unable to power up at all.

After prying open the snap-together, breaks-in-a-light-breeze face, I found bulging CapXon capacitors all over the power circuitry.

I guess it's not common with that model, because it was tough to find anything online concerning how to open the case, much less anything about the capacitors.

 

[zephxiii]

Yeah, my 690 was subjected to pretty hot ambient temps during the summer so that might have contributed. Interestingly a buddy of mine has a 690 too that was bought from place and time with the same problem *shrugs*. Still rather disappointing for a machine of that kind of build.

I went around and did an inspection at work of the 9 Dell Optiplex and T105s only the one 745 (slimmer desktop chassis) had shown visual signs of bad caps...which is great. I had to replace that unit too as it got pretty unstable. It would be pretty easy to replace the caps on it too so I might.

 

[C1]

The title of the thread probably should be "I hate cheap capacitors!!!!"

Actually Ive had good luck with them personally, but most of my equipment is pretty old. Did have to replace a cap recently in the Model 642 Philips DvD player but it was a known problem. The recommended replacement is for a higher operational temperature. (Just that cap was like $1.79 at Fry's, so no wonder Philips used something of lesser quality/expense. BTW, the Philips is a keeper because it doesnt implement macrovision.)

The understanding from Leo LaPorte is that how LCD TV prices were cut was partly thru using less expensive components. The end result is less longevity for the new LCD TV sets. (Probably helping to keep energy consumption down keeps heat down & also helps longevity of cheap components.)

 

[Shawn]

No Fry's here. I always just buy replacement caps from ebay in bulk for cheap.

 

[zephxiii]

I corrected the title and added "cheap" since that made more sense

Well with TVs I'm hoping the switch to LED backlights will help with longevity with the inverter or psu of CCFL backlights being a problem at times. Less overall power draw and heat too \o/.

I forgot to mention that my own little server went down the other day, found it to be the PSU. I had a look at the mobo though and saw a lot of caps that didn't look to be in very good shape, and a lot more than I'd wanna be replacing too lol. It's a 10 year old MSI K8 Neo3 A64 system.

I got a good 10 years out of it though, it was a good runner. Bit of a shame to have to replace it since it was perfect for that role, and still is.

I have been quite inconvenienced with cheap bad caps lately :-(

 

[Killrose]

I usually just get them off ebay, you can find Rubycon, Nichion, ect for cheap. I bought a bunch of Dell E4620's or something for a $1 a peice from state surplus where i'm at because of 2 bad caps that were bad in each of them. They were pretty nice and had 3ghz Wolfdale core duo's in them with 6mb cache and other goodies loaded.

They had those silly BTX Mboards in them, but other than that and a flat resale market for desktops I did ok reselling them once I fixed them.

 

[burninatortech4]

Need more blown capacitor pron in this thread! And yes.. Ebay is a great capacitor source.

 

[MongGrel]

cheaper to just buy a replacement board on ebay no?

It is one thing I'll probably never do myself I guess.

I just stick to ASUS boards and have never had a cap problem since some Gigabytes over a decade ago, but I imagine they have fixed theirs over time also.

 

[VirtualLarry]

knock on wood, but my Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3Rs (two of 'em) from 2007, are still going strong. Some of the first mobos with solid caps and an emphasis on quality, rather than purely cost.

Then again, I've deployed some Biostar DDR3 boards in 2011 without solid caps, and those are still running too, AFAIK.

I try to source mobos with solid caps from now on though.

 

[flexy]

I had PSUs and monitors and a mainboard "blown" already because of cheap caps, let me just throw some fantasy number in the room here...that 80% of broken electronics are because of cheap, bulging caps that could be replaced for $0.50.

One might even speculate whether this is done intentionally...you know, it's convenient when electronics break after 1 year or so....

 

[zephxiii]

^ revenue model.

 

[Dahak]

I had PSUs and monitors and a mainboard "blown" already because of cheap caps, let me just throw some fantasy number in the room here...that 80% of broken electronics are because of cheap, bulging caps that could be replaced for $0.50.

One might even speculate whether this is done intentionally...you know, it's convenient when electronics break after 1 year or so....

Well there was a rampant problem some years ago that was the cause of the bad caps. I don't recall what the full deal anymore, was but something about an inferior formula that was used inside the caps and inferior "fake" caps made with this fake/inferior formula

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

Purn.......
https://www.facebook.com/PhillysRep...0.1422452586./400142650111130/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/PhillysRep...0.1422452580./400144096777652/?type=3&theater

 

[Lorne]

For those in So CA, Ford Electronics in Buena park, Orvac in Fullerton and Fry's to name a few.

I have replaced many a cap in flat screen TV and monitors.

 

[Jeff7]

Need more blown capacitor pron in this thread! And yes.. Ebay is a great capacitor source.

I'd be wary of eBay. You don't know anything about the distribution channel, so you might end up with fake parts and be servicing your motherboard again in several months.

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

I'd be wary of eBay. You don't know anything about the distribution channel, so you might end up with fake parts and be servicing your motherboard again in several months.

Flee bay does have people selling name brand CAPS, that are in fact not name brand Caps. Not sure how, I'm certain why. DigiKey is the place to buy caps and the like.

 

[Jeff7]

Flee bay does have people selling name brand CAPS, that are in fact not name brand Caps. Not sure how, I'm certain why.

Bait&switch.
"Oh good, Nichicon low-ESR caps!"
<receive parts>
"Huh, no name on them. Well, they do say 1000uF 6.3V and they fit the board, so I guess that's good enough. I don't want to bother raising a fuss over $6 of parts."

And the seller makes a few more dollars selling junk.

DigiKey is the place to buy caps and the like.

Definitely. Digikey, Mouser, Newark - all major authorized distributors.

Also, I'm curious to whether having a machine in a higher ambient temp environment (90+F) vs a cooler one (60s) would noticeably decrease the lifespan of capacitors... I would think so.

Higher temperature does reduce a capacitor's lifespan, to the point that there are equations and calculators for it.

You can get a capacitor with a life rating of just 2000hrs at 125°C. But the life increases rapidly if you can keep its temperature below the level of that rating.