Replacing bad capacitors on motherboard = cheap computer

2009-01-07 17:50:18

#1

Mr.Dooomed: Find your center.; +752|6566

Right, so I have this GA-7VTXE+ that crapped out on me 5 years ago due to blown capacitors and I finally am feeling like replacing them lol. Anyway, I came across the website Badcaps.net and read the tutorials. Apparently two capacitors were faulty and blew, and another one spewed electrolyte from the bottom.

SO, I removed them with a soldering pen, and I'm trying to locate three 3300uF 6.3v capacitors. Anybody else try this? It's kind of exciting to think if I can get this board working again, I can have another decent computer around the house for basically the cost of a few capacitors, tools and a case. I already have my eye on this Rosewill R220 for $22!

This should be fun, but I just gotta locate those 3300uF 6.3v capacitors somewhere locally, or buy online.

Pix if interested:

https://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3120/mvc880fjn5.jpg

https://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7656/mvc879fgc5.jpg

https://img216.imageshack.us/img216/2712/mvc881fhm6.jpg

Nature is a powerful force. Those who seek to subdue nature, never do so permanently.

2009-01-07 18:02:25

#2

max: Vela Incident; +1,652|6806|NYC / Hamburg

I once replaced a bad cap on my old PII mobo. Never got around to do full testing as it soon died in a screwdriver related accident

_{once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.}

2009-01-07 18:13:53

#3

AussieReaper: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°); +5,761|6391|what

I've soldered a few circuits in my (albeit short) lifetime, but I don't think I could do it on a motherboard without the smallest of heat sinks and solder iron with precession handling.

Good luck. I guess you don't have much to lose. I'd shit myself trying to solder a transistor into a motherboard though. lol

2009-01-07 18:26:44

#4

GC_PaNzerFIN: Work and study @ Technical Uni; +528|6653|Finland

I remember one guy buying bunch of dead 7800GTX cards and removed the heatsink from the pwm as noticed some of the mosfets burned, unsoldered them and put the heatsink back and holly shit he got 3 7800GTX SLis for basically nothing... it turned out that the cards worked just fine without the few mosfets when u removed the bad ones! now he is a rich dude.....

Last edited by GC_PaNzerFIN (2009-01-07 18:28:09)

3930K | H100i | RIVF | 16GB DDR3 | GTX 480 | AX750 | 800D | 512GB SSD | 3TB HDD | Xonar DX | W8

2009-01-07 20:58:49

#5

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6435|Winland

You should always replace all capacitors when replacing one. They're cheap, and if a couple of the original (probably shitty brand) ones leaked, chances are more will.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-01-07 21:18:25

#6

Cheez: Herman is a warmaphrodite; +1,027|6677|King Of The Islands

Im_Dooomed wrote:
electrolytes

It's what plants need.

My state was founded by Batman. Your opinion is invalid.

2009-01-08 00:49:12

#7

Mr.Dooomed: Find your center.; +752|6566

Freezer7Pro wrote:
You should always replace all capacitors when replacing one. They're cheap, and if a couple of the original (probably shitty brand) ones leaked, chances are more will.

Ya, I figured that after I noticed the badcaps website was selling whole capacitor kits for motherboards, I kinda thought, "Oh shi-" cause I really don't wanna replace all of them lol

Anyway, radio shack has some really nice soldering pens for like, $20 and I also found a SOURCE for the capacitors I need, they have a huge selection and I can buy them individually and the ones I need are $.43. Bookmark that website if you're thinking of trying this yourself sometime.

If anybody is interested I can try and document the process if I do this. I'm wondering if I should play by the rules (For example, where a anti-static wrist band, anti-static covers for the board, buy a solder sucker) or, just do this ghetto style and just replace the ones I need to the best of my ability...

Nature is a powerful force. Those who seek to subdue nature, never do so permanently.

2009-01-08 06:51:47

#8

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6435|Winland

Im_Dooomed wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:
You should always replace all capacitors when replacing one. They're cheap, and if a couple of the original (probably shitty brand) ones leaked, chances are more will.
Ya, I figured that after I noticed the badcaps website was selling whole capacitor kits for motherboards, I kinda thought, "Oh shi-" cause I really don't wanna replace all of them lol

Anyway, radio shack has some really nice soldering pens for like, $20 and I also found a SOURCE for the capacitors I need, they have a huge selection and I can buy them individually and the ones I need are $.43. Bookmark that website if you're thinking of trying this yourself sometime.

If anybody is interested I can try and document the process if I do this. I'm wondering if I should play by the rules (For example, where a anti-static wrist band, anti-static covers for the board, buy a solder sucker) or, just do this ghetto style and just replace the ones I need to the best of my ability...

A solder sucker is great for de-soldering.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-01-22 23:57:56

#9

Mr.Dooomed: Find your center.; +752|6566

UPDATE

My case came in the mail the other day, I soldered on three new capacitors, put the board in the case w/ all the other shit needed...Sadly, it did NOT boot up at all.

I tested the PSU by jumping the green+black wire and it worked, I tried jumping the board by the PW (power) F_panel with a screw driver which did not work either...So, I guess my soldering job wasn't good enough?

Here are a few pics:

https://img104.imageshack.us/img104/1245/mvc887fkx8.jpg

https://img104.imageshack.us/img104/3724/mvc888fcm2.jpg

https://img104.imageshack.us/img104/4964/mvc889fkf2.jpg

I think I'm going to pry them off, clean out the holes with desoldering braid, and try again.

After I removed the three bad capacitors, I decided to scrub some of the oxidation off with detergent and water. After I got most of it off, I blow dried the board with 80 PSI of compressed air until I got all the water off. Then I let it sit under a lamp for an hour. I still worry, if there was any amount of water when I tried to power it on...Would it have fried instantly with no noticeable trace?

Nature is a powerful force. Those who seek to subdue nature, never do so permanently.

2009-01-23 00:16:57

#10

TheDonkey: Eat my bearrrrrrrrrrr, Tonighttt; +163|5955|Vancouver, BC, Canada

In that last picture the solder points seem to be eerily close to the traces, so that may be part of it.

Or something else was also wrong with the board.

2009-01-23 00:40:22

#11

Mr.Dooomed: Find your center.; +752|6566

Ya, I did it wrong the first time. I got to much solder on them, and I don't think the solder seeped down to fill in the hole. I already removed them, and cleaned off the residue best I could. The proper way to do it apparently, is to insert the capacitor, heat up the leads one by one and once hot enough, apply solder to the lead. This way it should seep down into the hole, and stay on the lead, rather then get on the board.

Practice makes perfect i guess...

Nature is a powerful force. Those who seek to subdue nature, never do so permanently.

2009-01-23 00:49:01

#12

TheDonkey: Eat my bearrrrrrrrrrr, Tonighttt; +163|5955|Vancouver, BC, Canada

Im_Dooomed wrote:
Ya, I did it wrong the first time. I got to much solder on them, and I don't think the solder seeped down to fill in the hole. I already removed them, and cleaned off the residue best I could. The proper way to do it apparently, is to insert the capacitor, heat up the leads one by one and once hot enough, apply solder to the lead. This way it should seep down into the hole, and stay on the lead, rather then get on the board.

Practice makes perfect i guess...

Yeah, you place the iron right up to the board/lead and let it heat up for a second or 2, then put the solder on the other side of the lead, it should get SUCKED into the hole, if done properly.

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