Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

oblar · 11-09-2004, 10:09 PM

Out of curiousity, how many people here have had blown capacitors on a computer part?

Over the years I have yet to have any blown caps personally, but i have heard many horror stories. Well, now I have one of my own.

This afternoon I return from class and my computer is humming away just fine.. I take a nap, and wake up and bring up a web browser. Happily surfing away my computer locks. Kind of an annoyance, but it is a hard lock, I can't even switch virtual terminals and kill X. So, I turn off the machine and turn it back on. Well, my bios won't post. Hmm, that isn't good, but it has happened before and fixed with a simple reboot again. I reboot, still no post.. Hmm, now I know something is up, so I immediatley take off the case to read the Post code on the two 7-seg displays.

I read it is hanging on Checking Memory. Hmm, I wonder if my memory has fried. I switch it to another slot. Still nothing. I decide to clear the BIOS and try again, hoping on an off chance it will work. Still nothing. I decide to leave it alone for a bit. I come back and try it again, and I notice a new error code! Woot! 25... but what does 25 mean? I look it up... "Reserved"... that is helpful

As I was piddling around with different things I look down and notice something odd about my capacitors.. Not really great lighting in here at the time, I am not positive.. Then I see another and my fears are confirmed. Here is what I had seen.

http://thieslo.no-ip.com/picts/Bad_Caps_1.jpg
http://thieslo.no-ip.com/picts/Bad_Caps_2.jpg

Yup, they were bad.. However, there is a good/bad side to this. The bad side, my computer's motherboard is fried and will require some work to return to working order.. The good side, those pictures turned out great!

Anyone else have any stories along these lines? I have had a friend who blew a capacitor on a video card, but just replaced it and worked fine for a long time.. Although I can replace the caps on my motherboard, I am a bit wary of it.. Not only were 5 bad, but I noticed a few more that might be swelling a bit much at the top, so I might need to replace several more, if not now, then soon.

11-09-2004, 10:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
oblar Über-Rookie Location: No longer, D.C	Blown Capacitors Out of curiousity, how many people here have had blown capacitors on a computer part? Over the years I have yet to have any blown caps personally, but i have heard many horror stories. Well, now I have one of my own. This afternoon I return from class and my computer is humming away just fine.. I take a nap, and wake up and bring up a web browser. Happily surfing away my computer locks. Kind of an annoyance, but it is a hard lock, I can't even switch virtual terminals and kill X. So, I turn off the machine and turn it back on. Well, my bios won't post. Hmm, that isn't good, but it has happened before and fixed with a simple reboot again. I reboot, still no post.. Hmm, now I know something is up, so I immediatley take off the case to read the Post code on the two 7-seg displays. I read it is hanging on Checking Memory. Hmm, I wonder if my memory has fried. I switch it to another slot. Still nothing. I decide to clear the BIOS and try again, hoping on an off chance it will work. Still nothing. I decide to leave it alone for a bit. I come back and try it again, and I notice a new error code! Woot! 25... but what does 25 mean? I look it up... "Reserved"... that is helpful As I was piddling around with different things I look down and notice something odd about my capacitors.. Not really great lighting in here at the time, I am not positive.. Then I see another and my fears are confirmed. Here is what I had seen. http://thieslo.no-ip.com/picts/Bad_Caps_1.jpg http://thieslo.no-ip.com/picts/Bad_Caps_2.jpg Yup, they were bad.. However, there is a good/bad side to this. The bad side, my computer's motherboard is fried and will require some work to return to working order.. The good side, those pictures turned out great! Anyone else have any stories along these lines? I have had a friend who blew a capacitor on a video card, but just replaced it and worked fine for a long time.. Although I can replace the caps on my motherboard, I am a bit wary of it.. Not only were 5 bad, but I noticed a few more that might be swelling a bit much at the top, so I might need to replace several more, if not now, then soon.