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Taiwanese Capacitors Leaking, Exploding
ackthpt writes "A few astute slashdot readers were on to something back when this article was published. After a tip (at e-insight.net) on failing caps over at amdmb I did a little looking around and found this article by Dennis Zogbi on TTI Inc.'s site, which goes into more detail. In a nutshell, many motherboards are now failing due to electolytic capacitors made with an inferior water-based electolyte. Within days or a few months these capacitors build up hydrogen gas and blow the rubber bung out the end of the capacitor, leaking electolyte and causing havoc. The problem may be widespread, as many consumer electronics made with these capacitors may also fail prematurely. Gary Headlee specializes in Abit motherboards, but as his FAQ states, he will work on other makes and the FAQ has more info on capacitor problems."
A bung is the plug that goes into the hole in the side of a wine cask (the bung hole).
If the warranties were kept && the failures happen within the warranty period && if companies are nice, this could really cost tech companies a pretty penny.
Else, there may be a surge in people spendng to replace failed devices.
Either way, people aren't going to be happy. How many devices do you suppose are affected by these failures?
-SheWhoWalksWithToesLikeCobras Please enter any 11-digit prime number to continue...
I heard a loud *BANG* and a smells of burning.
I checked the mobo but nothing... and then I put my nose on the power supply and for sure the smell came from there. So I unplugged everything, removed the power supply and plugged it alone on the outlet... a few seconds later, another *BANG* and the same smell. So I unplugged from the outlet and opened the cap. For sure, 2 capacitors had _EXPLODED_ inside my power supply. Still sitting on my desk to remind me that buying the cheapest _ESSENTIAL_ parts might not always be the best move.
Artaxerxes
Are you planning on doing anything to retain me as a customer other than using good capacitors in the future? I'd like to know because I need a new system. Currently I'm using my old Pentium 233 box because my vp6 is dead.
Rubbish. What are you xenophobic?
Unless you buy a known grade of electronics you have no hope of getting stable, reliable kit. American or otherwise. Quality costs period.
If you've used a cheap board for a mission critcal server then who is at fault? It ain't the supplier.
Yeah. The Toyota product I drive every day is a real piece of unreliable crap.
-twb
These electrolytic caps are basically a roll of
aluminum foil. The two electrodes are separated
only by a thin layer of aluminum oxide. We're
talking umeters/volt.
The failure mechanism is due to the series
resistance of the cap. High current through
R generates heat = breakdown.
Cheaper caps have higher series resistance.
For info from a high quality supplier see:
Nichicon
By the way, the switch to Al. from Tantalum due to
shortage? Hunh? This is like the Engineer shortage.
Tantalum is widely available, just more expensive.
Tantalum caps explode quite nicely, too.
So what cpu are you going to use? AMD and Intel have said they'll be going the palladium route, so they're out. Sure, you can use the newly developed chinese chips, but they're not what you'd call top of the line...hell, they're not even middle of the road yet.
Sure, DRM won't be popular, but when you finally want to upgrade, where's your choice? That's one of the reasons why I've always joked that I want to be able to vote in US elections, even though I live in Europe; what happens in any part of the world affects you, so don't kid yourself.
-- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
What a comfortably short memory you must possess.
The reason electronic parts manufacturers in the United States lost market share to foreign makers in the first place was the shoddy workmanship of the US companies' products. Like the US Auto companies, they exaggerated the importance of their own prestige and assumed that this guaranteed competition did not matter, so they inflated their profits by shipping bad parts. The machine control manufacturer I worked for in the 1980s, when trying to purchase parts, would receive shipments that fit into two classes: The ones where the 10-15% non-operating parts were scattered throughout the shipment, and the other variety where the manufacturer had tested the parts, then placed what they already knew were the bad ones in the bottom of the cartons in the hope that they would thus slip by incoming inspection.
It was not until foreign companies began to supply the parts as well, usually with failure rates so low the incoming inspections were no longer necessary, that the US companies realized they could no longer get away with this crap, and began to get their own act together.
Worst case scenario: protectionism placing non-US manufacturers under a handicap with regards to US electronic parts makers - inevitable result would be the domestic suppliers slacking off on their quality again.
This sounds like what happened to my Asus A7V333. I awoke in the night to the smell of burning plastic and found the system had caught fire. Asus did replace it, but I got some pics (be gentle on my DSL) and saved the shrapnel before I sent it back for repair/replacement.
Eric