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Thread ID: 51184 2004-11-14 02:58:00 ABIT Motherboard Electrolytic Capacitors B.M. (505) Press F1
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291565 2004-11-14 02:58:00 A mate dropped his old computer off, because as he described it, (It blew up!!) Yep a great flash came from within and then nothing.

Soooo, I just had to investigate this and sure enough the fuse in the power supply had blown, to be more exact it had exploded shattering the glass. Great I think but what caused this?

Close investigation shows that almost every electrolytic capacitor on the motherboard is leaking and in some form of demise. The contents of the capacitors has eaten into the printed circuits and clearly the whole thing is a write-off. How the thing worked at all eludes me.

However, the purpose of this post is to enquire if it was on this forum that I read that some motherboards were being replaced because of the capacitor problem.

The motherboard is a ABIT –KA7 and the Electrolytic Capacitors JPCON

Bob
B.M. (505)
291566 2004-11-14 03:16:00 OMG, I've heard and read about the duff capacitors and thought I was Ok but my board is an Abit KT7A, and now you have me worried. :) Terry Porritt (14)
291567 2004-11-14 03:29:00 After a google search, it appears that many people who have this motherboard have sent it back and had it replaced for free, as it was among the ones which were affected by dodgy capacitors.

Contact your local distributor of Abit motherboards and see if they can help.
somebody (208)
291568 2004-11-14 03:51:00 Actually, I've been running this board now for over 3 1/2 years, it looks ok, so I dont think it had the bad electrolytics, else it would have gone poof before now. Terry Porritt (14)
291569 2004-11-14 04:33:00 This one's a shocker Terry. Check the capacitor manufacturer on yours.

The're all "JPCON" on this one. Maybe fine on your model? :D

Anyone know the local agent for this MB as they definately need to see what's going on. :(
B.M. (505)
291570 2004-11-14 05:40:00 www2.abit.com.tw somebody (208)
291571 2004-11-14 06:15:00 Bother!, that link doesn’t seem to work somebody?? Never mind, I get the Idea so I’ll try their website and track from there.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers

Bob
B.M. (505)
291572 2004-11-14 06:21:00 Here is the link (www2.abit.com.tw)

You cannot successfully post long links - use the "formatting options" shown on the entry page.
godfather (25)
291573 2004-11-14 06:45:00 Thanks GF that worked OK B.M. (505)
291574 2004-11-14 06:50:00 I can't read a make on mine, I can't see JPCON. They are marked LOW ESR (thats equivalent series resistance), and have A4 repeated along the length of the cap, and I can just make out some code numbers and the capacity/voltage ratings on some of them. But it is very difficult to read, I'd have to take the board out of the case to see them more clearly.

They all look good with no swellings or other signs of failure, so I'm not worried.

Apparently this all came about because some technician stole a formula for the electrolyte from his firm who made reputable capacitors, and gave it to a rival firm he went to work for. Unfortunately he got the formula wrong, and lots of bad caps were made with high ESR instead of low, the result being they overheat, swell, and leak out.
Terry Porritt (14)
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