I was cleaning out the dust from the noisy cooling fan and noticed a couple of the Electrolytic capacitors in the power supply had bulges.
My question is should I leave things as they are as the unit is still working fine(if it aint broke...), or should I replace the bulging caps because they're going to blow soon?
I'm worried if I attempt to replace these caps I'm likely to brake something else in the process.
Would you rather unfiltered spikes across the blown capacitors break something else instead? I'd replace the caps now, perhaps with higher rated ones to last a bit longer, if there's room.
Grant.
Thanks for the advice.
I'm just a novice so I'm unaware of the seriousness of the problem.
From your experience have these components failed( is that what the bulge represents), or are they working (with spikes), but soon to fail?
replace them with good low-ESR caps from a reputable supplier
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The bulge represents excess gas pressure, which sugests they are failing.
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OK, thanks.
I've taken the board out, and on closer examination, it seems some components around the caps have been running hot.
On one side where there are some power diodes the board is brown like almost burn toast. On the other side there is a raised power resistor which show signs of over heating as well.
The failing caps are ZCKJ brand, 1X 1000uF 16V, 2X 100uF 35V, should I replace them all with 50V equivalents ?
I'm surprised the thing still works!!
If seen these in a couple LCD monitors as well as on PC mobos, you might see startup problems where cycling power several times may bring the equipment up, or you may see failure due to the spikes (I imagine) killing the chips.
Fit new caps ASAP, low ESR as Jason indicated. If you can't find low ESR you might try higher volt rated caps with parallel tantalum or other caps if high voltage, to take some of the higher frequencies. I'd go for 105'C temperature rating (rather than 85') too.
Grant.
Grant Inscribed thus:
I agree with Grant. There is an issue that you have spotted before any serious damage has been caused. Replacing bad caps in a PSU is no big deal. Replacing them on a mainboard is more difficult, but still within the capabilities of someone who knows how to use a soldering iron.
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Best Regards:
Baron.
? Inscribed thus:
Replace them with similar physical sized suitably rated components. They are all standard 105C capacitors with standard voltage ratings.
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Best Regards:
Baron.
Bar>>
Replaced the caps as suggested and found that this also fixed (I thought) an unrelated problem with the remote.
The problem with the remote was that you had to press 2-3 times to change the channels, enter menu screen etc. Looks like , the noise on the power supply lines was interfering with the reception of data from the remote.
The remote works a treat now and I don't have to worry about unexpected pops from the unit while I'm using it.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
? Inscribed thus:
I'm glad that you have it sorted ! Bad caps cause nasty problems.
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Best Regards:
Baron.
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