capacitors on mobo leaking!

the following pic is of my mobo, Epox 8kha+ (via kt266A chip)

bad capacitors

so i need to replace the board, the question is to get another that can use my current Athlon XP 1900+, or to spend more, and upgrade mem/mobo/cpu

if anyone could provide a little info on their experiences with these class of processors and motherboards. Budget wise, no more than $500, the cheaper the better.

I was considereing the Abit NF7-S (i think thats it, its an nforce2 400 board)
or a 2800/3000 Athlon 64, with mobo/ram to match.

thanks, and be sure to check your pc's innerds for probles!

i like the nf7-s for nforce2 boards if you're an overclocker and want all the extras that come with it. this is probably the most cost-effective solution while waiting for athlon 64s to drop in price.

have you tried contacting your motherboard company to see about an RMA? or is the warranty period over?

I had heard about a bad capacitor batch coming from Korea or something but never actually saw a mobo with em. I read that mobos will now use capacitors only made in Japan from now on.

Skith i would contact the manufacturer if i were you. Even if its out of warranty they might replace it for you, as it would be generally bad publicity to have people know their capacitors are bad.

The capacitors on my brothers Epox 8kha+ did the same thing and started causing blue screens and lockups about a fortnight ago. One had even lifted clear off the board! I've had no end of trouble with my MSI Nforce 2 board with its diabolical IDE drivers (and very, very fussy about memory) so I couldn't recommend one of these to him either (or you!). As a stopgap while he waits for Athlon 64 to come down in price I got him going by installing an Asus A7V8X-X which I got for about £40 from Scan computers; DDR400 compatible, AGP8X, 4 x USB2 ports, 10/100 Lan, onboard sound with digital output, wake on keyboard etc etc

Nice board, way better than the Epox that cost almost double that and it will save him money in the long run - Athlon 64's will probably drop by this much every month

Cheers
Doctor Deaf

Sounds like you're one of the guys that suffered from those horrible capacitor problems that started around 2002 resulting from incomplete intellectual property theft of original designs. The electrolyte solution wasn't done right on capacitors made from these stolen designs, causing leakage and burst capacitors. Hard luck, mate.

Some vendors have a replacement program for boards that failed due to these problems; you may wish to check this out. Unlikely you'll get a replacement but you never know.

Doctor Deaf, I'd like to know whish MSI board you're using. I've had excellent luck with my K7N2 Delta-ILSR, which has every feature in the book for a price of about $110 for the board. Serial ATA, Firewire, optical audio, and all the rest, this board has everything an NForce2 board should. If you're talking about NVidia's Nforce2 IDE drivers, stick with Microsoft's; most people who have used the Nvidia drivers have reported problems with DVD burning, no matter whose NForce2 board they've used.

For an even better upgrade, shuck the Athlon XP processor, buy an Athlon XP Mobile 2500+ and as their multiplier is unlocked, you can fool with the bus speed and multiplier to create one heck of a fast system.

Thank you all, for the quick reply :-)

I must say I am impressed with CDFreaks, and the many user here on the forum.
I'll try contacting epox, and hope for the best, and hold off on the athlon 64 for a while.

thanks again,
-Skith

Hi skith

Hey if the board still works besides, do you know anyone with a soldering iron?
You could go to an electronics store and pick up some capacitors for pretty darn cheap. Unless you need a whole bunch of them. But most of the times that I've seen capacitors leak, it's only a few and usually the larger ones.


Just make sure you get the right value capacitors. Even a soldering iron and some solder doesnt cost that much, and handy to have. I wouldn't of course be recommending you even try, if it were almost any other components on the MOBO, cause tiny solder work isn't always easy, but those big capacitors aren't usually hard to replace.

I mean, only if they won't exchange it for you, and ONLY if you felt comfortable soldering (those things get really hot, OW ). I know alot of people would rather put out $$$ than solder, but just thought I'd put that out there, as you mentioned that youre budget conscious.

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Last edited by RoscoeMcGurk; 15-05-2004 at 10:41.

replacing the capacitors yourself is a great idea if you know how to solder (or know someone who can do it for you). i've seen several instances of people replacing their capacitors after having them leak.

Almost forgot, if you do decide to go for soldering it:

Also look for capacitors that are bulging in their tops. They will most likely start leaking and/or fail soon as well.

Like AZ said, it would be better if you know someone who can do it. But, I think with doing a search on how to solder on the net, even a novice could solder such large components as these.

If you like, I could even give you some basic instructions that would probably get you through it. Good luck with whatever you decide

mhm..if my caps start to smoke,i'm changing them....
put nice ones (panasonic,nichicon,rubycon..you know...nicer stuff..heh)

simillar to this guy
http://www.motherboardrepair.com/index.php?sec=home

yeap,i can solder OK....(infact i love to solder)

Looks like Epox may repair the board for free (though i'll have to pay shipping)

here are a few links i found about the issue:

http://www.aoaforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23770

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=319358

My only concern is turn-around time

Also, if i did get a new board, i probably wouldnt get a new processor, since i only have pc2100 ram right now. As for the Athlon 2500+ mobile, to oc that, i would need much better ram, and prices are pretty high now :-(

thanks again,
-Skith

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Last edited by Skith; 17-05-2004 at 23:59. Reason: doh! hit quick reply as if this were e-mail, hehe *smacks self*

Whatever you do, don't dawdle on getting the mobo repaired. This issue has been around awhile and will eventually fade, and with it, any chance of a free fix. You do have the option of buying a new mainboard that is more flexible, and selling the Epox when it gets back to you. Something to consider.

P.S. Who's to say if they won't send you a better board (assuming they agree to repair it) seeing as the KT266A chipset is dead and gone?

if you're concerned about turnaround time, you should ask them how long it would take. you might also want to ask them if they'll just send you a replacement (if they have any) so that you don't have to wait for them to repair it, or maybe you can even get them to send you a newer model board since that board has been out of production for quite some time.

if they repair the board, wouldn't it HAVE to be the same board?

Me and my replies...

Didn't see any dead caps on my 8HKA+ when it died but it did burn out one of the memory slots and a stick of RAM

My MSI K7T266 Pro is still going strong. Knock on wood. Ah yes, quality product vs. wannabes.

Has nothing to do with the manufacturer of the mobo. Many manufacturers got capacitors from the bad supplier; manufacturers who make quality mainboards, too. Abit and ASUS were both affected by this, in fact, during a certain timeframe, it was hard NOT to be affected.

If the boards all right just go to dicksmiths and get some caps of the same rating but watch the polarity when installing.