Leaking capacitors / ECS Rant

[MOSSey]

I guess I'm just bitter, but I'd like to hear from anyone who's actually experienced a leaking capacitor problem on their motherboard. I used to think that the whole idea was a phantom, one of those overblown rumours you hear about on the net (but you have to take everything on the net with a grain of salt). Until I read articles on PC Stats and the Toronto Star regarding the issues.

Burning smell? Electrolyte stains? Bulging cap tops? Yes, yes and yes. I dug out some old boards that died recently, including one which I bought just last October (and for which I'm having some serious RMA problems) which I just happened to keep around instead of toss. I now have three verified examples of capacitor failure killing boards. And all three used the JPCON capacitors detailed in the articles.

Coincidentally, they are all ECS boards (2x K7VMA, 1x K7S5A) and two of three died just after the warranty period ended. Who knows how many more I've had -- I didn't inspect past motherboard failures very carefully because they were all sucessfully RMA'd. Actually, when I began writing this, I thought it would be a rant but now I've seemed to have calmed down. A lot of my ECS board systems are still out there purring away, and they were a great buy at that price point. Too bad their customer service blows the goat ass.

Another thing I've learned from this situation besides reaffirming the whole caveat emptor thing is what to look for in a semi-aged mobo that is undergoing the leaky capacitor thing. Mostly the symptoms are similar to a failed overclock - windows fails to boot but system POSTs, random lock-ups and slow-downs. BUT, they keep happening even when the system is stripped down to the bare bones and/or reformatted. Another signal is experiencing these problems after long periods of stability even though the software/hardware config hasn't changed.

Anyhow, has anyone else seen the leaking capacitors, or what? Post away.

[Quasar]

Hasn't this already been discussed in Witch's thread?

[Witch]

Not really, my focus wasn't on capacitors necessarily, but I did seem to get someone continually repeating themselves on something I was already aware of. I have yet to get any other responses on the meat of the matter. I won't mind if this thread is here. Maybe we can log mobos with dead caps here. Mine was an Epox 8khal with GSC capacitors. It didn't come with bulging caps, two months after they showed, the USB and PS/2 ports stopped working.

[Quasar]

Ok, I take back what I said. As for ECS and the leaking capacitor, I don't know, but I do know the leaking capacitor is a problem brought up recently. I don't know if it's ECS specific, but seeing how ECS is a budget board, I wouldn't be surprised to learn they cut corners in their board design.

[Mixam]

They cut corners all over the place. In fact on the K7S5A and other boards they installed the northbridge heatsink with insulating tape. I recently helped a friend fix a board that has been broken since he got it. It was the K7VMA if I recall. Reinstalled the northbridge with some arctic silver and superglue and now it runs problem free. I have a feeling a few years down the road I'll be replacing some capacitors if I still have my board by then.

[Witch]

Well, ECS wasn't the only one. there's several others that are considered high-end that I'm hearing about. you won't see me buy anything other than particular KT400 or an nforce2 motherboard. I don't care whose it is. I want to know what's on that PCB before I buy it.

I'm not interested in having any MORE motherboard troubles.

[JeffHirk]

I have a Shuttle motherboard that has leaking capacitors. I got it from my cusin for free. I installed it my computer, but i dont seem to see anything wrong with it. Everything works out fine. I even reinstall windows without a problem. I overclocked it and it works fine, stable.

[UnknownSouljer]

Originally Posted by JeffHirk

I have a Shuttle motherboard that has leaking capacitors. I got it from my cusin for free. I installed it my computer, but i dont seem to see anything wrong with it. Everything works out fine. I even reinstall windows without a problem. I overclocked it and it works fine, stable.

Shall I be the first to say.... pics?

[Witch]

Originally Posted by UnknownSouljer

Shall I be the first to say.... pics?

Enjoy it while it lasts. Can't beat free. Maybe you can RMA or it something. With leaking caps, it will fail in the next few months, there isn't a doubt in my mind about that.

[JeffHirk]

Ill try to get pix this weekend. I dont have a digital camera, but im going to borrow one from my cusin. A few capat. are leaking, not all of them. I think it been like that for awhile. Its a old motheboard.

[satan8oy]

my abit board died recently a slow death from this, if ya want pics, I can have em in a week when my g/f gets back with the digital camera.

I am considering contacting abit about the issue but I might need to wait until I move. . .

[PC-HAngover]

Hmm.. if there is a leaking capacitor, it won't start at all? I am just trying to figure out why my old comp doesn't work correctly. It keeps recieving errors in windows.. even with a different HDD. Don't mind me.. just trying to figure out wtf is going on!

[MOSSey]

Luckily for you, abit has admitted to the problem and is dealing with it. You should talk to them, from what I've heard they're RMA'ing without question. Just goes to show you what a real mobo company does when faced with a problem.

[satan8oy]

yeah Mossey I am aware of the RMA, but I haven't bugged em yet cause I am waiting on possibly moving, it would suck to have the mobo shipped to the wrong house.

[Mtnduey]

Yeah I've had some cases of leaking cap's back in the past way back when I worked for IBM doing on site repairs and all that. Saw blown & leaking cap's from all sorts of PC Manuf's on boards of different ages. The way I typically know a board is busted is that "smell" and its a smell only those who've smelt it know what I'm talking about. If you've been there & done that like me then you can smell a blown board when you walk into a room, hehe. Hmm, that reminds me, I still need to place an RMA on an old Abit board that went kaput. I'm sending an old Asus board in for RMA tomorrow, er, Today ( technically ) but it's not for blown/leaking cap's. But anyway, yes I have seen them & they are more common than a lot of people will ever know. Thats one of the reasons they don't want you to dispose of PC parts in the common trash / landfill. They need to be sent to a place where most all of it gets recycled into future gizmo's. The last thing you want is all that garbage inside a common mobo to get into your water supply.