# Motherboard blown possibly capacitors? not sure



## mark103

Hello guys,

I have a problem with my desktop motherboard, I cannot be able to switch it on after I have smells the smokes in my room. I have looked on the motherboard which it have went off itself and I was worried what it have happened to them. I have switched back on as it was working fine for few mins and then it went off again. I have smells another smoke and I have switched off immediately without taking any notice. 

I have left it off for a while and switched it back on. It was working fine without have any problems before I took my final chance and that was it. The motherboard went off again and it will never switch it back on again, I have tried to figured out where the problem was coming from but I couldn't figure out until today. 

I have tested the battery and the power supply, all of them are working fine. I have smells around on the board and I couldn't find out where the problem has been coming from. I have disconnected the hardware and cables from the motherboard, so when I switch it on, the cpu fans will start to spins a little bit as half way but it will stop spinning after I have switched on. I am suspected that if the smokes has been coming from the capacitors which they might have been blown, but I am not 100% sure. 

Here's the pictures of the capacitors of the motherboard:













If you believes that you can see any of the capacitors has been blown, I would like you to show me the pictures with red circles where you can see the blown capacitors and I will be happy to replace them without have to buy a new board, otherwise if you couldn't see the capacitors has been blown then it looks like to me that the motherboard is dead and I would have to buy a new one which I am really hope not


In this case, I believes the motherboard is fine because when I switch it on, I can see the cpu fans will spins a little bit before it stop spinning again. I know that the motherboard is working but they won't start to boots because there is not enough power to get in the board which is probably why it is not working. I believes that the capacitors are blown. There shouldn't be a problem for me because I can fix it. 

I has been using the motherboard for 7 years which it was working great. This is the best one I have ever have and I never has any problems, so I would be sad that if the motherboard is dead.

Any advice would be much appreciate.

Thanks in advance


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## PohTayToez

Capacitors should be perfect cylinders, if they're starting to bulge at all on the sides or top that is sure sign, sometimes they'll even start to leak.  However, capacitors can go bad and not do either of these things, you can't always tell just by looking.  

On an old motherboard like that I wouldn't bother replacing the capacitors.  If you replace one you should replace all of the same type because it's very likely that the rest are bad or will go bad.  That means a lot of painstaking work for a motherboard you might be able to get for $20 off of eBay.


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## elron-jethro

over time all components degrade and eventually stop functioning, or you make have had a short, dust and hair can even do this. if you smell the motherboard burning its probably dead, dont worry about repairing it, replacments for old ones are very cheap second hand.  

hope it turns out ok


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## Dngrsone

The large one at the edge by the RAM looks a little bulged.  Like PohTayToez says, if there are any bulged ones, then they are definitely bad.

You can order a set of capacitors for your motherboard at Bad Caps.  Of course, replacing them requires some skill at soldering, but even if you can't solder, that site can replace them for you for a fee.

It is up to you to decide if the board is worth the cost of shipping it out for repair; many if not most would use this as an excuse to upgrade to a much more modern system.


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## StrangleHold

In the top photo, the three tall caps to the right of the green chokes beside the CPU. Looks like the two outside ones have bulged tops. And the one at the top beside the memory clip.  Hard to tell with a straight down photo.


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## mark103

thanks for your quick response guys, I can replace the capacitors even you all guess that they are sound bad. I need to know where in the both pictures that it sound bad and needs to be replacing. I will replace them with correct type as I have got good soldering skills.



PohTayToez said:


> Capacitors should be perfect cylinders, if they're starting to bulge at all on the sides or top that is sure sign, sometimes they'll even start to leak.  However, capacitors can go bad and not do either of these things, you can't always tell just by looking.
> 
> On an old motherboard like that I wouldn't bother replacing the capacitors.  If you replace one you should replace all of the same type because it's very likely that the rest are bad or will go bad.  That means a lot of painstaking work for a motherboard you might be able to get for $20 off of eBay.



I agree with you there, but it is not always pains to repair the motherboard. Sometimes it do help to solve the problem, but sometimes not so who knows. Someone have suggests me that the capacitors do not give off a burnt smell. He said that it is most likely to be from a regulator chip. Well I am not really sure with that as I don't have that knowledge, but I am 100% sure that the capacitors are the main problem in the most case as what the other guys have said the same things. I will replace the capacitors, but I need to know where the bad capacitors are, so I will be happy to replace them.



Dngrsone said:


> The large one at the edge by the RAM looks a little bulged.  Like PohTayToez says, if there are any bulged ones, then they are definitely bad.
> 
> You can order a set of capacitors for your motherboard at Bad Caps.  Of course, replacing them requires some skill at soldering, but even if you can't solder, that site can replace them for you for a fee.
> 
> It is up to you to decide if the board is worth the cost of shipping it out for repair; many if not most would use this as an excuse to upgrade to a much more modern system.



Do you want me to check both RAM to make sure that both of them are working in order just in curious? 

and thanks for posting the link where I can buy the capacitors. I will see what I can do about it as if it worth it for them to replace the capacitors for a fee, but I guess that I can do it for nothing.


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## mark103

StrangleHold said:


> In the top photo, the three tall caps to the right of the green chokes beside the CPU. Looks like the two outside ones have bulged tops. And the one at the top beside the memory clip.  Hard to tell with a straight down photo.



If you can't see the pictures correctly, I will be happy to retake them and post it back as if you like?


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## Dngrsone

mark103 said:


> I will replace the capacitors, but I need to know where the bad capacitors are, so I will be happy to replace them.
> 
> 
> 
> Do you want me to check both RAM to make sure that both of them are working in order just in curious?
> 
> and thanks for posting the link where I can buy the capacitors. I will see what I can do about it as if it worth it for them to replace the capacitors for a fee, but I guess that I can do it for nothing.



You will have to check the RAM anyway.

I would replace all the electrolytic capacitors, because some of them may be bad without showing any bulging, and you don't want an aged one blow a few months down the road anyway.

Last time I bought a kit from Bad Caps for my P4 board, I think the total was $23.


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## mark103

Dngrsone said:


> You will have to check the RAM anyway.
> 
> I would replace all the electrolytic capacitors, because some of them may be bad without showing any bulging, and you don't want an aged one blow a few months down the road anyway.
> 
> Last time I bought a kit from Bad Caps for my P4 board, I think the total was $23.



Ok, I will do that. You may be right regards to replace all capacitors which some of them are bad. When you replaced the capacitors for your P4 board, did it works for you?

If so I will do that but I will take my own time while I keep looking for the problems on the board that needs to be solve.


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## Dngrsone

It's been working for three or four years since I replaced the caps.  It's my firewall now.


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## mark103

Dngrsone said:


> It's been working for three or four years since I replaced the caps.  It's my firewall now.



I am very pleased to hear that it has been working for you. Let hope I can do the same. Some of the capacitors on the mobo are bulging and leaks, so do I have to replace them?

And someone suggests that there are some unusual cases capacitors do not give off a burnt smell. The problem is most likely from a regulator chip. Do you agree with it?

However, if the problem isn't coming from the caps, do it most likely to be coming from the dead cpu or the mobo?


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## Dngrsone

Blown capacitors have a distinctive smell, but they don't always smell.  If they are bulging, they most definitely need to be replaced.

A bad regulator will most likely look a bit burnt/toasty but again, that's not always the case.  If you smell 'burnt' then you will likely see burnt somewhere.  

There is a chance that whatever blew the caps also damaged the processor, but most likely the processor itself is okay.

You might check out your power supply, though, considering that it supplies the power to those caps...


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## mark103

Okay, no doubt that I will replace them. Do you know how i can find out what type of capacitors that will work for my motherboard and how to protect the caps to avoid them burgled\leaks or even blown?

To make sure that the regulator chip didn't burnt, do you know what type of the chips I should be looking on my motherboard and check on them to see if they got burnt?

As for my processor, I have checked on another computer and it is working fine without have any problems, so you have got it correct there. So I need to find the problems until I catch it, the RAM are working fine too.

I have also checked with the power supply, they are working fine.

There is something fails on the motherboard and need to be diagnosis before I could do anything to fix it.




Dngrsone said:


> Blown capacitors have a distinctive smell, but they don't always smell.  If they are bulging, they most definitely need to be replaced.
> 
> A bad regulator will most likely look a bit burnt/toasty but again, that's not always the case.  If you smell 'burnt' then you will likely see burnt somewhere.
> 
> There is a chance that whatever blew the caps also damaged the processor, but most likely the processor itself is okay.
> 
> You might check out your power supply, though, considering that it supplies the power to those caps...


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## Dngrsone

Voltage regulators are three of four lead devices.  I see several of them in the same area of your bulged caps.  I doubt there's anything wrong with them.

Not much you can do to protect your caps outside the normal-- use a quality surge protector or better yet a uninterruptable power supply that runs the computer off the batteries.

The value of the capacitor should be printed on the side of the can.  If you are lucky, the site might already have a kit list for your motherboard.


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## tremmor

takes some good equipment to solder on a smt board. On the other hand if ya have to take it out ya might as well replace the board. Then done. Radio shack should have the parts. Or any professional electronic supply like Newark.


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## Iceyn1pples

From what i see from the top picture, it looks like the motherboard is burnt in the area between the printer port and the CPU.

Is it worth it fixing a P4? you can go dual core AMD for like $60 for cpu, $70 for mobo, and $40 for ram.

maybe its time for an upgrade.


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## Dngrsone

tremmor said:


> takes some good equipment to solder on a smt board. On the other hand if ya have to take it out ya might as well replace the board. Then done. Radio shack should have the parts. Or any professional electronic supply like Newark.



The capacitors are through-hole.  A regular soldering iron will suffice.



Iceyn1pples said:


> From what i see from the top picture, it looks like the motherboard is burnt in the area between the printer port and the CPU.
> 
> Is it worth it fixing a P4? you can go dual core AMD for like $60 for cpu, $70 for mobo, and $40 for ram.
> 
> maybe its time for an upgrade.



There doesn't appear to be any burn damage.

Wouldn't you know it, Mark, I just discovered that my Dngrlab computer has a couple bulged capacitors, so I may end up buying another set myself... in fact, it's a Winfast board as well.  How coincidental.


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