BAD CAPS!!

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Jim 5

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Well my BenQ 19" monitor had shut itself off and wouldn't come back on. I have a dual monitor set-up and having matching monitors would have meant replacing both at significant expense.

Took it apart and found that 2 of the 10 or so capacitors on the inverter/power supply board were bulged. Took all the values of the 10 capacitors on the board and ordered a full replacement set (panasonic or nichycon only) for both monitors from Digikey (great company by the way). All the caps cost around $5.00.

Recapped the entire board today and fired it up. Couldn't be more pleased, I'm back in business, until the other monitor's caps throw in the towel. But I've already got the parts to fix it when they do.

Seems to be a common problem, and I thought this post might help someone save some money rather than replacing a monitor. These bad Chinese capacitors are nearly an epidemic in monitors. Changing them out is really easy. If you're going to bother to do it, use the best capacitors you can buy.
 
Well done. You repaired rather than threw away - many people could learn a thing or two from what you did.
 
I hear you, I actually spent a portion of my career in Chinese electrolytic capacitor factories........I've seen outright fakes to just barely marginal parts....

Kudos to you for fixing your own.....
Quote:
If you're going to bother to do it, use the best capacitors you can buy.


I couldn't agree more - but tempting to write: Just buying REAL capacitors will be an improvement!
 
Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
Well done. You repaired rather than threw away - many people could learn a thing or two from what you did.


I'm just fed up with today's throw-away society, where you throw away a fridge, a dishwasher or a monitor for the sake of nickles and dimes worth of replacment parts.

The internet is a great resource for failures like these. Those with greater expertise (not me) are kind enough to post solutions to problems of these kind for everyone with the will to repair and access to google (me)!
 
I'm a whole lot better with a screwdriver and a wrench than I am with a soldering iron.

Looking at Digikey's catalog, and if I had a motherboard or whatever that had bad capacitors, how the heck would I know which ones to buy, and which ones are 'good' ones?
 
You read the numbers off the side of the capacitor to tell you which ones to buy. You can usually tell which ones are good by the price, but you can look at materials used and country of origin, too.
 
A little google searching told me which capacitors are good. Among the ones available at digikey, I noticed that the Panasonics and the Nichycon were considered good by those who seem to know.
 
Originally Posted By: Jim 5
A little google searching told me which capacitors are good. Among the ones available at digikey, I noticed that the Panasonics and the Nichycon were considered good by those who seem to know.


Good call. Panasonic (Mitsubishi) and Nichicon = approved.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: Jim 5
A little google searching told me which capacitors are good. Among the ones available at digikey, I noticed that the Panasonics and the Nichycon were considered good by those who seem to know.


Good call. Panasonic (Mitsubishi) and Nichicon = approved.


Mitsubishi? Don't you mean Matsushita?

I don't recall of Mitsubishi and Panasonic being affiliated in any way?
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: Jim 5
A little google searching told me which capacitors are good. Among the ones available at digikey, I noticed that the Panasonics and the Nichycon were considered good by those who seem to know.


Good call. Panasonic (Mitsubishi) and Nichicon = approved.


Mitsubishi? Don't you mean ?

I don't recall of Mitsubishi and Panasonic being affiliated in any way?


Yeah - my bad. Had 1/2 my brain in the car world.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: Jim 5
A little google searching told me which capacitors are good. Among the ones available at digikey, I noticed that the Panasonics and the Nichycon were considered good by those who seem to know.


Good call. Panasonic (Mitsubishi) and Nichicon = approved.


Mitsubishi? Don't you mean ?

I don't recall of Mitsubishi and Panasonic being affiliated in any way?


Yeah - my bad. Had 1/2 my brain in the car world.


Happens to the best of us
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Onmo'Eegusee
I used Rubycon and Samxon caps on the motherboard I recently recapped. Im probably going to make another order of Samxons for another board as well.
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/index.php?


Yep,

This is the site that gave me all of the info I needed. Though soldering/desoldering onto a 7 layer motherboard is alot more difficult with the basic (30w) soldering pencil I have. I know because I experimented with a really old motherboard and it was 10x harder than on a single layer PCB like the one in my monitor.
 
Just takes some practice my good man! I have one of those huge Weller industrial jobbies I use for motherboards. It has two-stage heat and works very well and is very fast for doing motherboards.

A German acquaintance of mine has a dial-adjustable pencil w/base that he uses for building model railroad PCB setups. It is much nicer than anything I have.
 
Thats all I used is a 30w. Only part I had trouble with was this one next to the ram slot. For some reason, I couldnt get enough heat for that one spot. If I do it on newer lead-free board I'd have to get a good temperature controlled one.. I looked at my P4 board and it has United Chemi-Con KZG series, which are the same exact ones that went on the board now in my server. It has Pb in a circle cross printed on the board. :/
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brands/CF_Files/model_detail.cfm?upc=037103191311

I think this is the one Peter has.....

a3ef8df59749008c372e83e4a850b1f8.jpg



Thanks for posting this. It's like power tool P*rn for tool guys. My weller 30w doesn't have the juice. Maybe the next time I order something from Digikey. I used to be into electronics when I was in university, because it was a cheap way to work with my hands and do projects withouth needing a ton of space.

I have in storage off-site a really decent desoldering iron with the squeeze-bulb attached right to the iron. The head of the iron is a pipe that feeds through to the bulb. I think it's a 60w. As I recall it would have been perfect for my project, but it's also 70 miles away and with fuel prices as they are, I decided to make do with what was there. Never could get the desoldering braid to work....I think a 30w pencil doesn't make enough heat.
 
Well 9 months and 20 days later, the Caps on the second monitor finally gave up.

Having the nichycon caps ready from the last re-cap job put the monitor out of service for a short time only.

It looks like I was missing 4 caps so I ordered again from Digikey.com. They shipped for flat $8 shipping from Wisconsin to Calgary Canada in about 30 hours. Amazing.

Great retailer, I wish them the best, and I am now a dedicated customer. These guys are doing it right.

Don't throw away those dead LCD monitors or TVs without popping the covers and looking for bulged capacitors. Many times all you need is a $9 soldering iron, a roll of solder and about $6 worth of capacitors to get it back to new again.
 
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