Well got two more dead boards in recently, capacitors.

Well I was recently given two Epox boards, one a 8K7A and a 8K7A+ motherboard. Both are still pretty decent so I'm replacing caps, again. Just figured I'd post. What's interesting is that all the caps that went on both boards are the 1500uF 6.3V capacitors. All 12 of them on one board, and 7 of them on another (still replacing all 12). I typically use Nichion capacitors. I also have a buddies' 8KHA+ motherboard to fix. Most of his 2200uF 10V capacitors have died. Crazy, unfortunately I just can't seem to bring myself to throw stuff away . Well take care everyone.

- Jim

Good Luck Jim!

What brand were the the caps that you're replacing?

Regards, Balrog

Here's the web site I have been talking about that deals with bad caps:

http://badcaps.net

Epox's Brand of choice, GSC. These will be my 3rd and 4th boards that I've done. My first two attempts (the 8khal+ was my first, the 8rda+ my second) turned out great. They both run fine. Actually if you want pictures

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=404226

Look for the 8khal+ and the 8rda+. I've read Badcaps.net, thanks for the link though. The first time was the most difficult. One trick I'm learning though is not to use a needle point soldering tip. It will slip off the joint and you can easily scratch the board. A flat screwdriver tip is much safer, and will transfer more heat. Thanks for the words of encouragement. I just have to wait for the new caps to arrive and I'll start. Now I just need some cpus to use in them. Thanks.

- Jim

Hey Jim!

Yeah, I figured it was the GSCs - I've been lucky & haven't had any caps go on me but I know a lot of people that have had rigs die because of those damn GSCs

Regards, Balrog

Only 4 board that you have replaced caps on? You should feel fortunate. I personally have replaced caps on more than 60 MB, including my main system and my Dually server.

Needless to say that I have gotten quite good at replacing caps and have only lost one MB becuase of bad caps

That reminds me, I still have some waiting to be fixed

Yep Firefox, only 4 so far. I've been working on computers for years but haven't started replacing caps until now. It's still not cost effective alot of times for me to do it, but I had the 8khal+ sitting around and I wanted to practice on it. Then my 8rda+ which was in a customer's machine failed after 1.5years came in, and I fixed it because it's a great board, and it was my first nForce 2 board. These latest two are still decent, and one has a raid controller built in. I will use them as backup boards for customers. I'm sure I'll have many more come in that are dead, but I'm still selective in which ones I fix. Now I just need to buy a new flat tip for my soldering iron. Have any good places to deal with fore replacement tips? Take care.

Go fix your boards .

- Jim

Well the verdict.................................can you take the pressure................................THEY WORK. Both of them are back up and functioning 100%. 24 capacitors total, all 1500uF 6.3V GSC capacitors. I also decided to replace two iffy looking 2200uF 10V GSC capacitors on the first board I fixed (8khal+). I'm very happy with the outcome. Now the million dollar question, who's got some decently priced athlon xp cpus for me to purchase (off to the classifieds). Have a good one guys/girls.

- Jim

Congrats Jim!

Balrog

does the new epox NF4 boards have these issues?