Broken capacitor but PC works fine

[flatron12]

Hello,

I need someone with electronic knowagle to help me with this.

So i was cleaning my PC from dust, and somehow I accidentally damaged a small electronic element (I believe it's capacitor)
PC works fine tho, I actually noticed it's broken 2 days after the fact. No bsod, everything start smooth, but I've installed new graphic card (GT 1030) and i hear a little bit of buzz inside pc and not sure if it's due to GPU cooling or broken capacitor may somehow cause this.

It's located near RTL8201CL chipset - onboard LAN which I'm not using, I have TP-LINK card.
Below is integrated sound card which I'm not using as well.

Is it safe to leave this like that?

MOBO: Gibabyte M52L-S3


View attachment 196878

 

[flatron12]

Im sorry for multiple threads, there was database error that didn;t allow me to post, I tried to post few times.

 

[Alaric]

Everybody went through it. Your picture didn't make it though. As a general rule it's not good to leave broken stuff on motherboards, and caps are cheap and not hard to replace. If you can repost the picture we'll see what we can offer in the way of help. It took me 10 minutes to find your thread tonight after the database mess.

 

[trickson69]

When ever I clean I use a Purdy paint brush very fine with long bristles and a can of air. I use tiny paint brushes for small areas and lager ones for big areas. Never broken a thing ever cleaning or other wise TBH.
How did you manage to break a cap? Re-post pic please.

 

[Cnaydmancangt]

There tons of different type of capacitor's.. was it the little square ceramic ones or was it the round electrolyte capacitor ? In any case, they do sell replacement caps online at places like mouser.com you can buy the cap you need and unsolder the one from your board and replace it

 

[Alaric]

Not everyone is comfortable poking their mobo with a 450F soldering iron. If you've never done it before, practice on a PCB from some broken/discarded electronic component until you're confident you have the procedure down.

 

[UltraTaco]

That is true, I would melt a hole prying that thing off. And in the end it would turn out I was unsoldering something else
Probably would not try myself

 

[Mr.Scott]

Hello,

I need someone with electronic knowagle to help me with this.


It's located near RTL8201CL chipset - onboard LAN which I'm not using, I have TP-LINK card.
Below is integrated sound card which I'm not using as well.

Is it safe to leave this like that?

MOBO: Gibabyte M52L-S3


View attachment 196878

By the location given, I would think the broken component is also for the lan. If you're not using it, don't worry about it.

 

[trents]

I can't seem to get the solder on motherboards to melt with my soldering iron. I think the solder they use must be a harder, higher temp variety.

 

[Lochekey]

I can't seem to get the solder on motherboards to melt with my soldering iron. I think the solder they use must be a harder, higher temp variety.

One thing I found that helps with this is re-tinning the surface of the old solder with a fresh coat of new solder. Then apply the iron to this fresh patch which help conducts the heat into the old solder better getting it to melt easier and faster.

 

[Alaric]

I can't seem to get the solder on motherboards to melt with my soldering iron. I think the solder they use must be a harder, higher temp variety.

Newer solder (RoHS compliant) has less lead and a higher melting point, and solder melts easier the first time as a general rule.

 

[Dolk]

I can't seem to get the solder on motherboards to melt with my soldering iron. I think the solder they use must be a harder, higher temp variety.

Trents, this happens when you try to heat a point on a board that is connected to a lot of copper/metal. I don't know what kind of cap you are soldering, but I'm going to assume that you are soldering a cap to ground. There is a LOT of metal attached to the ground plane, and it requires a significant amount of heat in order for you to solder to it. A Radioshack 80W will not due it. You need something above 100W or more to get above that 100C. Depending on the cap size (no attachment above) you may be required to use a heat spreader in order to heat the board up further.

I'm also always available to do simple repairs like this for no charge other than shipping.

 

[Super Nade]

I can't seem to get the solder on motherboards to melt with my soldering iron. I think the solder they use must be a harder, higher temp variety.

Lead free solder is the bane of a hobbyist. I would use leaded solder to melt the lead free solder. The key is to use high temperature for a short duration. Most boards get messed up because the iron is not hot enough. I set my iron to 450 C when working with lead free parts.

 

[Alaric]

Lead free solder is the bane of a hobbyist. I would use leaded solder to melt the lead free solder. The key is to use high temperature for a short duration. Most boards get messed up because the iron is not hot enough. I set my iron to 450 C when working with lead free parts.

This^. A well tinned tip helps melt it faster. Caps near the power section can be a nightmare, because the nearby chokes absorb so much of the heat-then they get really hot. Hot enough to burn ayou and make you yell "What the #%&@! was THAT?".