And Dell managed to get on my nerves today...

[T.G]

Originally Posted by Silound

Well, my server went out. Specifically it was a Dual-Xeon Precision 670 workstation that was running my Linux kernel, fileserver, SQL server, and a host of other nifty useful things that I need. When I cracked the case, the problem was obvious from the start: bad capacitors ([SARCASM]what a surprise! [/SARCASM]).

$25 for some new electrolytic caps, a good soldering iron and about two hours is all it takes to fix that problem.

[JE3146]

Originally Posted by T.G

$25 for some new electrolytic caps, a good soldering iron and about two hours is all it takes to fix that problem.

Depending on the size, I doubt even that much.

Though I'd need to know the capacitance, the tolerance(typically 20%), voltage rating and the lead spacing and I could probably find some replacements for him through my sources.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by JE3146

Depending on the size, I doubt even that much.

Though I'd need to know the capacitance, the tolerance(typically 20%), voltage rating and the lead spacing and I could probably find some replacements for him through my sources.

IIRC, it's like 50 or so caps that ought to be changed out, that was kind of a SWAG on the pricing based on going to an electronics store and buying them OTC. Basically every cap from a certain manufacturer needs to be swapped out. Sure, some of them haven't failed yet, and they might or might not ever fail, but if you're going to go through the work of replacing them, you might as well replace all of them when you have the board out.


I think there are some kits on fleabay that list all the caps needed.

[Volt]

Originally Posted by T.G

IIRC, it's like 50 or so caps that ought to be changed out, that was kind of a SWAG on the pricing based on going to an electronics store and buying them OTC. Basically every cap from a certain manufacturer needs to be swapped out. Sure, some of them haven't failed yet, and they might or might not ever fail, but if you're going to go through the work of replacing them, you might as well replace all of them when you have the board out.


I think there are some kits on fleabay that list all the caps needed.

Gotta agree, before I swap out 50 caps (I am an electronics type) on a PC MOBO, I'm dropping $270 for a new box. My time is worth more than what it would take to swap out the caps. Especially on a MOBO that is a few years old already. And your correct, once you replace the obvious one, you have to replace the rest. There is no way of know if they were damaged, going to fail soon as they are crap as well, etc.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by Volt

Gotta agree, before I swap out 50 caps (I am an electronics type) on a PC MOBO, I'm dropping $270 for a new box. My time is worth more than what it would take to swap out the caps. Especially on a MOBO that is a few years old already. And your correct, once you replace the obvious one, you have to replace the rest. There is no way of know if they were damaged, going to fail soon as they are crap as well, etc.

I agree with you if this were a workstation, and all things being equal, I'd pitch the board and get a new one if possible (with components from a different vendor), but it sounds like simply replacing the board would leave the OP having to buy a number of additional parts and hardware due to incompatibilities with hardware on the current board which, in turn, would be running the cost up into the thousands.

[JE3146]

Originally Posted by Volt

Gotta agree, before I swap out 50 caps (I am an electronics type) on a PC MOBO, I'm dropping $270 for a new box. My time is worth more than what it would take to swap out the caps. Especially on a MOBO that is a few years old already. And your correct, once you replace the obvious one, you have to replace the rest. There is no way of know if they were damaged, going to fail soon as they are crap as well, etc.

All depends really.... to me.. I'd replace them, but that's cus I don't have 400$ coin to drop on a new motherboard. And we're not talking 270$ boxes for dual Xeon. Server grade stuff carries a higher price tag.

With a solder sucker and some flux, I could do 50 replacements in a few hours. Most tedious part would be recording polarity.

[Volt]

Originally Posted by JE3146

All depends really.... to me.. I'd replace them, but that's cus I don't have 400$ coin to drop on a new motherboard. And we're not talking 270$ boxes for dual Xeon. Server grade stuff carries a higher price tag.

With a solder sucker and some flux, I could do 50 replacements in a few hours. Most tedious part would be recording polarity.

Whoops, yep I got distracted with the caps and my past experience with the GX260s/GX270's, completely missed the level workstation. Did a run on a cheap Precision T3500 64bit with a small RAID 5, $1,700.

Depending on the age of the machine, the reliability required and when it needs to be back up, it may be new server is required. If the piggy says no $$$, maybe buy the kit and and install it. I would wager a years' worth of cigars though, unless it's done by someone who has 2M skills and a 2M workstation, it will be an expensive failure. Those caps are a tight fit and power caps have to be done right.

[JE3146]

Originally Posted by Volt

Whoops, yep I got distracted with the caps and my past experience with the GX260s/GX270's, completely missed the level workstation. Did a run on a cheap Precision T3500 64bit with a small RAID 5, $1,700.

Depending on the age of the machine, the reliability required and when it needs to be back up, it may be new server is required. If the piggy says no $$$, maybe buy the kit and and install it. I would wager a years' worth of cigars though, unless it's done by someone who has 2M skills and a 2M workstation, it will be an expensive failure. Those caps are a tight fit and power caps have to be done right.

All these capacitors have leads. They're not SMT. Just seat them flush and even to the PCB.

I've done cap swaps on motherboards and PSU's with no ill-effects whatsoever.

As long as a person cleans the through-holes cleanly with a solder sucker or wick(just be careful not to stray to other components), properly applies some flux to not burn out the components, double checks for no cold joints, and uses a soldering iron proper for the job. IE nothing over 50W with a fine tip. This should be easy as cake.

[JE3146]

Originally Posted by T.G

IIRC, it's like 50 or so caps that ought to be changed out, that was kind of a SWAG on the pricing based on going to an electronics store and buying them OTC. Basically every cap from a certain manufacturer needs to be swapped out. Sure, some of them haven't failed yet, and they might or might not ever fail, but if you're going to go through the work of replacing them, you might as well replace all of them when you have the board out.


I think there are some kits on fleabay that list all the caps needed.

Makes sense.

Wherever you look, make sure you're looking for computer grade capacitors, and also make sure your case is well cooled. Lowering the interior temperature of your server case will extend the life of future capacitors greatly.