PROJECT:VP6's
Mission Objective |
The sole
purpose this article was written was simply to help you in repairing
the bad capacitor issue that has plagued our VP6 boards. I
hope that you and your VP6 find it useful!!
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Project:VP6 -
Created August 03, 2002
The VP6 crap capacitor fix - Last Updated on
May 12, 2003 |
Page 1 of 3 |
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First of all, had this been a
$20 throw-away motherboard, I wouldn't have even considered this
endeavor. A VP6 on the other hand, is FAR from a $20.00
throw-away!! Abit stopped making these quite some time back, and
finding a vendor that still sells new ones is few and far between!!
The last time I saw a vendor selling new ones they were getting a
premium of $180.00 for them, and even a working used VP6 on Ebay will
bring $150.00 or more! The VP6 is rapidly becoming an
endangered species, so I figured this was well worth this effort!!
If you don't think you could successfully do this procedure, login
to the forums at Badcaps.net. This
isn't too terribly difficult... More effort and skills are
required to modify those aluminum cases with corny neon lights,
colored fans, and unnecessary water cooling than it is to do this...
This problem is caused by a number of
faulty electrolytic capacitors located in the VRM (Voltage Regulator Modules), memory,
and AGP sections of your VP6 motherboard. This problem affects
primarily the 1500uF 6.3v and the 1000uF 16v capacitors, for a total
of 19 caps being replaced. The quality of these
caps is obviously very poor, as they are failing at an extremely
young age!! This problem occurred on one of my VP6's just a
month before its second birthday. The other one lived just over
2 years and came down with this 'illness'. The symptoms are
frequent and random freezing and/or blue screens of death.
Depending on which section is failing, it is entirely possible that
your VP6 will not POST (Power On Self Test) if the VRM caps are
extremely faulty. If the failure is in the memory section of
your board, you might get a memory test failure or crashes within
windows that indicate a memory failure. The physical signs of
this failure are the tops of the capacitors swelling up or have a
brownish ooze coming from the tops or out from underneath them.
I personally frown upon Abit for using such low-quality components on
their products. You might remember that Abit's BP6 motherboard had this problem also.
That's here nor there, as the problem exists, and here's a solution
for it. As time goes by, I see more and more VP6's showing up
with this problem.
The first time it happened to
me I just figured that particular motherboard was a flaky a turd, and threw it on the junk shelf...
This board got to the point it wouldn't even POST. When the
second one went POOF with the similar symptoms, I knew there was more to
this. I got both down off the junk shelf and examined them
looking for the common denominator... I experimented with this
procedure on the first VP6 that died since it didn't POST anymore... I
figured it would be the more challenging one... It looked a bit
'rough around the edges' upon completion, but it turned out to work flawlessly. The second one actually looked professional and has
been working without a hiccup since this procedure was completed on
August 12, 2002. Before I completed this, neither one of these
boards would run for over an hour without crashing in some way.
Click picture for full
size view.
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Project:VP6
Symptoms of
this problem. |
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System faults
Motherboard fails to POST.
Memory Test Fails.
Fails to fully boot or even install OS (either Windows or *nix).
System randomly and frequently freezes.
System randomly reboots itself.
Random & frequent 'Blue Screens of Death' (indicating various
errors, usually memory)
BSoD or hard freeze under heavy drive activity (Either RAID, SCSI,
or standard ATA)
Resetting the system after a freeze and the system will not repost.
(You have to completely power down then power
back up.)
Physical faults
Swollen electrolytic capacitors near VRM,
RAM, and AGP.
Brown ooze coming from electrolytic capacitors near VRM, RAM, and
AGP.
Strange odor immerging from your case. (Yes, cooking capacitors DO
stink!!)
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Project:VP6
Inspecting
your board for the damage. |
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**NOTE** If you aren't experiencing any stability issues or
having any problems with your VP6, you do not need to do any of
this!!!
You will now need to
determine the location and how many capacitors you need to replace.
You will need to have your motherboard completely removed from the
case and disconnected, and good lighting. Lay it down on an
anti-static bag!!! I recommend replacing ALL of the capacitors
marked in the photo below, because even if they aren't showing
physical signs of failure, they are more than likely faulty. I
removed ALL the caps noted in the pictures, even the ones that weren't
showing physical signs of failure. I then tested each one with a
Sencore LC102 capacitor analyzer, and EVERY SINGLE ONE was so far out
of spec that it was totally unusable!! I know this entire procedure seems like an impossible
chore, but it really isn't. It took me about two hours per board
to complete on my first few boards. After some experience, I
have this down to a science, and can completely recap a VP6 in less
than 30 minutes per board... That's when you know you've done
this too many times!!
Below is a complete
list of all 19 capacitors and their locations. Also, see the
photo.
1500uF Capacitors:
EC7, EC8, EC14, EC15,
EC16, EC18, EC19, EC20, EC21, EC22, EC23, EC24, EC32, EC33, EC35
1000uF Capacitors:
EC27, EC30, EC31, EC34
Click picture for full
size view.
The commonly failed
capacitors are located near the ATX power connector surrounding the
VRM transistors. There are 8 of these total associated with the
VRM. Look at the tops of the caps and see if there is any
swelling or bulging, and/or any brown ooze coming from their tops.
Also look around their bases for ooze or signs of swelling. If
they are crooked or not sitting flush and straight on the PCB (Printed
Circuit Board), they more than likely have failed. Do the
same for the capacitors in the vicinity of your DIMM memory slots.
There are 4 capacitors associated with the memory slots. There
are also 3 located by the AGP. One is between the AGP and PCI
slot 1, and the other two are toward the front and above the AGP slot.
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Project:VP6
Supplies you
will need for your repair. |
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Capacitors:
(Qty of 15) 1500uF 6.3v 10mm
Radial Electrolytic Capacitors
(Increasing rated voltage is OK, but
DO NOT change the capacitance
rating!!)
(QTY of 4) 1000uF 16v 10mm Radial Electrolytic Capacitors
(QTY of 4) 1000uF 16v 8mm Radial Electrolytic Capacitors
*The
capacitors are available from
Badcaps.net
(Your best bet!!) has
a 23-piece kit for the VP6 for only $22.00. Order
one
HERE.
Soldering
Equipment & Tools:
Temperature Controlled GROUNDED Soldering
station
Long strand of 60/40 rosin core solder
A needle pick or similar object to clean the holes (a stainless
steel dental pick is ideal!)
A Pair of small Flush Cutters
**NOTE**
DO NOT CANNIBALIZE THE CAPACITORS FROM AN OLD MOTHERBOARD THAT YOU HAVE
SITTING IN YOUR JUNK PILE SOMEWHERE!!
You
might be using capacitors that are worse than the ones you are removing!! You will
also need the long straight leads on the new caps!! The holes in
the motherboard are extremely small, and trying to fit a used old cap
with short bent-up leads is very difficult and can have fatal results if a
mistake is made!!
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Project:VP6
The disclaimer!!
*READ THIS* |
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BE
WARNED THAT THIS PROCEDURE REQUIRES SOME PRECISION SOLDERING SKILLS!!!
Modifying your
motherboard WILL VOID THE WARRANTY!!!
If your board is still covered under factory warranty, obtain an RMA (Return
Material Authorization)
from Abit and send it back for a replacement!! If you have had limited or no soldering/electronics
training or experience, you might not want to
attempt this!! ESD (Electro
Static Discharge)
is one of the biggest killers of motherboards and other computer
components. A wrong move or a slip with the soldering iron could
be fatal for your motherboard!! Having said that, keep this in
mind... Motherboards and peripherals are much tougher than given
credit for... Using general ESD precautions, common sense, and
touch of finesse,
you shouldn't have any problems. To date I have performed this
on over 30 VP6 boards, and had only 2 not survive. Although, the 2 dead
board had problems beyond bad capacitors. Just be warned there is a very
slight chance yours might
not survive this either!! This is the 'last hope' of saving your out of
warranty VP6
before you either pitch it in the trash or sell it on eBay for spare parts, so what do you really have to lose?!? However, if you
can't wire a lamp without shocking yourself, I don't recommend trying
this!!
By continuing,
YOU AGREE NOT
TO HOLD ANYONE BUT
YOURSELF LIABLE for
any damages you do to your board!!
Page 2 - Removal of faulty
capacitors. |