Re: [tlug] "But What's the Precise Technical Reason?"

["Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon" <ronfaxon@example.com>]

Some names from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

"Faulty capacitors have been discovered in motherboards as old as Socket 
7 and have affected boards manufactured up to the present day. While 
this article deals primarily with desktop computer hardware, this 
problem is by no means limited to that area. These capacitors can also 
be found in some cameras, network switches, audio equipment, DVD 
players, and a range of other devices. Even some car electronic control 
units have been found to have these same brands of often-failing 
capacitors. However, computer components are by far the most common 
location of these capacitors."

In cameras! In cars! In DVD players! This really should be on TV with 
reporters crawling all over....


"Indeed, a strong case can be made that these capacitors (which often 
fail in 6 months or less) are still being manufactured, and are still 
being chosen over superior components by manufacturers to use in their 
products."

Still being used in new equipment?! No! Stop the line! Get better parts 
into those boards!


"As of May 2005, [2] some evidence shows that the failing Nichicon 
capacitors on the iMac, Intel, and Dell boards are due to a different 
problem (capacitors overfilled with electrolyte) than the one discussed 
on this page (faulty electrolyte formula). However, both the effects on 
the system and the physical appearance of the capacitors are the same as 
the other failing capacitors, as is how to identify them, and the 
required repair."

"The primary cause of these problems is industrial espionage gone wrong, 
with some Taiwanese electrolyte manufacturers using a stolen formula 
that was incomplete, and lacked ingredients needed to produce a stable 
capacitor."

"Sadly, once the problems with these capacitors became known, there is 
evidence that motherboard manufacturers continued to use the bad 
capacitors either knowingly or unknowingly. Only ABIT has admitted to 
the problems, while other manufacturers have given responses ranging 
from ignorance to denial. Some have gone so far as to issue legal 
threats to web sites mentioning their names in conjunction with 
capacitor failures. IEEE's Spectrum has an overview of the situation, 
aptly titled "Leaking Capacitors Muck up Motherboards", after the 
tendency of the capacitors to leak their fluid onto the motherboard."

"Soldering on motherboards, which are typically made of six or more 
layers, some of which may have ground planes, and may use lead-free 
solder requiring higher temperatures than leaded solders, can be 
challenging. Attempting a repair without the right equipment and skills 
can easily destroy an otherwise repairable board."


Some names:

Bad

* Canicon (found on PNY video cards (at least the GeForce4 based 
models), among other components))
* Chhsi
* Choyo
* CTC
* Fuhjyyu (found in Antec and FSP (and so many others licensed from FSP, 
for example Zalman), Tagan and so many other power supplies to this day)
* Gloria
* GSC
* (G) Luxon (also G-Luxon) (Found in some older ECS motherboards)
* Hermei
* I.Q.
* Jamicon
* JDEC
* JPCON
* Jun Fu (found in some Deer power supplies)
* OST (found on some PCCHIPS, ECS, ASUS, and EPoX motherboards to this day)
* Raycon
* Lelon
* Licon
* Taicon (found on ASRock motherboards and BFG video cards, part owned 
by Nichicon or so their website claims)
* Jen Pan TUR/TUL (known as "PCE-TUR" or "PCE-TUL", owned by CEC) (found 
in Enermax power supplies and in Seasonic power supplies (300W, prod. 
2002)). Mostly good, but they had a series of the TUR wich was also bad.
* FUH YIN (found on the memory board of a hp workstation x4000)


Suspicious brands

* Tayeh — This brand appears to not actually exist, indicating the 
actual manufacturers were wary of putting their name on their product; 
and probably a fake of "Ta-Keh", a genuine maker of high-end capacitors 
for audio equipment, used by Denon and Technics (Panasonic).
* Rulycon — A clone of "Rubycon", a well-known manufacturer of 
high-quality capacitors, right down to the style of the cases and the 
fonts used for lettering.


Admitted

* Jackcon — The only capacitor manufacturer to own up to their mistake; 
they are also the only one to issue free replacement capacitors to 
people who had theirs fail. Their new products appear to be of greater 
quality but still not as good as known-good brands.


Possibly reformed

* Teapo — Teapo has denied these claims, but evidence suggests their new 
capacitors are sound. However their older ones appear to suffer from the 
same problems other brands do.
* NRSY — with X-shaped vents are suspect (counterfeits); the new NRSY 
capacitors with K vents are genuinely high-quality.


Good

* Rubycon
* Nichicon
* Panasonic
* Sanyo
* Nippon Chemi-con
* United Chemi-Con

Lyle