Gateway Laptop Capacitor

Hi all,

I have never repaired a laptop computer before, only desktops.

Anyway, this motherboard has all signs of a bad capacitor (I can give all the details upon request, basically reboot loop with no post). None of the components on this board have any visible signs of damage.

Looking at this blurry picture (I can't get a good pic)...

1) are those power capacitors (the three columns of components with one missing in the upper right corner)? They are labeled pc234, pc 265, pc 266. so I am guessing power capacitors.

2) capacitors on a desktop have pins you stick into the hole and solder in. Do laptop capacitors just solder to the top?

I know this particular board is used for multiple notebooks, so obviously I don't know if there should be a third capacitor there or not. My guess is there used to be a capacitor soldered to the top of the two aluminum plates because of faints scratches on them, but I don't want to risk soldering one on there unless I'm absolutely sure there should be one there.

It's my sister's machine and she's not sure sure if a part ever fell out when she opened it after it broke. It was a few months ago.

3) Is there anyway to look up if a Gateway mt 6460 should have 3 capacitors in all three slots for a 31MA3MB00B1 motherboard?

Any help at all would be so much appreciated. I am an enthusiastic novice and I am even willing to ruin the board if I can learn alot from the experience.

Thank you so much...

By the way, the other two capacitors say "330 758c d" on them.

Also, that is the only missing connection or slot or socket on the entire board, which kinda makes me guess that the entire board is filled up for this model, but I need to be sure.

I can't tell anything from those photos.

I'm not sure what you mean by "power capacitors" -- I have some suspicions, but lets see a good photo first.

These pictures are the best my camera can do - Ipod touch 4.

I can borrow a camera from my friend tonight if needed, but these pictures are much better.

I am very grateful for your help, thank you!

By the way, if I reseat the cpu and reset the bios by unplugging the cmos battery, it will post and boot and work for about an hour, then it goes back into the rebooting loop with no post.

So I do have hope.

That may be a good idea. But I'm not sure what I'd be looking for in those photographs now (see below).

Actually, that tends to argue against the problem being capacitor related. If it were bad capacitors, I would not expect that procedure to make any difference.

edit: if you have access to a suitable POST analyser you may be able to figure out where the POST is failing, and this may help locate the problem -- maybe.

I did put up three new, much better pictures. I was just wondering what those black things labeled PC234, PC265, and PC 266 are. This is the first time I've ever opened a laptop, and I thought all capacitors had a lead and then a hole it goes into, like a desktop. These are just aluminum plates it seems.

Anyway, I ordered a new heatsink with a fan but of course I spaced out and I don't have any thermal paste. I'm getting some Friday and I'll see if that works. I'll let you know.

Thanks for your help. I hope to get good with electronics one day. I'm still learning.

Well, 3 more photos anyway. They're still too poor to see much detail.

You need much more light (bright, indirect light is best) and a tripod or something to lean the camera on so it doesn't shake while you're taking the photo.

They could be capacitors, or possibly diodes. The designation PC *may* mean they're capacitors.

The first one looks like there's nothing there.

These are surface mount devices. They don't have leads as such. Sometimes they have tinned ends, sometimes pads underneath, and sometimes short stumpy leads.

I will be agreeing with steve on this one, just based from what you are saying... the capacitors failing are fairly unlikely... it is possible, but I would be looking into other things first.

The first thing I would check is to see if Windows (I am assuming you are using windows) gives you any BSOD Codes (Blue Screen Of Death), you can disable automatic restart upon failure from the advanced boot menu.

If so, try to reboot it a few times and see if you keep getting the same code (the hex code, all you need is the first series of hex 0x000000F3 for example). If you do get the same code, post it here for reference, I may be able to help with that... then again, so can google :-).

If you are not using windows (linux?), or you can't get windows to give you a BSOD code, it is still possible its software, but if you are not using windows, I would need more detailed information. If you are using windows and are unable to get a code, let me suggest running in safe mode, safe mode with networking, or safe mode with command prompt. This will eliminate the majority, if not the entirety of the software issues.

If the machine is still re-booting after all of the above steps, I would check the EXTERNAL power supply first... I'm kind of assuming you have already done that, but I'll put it up here for kicks.

If its still rebooting, I would be checking for overheat/over voltage issues. Some chipsets DO require you to have the machine powered off for a certain amount of time before it will turn back on.... which by you pulling the battery for BIOS, the main battery and any external supply, is effectively resetting that state in the computer BIOS. This can technically happen from over heating or the cpu getting an over voltage.... the over voltage is rare, but its possible.

If its still restarting.... I'd be replacing the board at this point, simply because I don't have the proper equipment to do a lot of SMD rework. If you feel up to it and your soldering/heating skills are fairly well honed... go for it!

Good luck, let us know what your results are!
and NEVER be afraid to ask a question :-)