3 video card caps blown. Can this be fixed?

I knew that windows button was bad news.

Joking aside sure you can replace them and its probably not your fault they died. I have replaced caps in dead samsung monitors and DVD players thus far and the equipment has always come back to life.

You are looking at surface mount caps so be careful not to pull the pads up when you de-solder them.

Other than that you already have what you need to find replacements. I don't subscribe to one manufacturer as the best. I would try to keep the ESR low and if you want longevity you can pick parts with long lifetime ratings. Really it will be a balance of cost/performance. I usually try to stay in the middle of that road.

Good luck
-Nick-

 

Another possibility to consider, is the wires from the fan. Check the fan wires carefully, to make sure no insulation rub-through, exposing the wire itself to the cap can package. Kinks in the wire, or previous exposure to some heat on the board, could have simply caused an electrical short. My guess is pretty much like NickS, to save space and money, manufacturers often put a lot of little caps in the place of one big one. One cap blowing, would easily result in the loss of three in the same circuit.
Hope that's your only problem, good luck.

 

To add, pick some 105c rated caps if possible. Every 10 degrees C you keep them below their rated temp, you double the lifetime rating.

E.g. Cap A is rated 2000 hours @ 105c. The cap's case measures 65c. Now you can expect ~32,000 hours.

Cap B is rated 2000 hours @ 85c. The cap's case measures 65c. ~8,000 hours lifetime.

 

Aaaahh, hahaha. Those are SMD caps, they've just folded the leads straight and removed the plastic bases, then used them as thru-hole. That's funny. Wonder if they had a height issue.

Edit: And heed the advice in that forum's thread... replace all those cheap-o FZ series caps while you're at it.

 

Lets see here.
(1) I would buy the caps from a part retailer like digikey or mouser or newark not ebay. That gives you a lot more flexibility in the parts you order.

(2) They are definitely sitting on surface mount pads but that explains why the pads look un-tinned. Thus is a sighn that 1 you need to pay attention to the hight of your replacement caps for clearance concerns at Mitchekj brought up. But you are also in luck for re-work because you can now pick from surface mount or leaded caps.

(3) Removal. Do you have a soldering iron or heat pencil and flux? I am sure there are many methods for removal and everyone likes their own because it works for them.
For surface mount I like to add a little more solder to the pads then flux them up and hit it with hot air until the solder reflows on both sides then lift carefully with tweezers.

For through hole I try to snip one of the legs so that I can remove one lead at a time. If that is not possible then I heat one lead until I can back it out a bit then the other and repeat until it is either out or you have enough room to snip leads.

You will find what works for you but remember there is a balance. To much prolonged heat may damage other parts but working to fast will tear up pads and traces.

 

Good call Steve. You should try to do a rough clean of the board before you start. Electrolyte can be many things(including sulfuric acid), none of which are good for inhaling when you start heating things up.

 

Anything from digikey will be high quality. As far as their stock of caps go, anyhow.