--- Philip Pemberton <philpem_at_dsl.pipex.com> wrote:
> In message <m19K2Ij-000IzmC_at_p850ug1>
> ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) wrote:
> > > I'm surprised the Ace's electrolytic capacitors are still OK!
> >
> > WHy? I don't find electrolytics to be a major problem in classic
> > computers (unlike in more modern SMPSUs and monitors...)
> Well, that's true. I've seen two year old computers with faulty
> capacitors,
> yet my ZX Spectrum +2A (anyone got a spare disc controller?) still works
> fine.
There was a story a few months to a year back about bad Taiwanese
electrolytic caps pervading the market - it seems that someone stole
*half* of a secret electrolytic formula from Japan. Millions of
defective caps made it into the marketplace. They outgas and rupture.
Symptoms include distended pressure relief plates (the cross on the
top of some packages) or extruding the rubber plug out of the body of
the cap. I've seen motherboards with 80% of the caps visibly failed.
Two year old equipment falls into the window of when the defective
caps were being sold.
Yes, really old caps might need to be reformed, but five year old caps
are more likely to last five more years (or more) than two year old caps
are to last another two years.
-ethan
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com
Received on Mon May 26 2003 - 08:01:00 BST