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6.3v 3300uf thin capacitors are impossible to find

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mashersmasher

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i am replacing a few capacitors on a motherboard. it's utterly impossible to do because no parts store has them in the right size. they're all big fat ones that wont fit >.<. anyone know where i can buy the thin ones for a reasonable price?
 
i am replacing a few capacitors on a motherboard. it's utterly impossible to do because no parts store has them in the right size. they're all big fat ones that wont fit >.<. anyone know where i can buy the thin ones for a reasonable price?

You can get them from Farnell, 10mm and 12mm diameter, that is thin for such a large capacitor by my definition. If you don't want to buy from them you have some part numbers to go on.

**broken link removed**
 
You haven't said what sixe the capacitors need to be?

Measure the capacitors: we need to know the diameter, height and distance between the pins before we can help.
 
Why are you replacing the caps?
 
thanks for the links guys. i'll try to dig up my micrometer. i'm replacing them because they're bulging and spewing their chemical guts. i think the psu i used is a little off
 
Replacing the caps is not gonna fix what's blowing them unless the capacitors themselves are faulty. I hope you're also looking into what's killing them =)
 
Replacing the caps is not gonna fix what's blowing them unless the capacitors themselves are faulty. I hope you're also looking into what's killing them =)

Agreed, the caps are only a small sign of possible damage. Better off to scrap the board I think.
 
Don't forget the issue a lot of older boards are having with the "stolen electrolyte formula" saga.

Quite a few years ago now, someone leaked the formula for their companys electrolytic capacitor electrolyte. A few rival manufacturers paid this guy $$$ for it and used it in their capacitors.

Unfortunately the formula was bad and the capacitors tended to fail after a short period (spewing their guts out in the process). A lot of older motherboards have these caps on them and replacing them often cures all the problems.

I've found them on motherboards, SMPS and TFT monitors.

Some great reading about it here :

Capacitor plague - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
I've only (certifiably) lost one machine to that problem. Great for warranty makers though as the problem doesn't occur except under high use conditions, or over a very long period of time. I would replace the caps once, if they blow again I'd toss the whole thing, it's just not worth hunting down the issue sometimes.
 
Capacitors are cheap so it's worth the risk.

Having said that, don't use really cheap non-name capacitors, use decent branded capacitors and make sure they're rated to 100°C.
 
well it's a p5n32 se sli deluxe so even though it's not new it's still a really good one and to replace with one with all the features would cost a few hundred dollars. thanks for the links and info everyone
 
When I built my current machine, I bought a motherboard that used nothing but Sanyo OS-CON caps. I guess it also uses ceramics too. But still, no duff electrolytics for me.
 
Another thing you should beware of is that if there are other fried components it could be the capacitors failing that caused the other components to fail.
 
To obtain difficult dimensions in capacitors, it is worth the effort of canibalizing them from switching power supplies in order to attempt bring back a mainboard to life.
Miguel
 
I fix digi cameras. Occasionally caps do go bad, and the smell is just horrific. but anyway, the few times Ive had such a problem it was corrected by simply replacing the caps.

BTW, Im still learning some of the science behind electronics, but couldnt you look for a 3300uF cap with a voltage rating of 6.3V or greater? So like a 10V 3300uF should work etc.
 
Two ideas: Buy some short fat ones and mount them on the back side of the board where there is plenty of space, or just leave the leads long and mount them so the cap body clears whatever is in the way.
 
Make sure you insulate the leads with shrink tubing! =)
 
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