Capacitors

I have seen a alot of threads on various amiga forums about replacing the caps becouse of them leaking some acid thingi when they get old.

Most of the threads have been A4000 i think and maby some 1200 but I have never seen any 500/2000/3000 thread about this problem.

Where there some difference betwen how they made the amigas back in the days and some came with these problem and some did not or is it just becouse there are less 3000 machines out there? = less machines =less threads about it? :)

Anything with the SMD capacitors that were used back then will be affected. This pretty much includes mostly all Amigas made after 1991 and likely a lot of games consoles and other electronics from the same era. This includes A600, A1200 and A4000. But I think the earlier manufactured models, A500 (1985) A2000 (1986) and 3000 (1990) used a different type of capacitors and wernt SMD. Therefore wont be as prone to the same problems with aging.

No doubt one of the more Amiga hardware friendly guys who know more about the hardware and its history will be able to shed more on it for you shortly :)

Amineo spotted on.

Since all other models (but A600, A1200, 4000(T)) used through-hole capacitors that don't age in the same insane rate as SMD units, those are pretty much covered.

Only the power supplies may require capacitor replacement because the heat and level of electric noise they got.

Hi to all :)

Sorry, I'm noob "modder" and I have one :oops: question......

It's possible to replace the SMD capacitors with "standard" ones ("barrel" type)?

Thanks & Best wishes

Some might disagree, but I just did that:

[URL=http://img638.imageshack.us/i/jvb7313.jpg/]http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/5757/jvb7313.jpg

One job this weekend is to re cap an a600 as numerous are leaking...

Oh the joy , as long as no pads lift I will be happy :-)

---------- Post added at 09:47 ---------- Previous post was at 09:46 ----------

@jvdboss

As long as the voltages and uf rating is the same or higher then it doesn't matter one jot

:-)

@Kawazu: not need to change the capacitors if your A3000 has worked at least once within 10 years (dry capacitors).

@jvdboss

Great pic m8 :thumbsup: Thanks for the info. :)

I will try on next days.... I have two spare boards (A600 & A4KD) and I want to recap both.... :p (crossing all my fingers & praying)

Best wishes

@Kawazu

Back in the late 80's and early 90's surface mount aluminium electrolytic capacitors were of very poor construction. With high failure rates, product recalls and very poor testing practices most would never see thier full expected lifespans. In fact as LTAC mentioned, SMD capacitors have a shelf life of about 3 years, whereby if they are not power-cycled the internal liquid hydroxide will start eroding the aluminum foil.

This was much shorter back in the early 90's.

Now, compound this problem with Commodores quest of the cheapest component... you will see the problems we have been having over the last couple of years getting worse and worse.


But not all is lost, SMD capacitors today are of a much better standard even the el-cheapo ones.... to be honest I am a panosonic fanboi when it comes to caps. I find their range to be ... less - worse than the rest in their price bracket.

If you are skilled enough to install through hole capacitors on SMD pads then the only thing you should know is that the pads are not designed to be anchors, so

1. keep the capacitor leads short
2. on big caps, ensure that extra anchors are used, like hot glue
3. always be carfull when moving suff inside as you could knock a capacitor and rip the pad off the board.

with this knowledge you should be safe =)

@Zetr0

Hi my friend :)

So, you recommend to use SMD "new" generation capacitors. Panasonic are the good ones?

Thanks & Best wishes