Hello all,

When I opened my Sun Ultra10 440MHz machine today to put a bigger disk
in, I noticed two leaked elco's on the bottom of the motherboard, just
below the processor module.
Short description: black, cylinderical shaped electronics, seven in a
row of which 2 have leaked.

I have a picture here:

http://www.macadelic.nl/sunelco.jpg

Does anyone know if these are replacable and with what parts(numbers)?

Thanks in advance,

Igor

> Does anyone know if these are replacable and with what parts(numbers)?

Errr, I'd take that as a sign of something severely wrong with the PSU /
motherboard. They aren't FRUs, but if you can still read the spec on the
side of the can, then you might be lucky...

And assuming your soldering is up to it...

S.

--
Steven Hill

This is not the signature that you are looking for

On Mon, 17 May 2004 17:30:51 +0200
Igor van Oostveen <igor@furthermore.nl> wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> When I opened my Sun Ultra10 440MHz machine today to put a bigger disk
>
> in, I noticed two leaked elco's on the bottom of the motherboard, just
>
> below the processor module.
> Short description: black, cylinderical shaped electronics, seven in a
> row of which 2 have leaked.
>
> I have a picture here:
>
> http://www.macadelic.nl/sunelco.jpg
>
> Does anyone know if these are replacable and with what parts(numbers)?

There is two (or 3) thing you have to read from the elco. Capacity. It's
measured by microfarrads, and voltage (the 3d is a temperature.).
Replace the same elco. You have to solder it. Be carefull, they are
polarisated!!! If you mix up, it will blow up! Do not worry, your CPU,
etc... not damaged. They are filtering capacitors.

If you don't have experience soldering, whatever, ask someone, who has.

Is suggest replacing ALL the other capacitors, becouse they will be
leaking sooner or later.

The thing is, that capacitors do not like hot, and they are placed next
to your CPU. Use biger fan, if you can.

Levente


--
Leva

__

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Home Page: http://web.interware.hu/leva
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This message was generated by Sylpheed.

On 2004-05-17 19:40:49 +0200, Levente KOVACS <Levente.Kovacs@cern.ch> said:
> There is two (or 3) thing you have to read from the elco. Capacity. It's
> measured by microfarrads, and voltage (the 3d is a temperature.).
> Replace the same elco. You have to solder it. Be carefull, they are
> polarisated!!! If you mix up, it will blow up! Do not worry, your CPU,
> etc... not damaged. They are filtering capacitors.
>
> If you don't have experience soldering, whatever, ask someone, who has.
>
> Is suggest replacing ALL the other capacitors, becouse they will be
> leaking sooner or later.
>
> The thing is, that capacitors do not like hot, and they are placed next
> to your CPU. Use biger fan, if you can.

Thanks a lot for this information!

The machine has not been used much and probably still works in it
current state.
But I will try to replace the elco's first...

Do you think all elco's on position ec7 through ec14 are the same
capacity? Because it looks like I have to remove the processor board to
read all the elco's.
Is this easy to do on an Ultra10?

Thanks again.

Igor

On Mon, 17 May 2004 23:55:32 +0200, Igor van Oostveen <igor@{remove-anti-spam}furthermore.nl> wrote:
>
>Thanks a lot for this information!
>
>The machine has not been used much and probably still works in it
>current state.
>But I will try to replace the elco's first...
>
>Do you think all elco's on position ec7 through ec14 are the same
>capacity? Because it looks like I have to remove the processor board to
>read all the elco's.
>Is this easy to do on an Ultra10?

If it's not broken, don't fix it. Apparently, if the ultra10 is
running fine, _I_ wouldn't fiddle with it. If you need to clean,
brush-off debris, that's fine, but soldering and replacing seems
un-warranted. Of course, if you have nothing to loose and prefer
tinkering then go for it.

--
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please reply, to the newsgroup(s).

On Mon, 17 May 2004 22:21:30 GMT
slrn@rr.com (slrn) wrote:

> If it's not broken, don't fix it. Apparently, if the ultra10 is
> running fine, _I_ wouldn't fiddle with it. If you need to clean,
> brush-off debris, that's fine, but soldering and replacing seems
> un-warranted. Of course, if you have nothing to loose and prefer
> tinkering then go for it.

I had the same problem with an x86 mainboard, and I fixed it. Ok, I`m an
electrical engeneer, I've been soldering all my life away... but I
suggest replacing it.

I think he should ask someone, who can do it. It's not a big deal for
someone, who have seen a soldering-iron.

The values... I think they are filter capacitors for the power supply. I
_THINK_ they are the same. At glance, they are looking like 2200 uF
capacitors. I'M NOT SURE!!!!

Two things you have to fraid of is the polarity and the voltage. If you
install the capacitor vice-verse it WILL blow up, AND damage the rest of
the hardware. If you replace tha capacitor with one with less voltage
rate, it will olso blow up.

The capacitance/voltage rates may differs, if they are for filtering the
+3.3V +5V and +12V -5V -12 (I do not know if -xxV exists in SUNs..
whatever.).

But if they are for filtering only the 3.3V of the CPU, than they likely
equal.


Levente

--
Leva

__

Email: levente.kovacs@cern.ch
Home Page: http://web.interware.hu/leva
Public key: http://web.interware.hu/leva/CERN/public_key

________________________________________

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This message was generated by Sylpheed.

In article <20040518165112.1188ba49.Levente.Kovacs@cern.ch> , Levente KOVACS <Levente.Kovacs@cern.ch> writes:
> On Mon, 17 May 2004 22:21:30 GMT
> slrn@rr.com (slrn) wrote:
>
> > If it's not broken, don't fix it. Apparently, if the ultra10 is
> > running fine, _I_ wouldn't fiddle with it. If you need to clean,
> > brush-off debris, that's fine, but soldering and replacing seems
> > un-warranted. Of course, if you have nothing to loose and prefer
> > tinkering then go for it.
>
> I had the same problem with an x86 mainboard, and I fixed it. Ok, I`m an
> electrical engeneer, I've been soldering all my life away... but I
> suggest replacing it.
>
> I think he should ask someone, who can do it. It's not a big deal for
> someone, who have seen a soldering-iron.
>
> The values... I think they are filter capacitors for the power supply. I
> _THINK_ they are the same. At glance, they are looking like 2200 uF
> capacitors. I'M NOT SURE!!!!
>
> Two things you have to fraid of is the polarity and the voltage. If you
> install the capacitor vice-verse it WILL blow up, AND damage the rest of
> the hardware. If you replace tha capacitor with one with less voltage
> rate, it will olso blow up.
>
> The capacitance/voltage rates may differs, if they are for filtering the
> +3.3V +5V and +12V -5V -12 (I do not know if -xxV exists in SUNs..
> whatever.).
>
> But if they are for filtering only the 3.3V of the CPU, than they likely
> equal.
>
>
> Levente
>


It is normally written on the capacitator.
I have looked into an Ultra-5: seven equal black elco's in a row,
and the outermost carries a gold writing: 6.3V 1500uF.
So I think all seven are 6.3V 1500uF.
And yes, correct polarity is important!

--
Michael Tosch
IT Specialist
HP Managed Services Germany
Phone +49 2407 575 313
Mail: michael.tosch:hp.com

slrn@rr.com (slrn) wrote in message news:<slrncaiejn.a25.slrn@starfire.rr.com>...
> On Mon, 17 May 2004 23:55:32 +0200, Igor van Oostveen <igor@{remove-anti-spam}furthermore.nl> wrote:
> >
> >Thanks a lot for this information!
> >
> >The machine has not been used much and probably still works in it
> >current state.
> >But I will try to replace the elco's first...
> >
> >Do you think all elco's on position ec7 through ec14 are the same
> >capacity? Because it looks like I have to remove the processor board to
> >read all the elco's.
> >Is this easy to do on an Ultra10?
>
> If it's not broken, don't fix it. Apparently, if the ultra10 is
> running fine, _I_ wouldn't fiddle with it. If you need to clean,
> brush-off debris, that's fine, but soldering and replacing seems
> un-warranted. Of course, if you have nothing to loose and prefer
> tinkering then go for it.

Whilst the 'If it's not broken, don't fix it' might well be good
advice on many occasions, I think it it VERY POOR advice here. The
capacitors could easily fail short-circuit, damaging the pcb due to
excessive currents down the tracks.

But more likely is that they will loose their capacitance, with a
result that the supply they are supposed to be smooting, is no longer
smooth, but has large voltage ripples on it. This is likely to result
in more crashes.

The devices that have failed are called electrolytic capacitors. The
two most common ratings are voltage and capacitance. Generally
speaking, if the voltage rating of the new component is higher or
equal to the old one, it will be okay (there are exceptions to this,
but its not relavant here). Make sure the pin spacing is the same, as
otherwise fitting them will be difficult.

Normally the devies are rated for use to 85 deg C, but its quite easy
to obtain ones rated for use to 105 deg C. I would do that if they are
in a hot location. These components do have a relatively short
lifetime compared to other electronic components, and not using
something for a long time containing electrolytic capacitors does not
do them a lot of good.

If you find someone who has some in his spares box (I guess I have
some in my garage), don't use them. Buy new ones.

Thanks for al the info guys!!

I am going to replace the elco's and will post a short description here
and on my website.

Greetings,
Igor

Dr. David Kirkby wrote:

> The devices that have failed are called electrolytic capacitors. The
> two most common ratings are voltage and capacitance. Generally
> speaking, if the voltage rating of the new component is higher or
> equal to the old one, it will be okay (there are exceptions to this,
> but its not relavant here). Make sure the pin spacing is the same, as
> otherwise fitting them will be difficult.

I just had a PC motherboard (Epox) fixed by the manufacturer because
the capacitors were defective. The use of these defective capacitors
was wide spread accross the industry. Only a few company offered
any information on this and offered repair. I had the motherboard
replaced under waranty and replaced it with a new board after it
failed a second time outside of waranty. When I discovered the
issue of the defective capacitors the Epox offered to fix it
outside of waranty if I paid the shipping.

See this site for more detail.

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY...eb03/ncap.html

John Mireley