The AM Forum

I found this little ditty on another forum, and it has some interesting content.


In RISKS-19.13, Mich Kabay quoted the *EE Times* on "The Great Capacitor
Scare Of 1997".  People were building motherboards without enough power
supply filter caps, it seems, and machines were locking up.

Oh, to have problems that minor again...

The Great Capacitor Scare of 2003 is going to be *much* worse.

It seems, according to several news stories (linked at the end) that a
materials chemist who worked for a Japanese company, Rubycon Corporation --
which manufactured electrolyte for electrolytic (! :-) capacitors -- left
his employ, and ended up working for a Chinese capacitor maker, Luminous
Town Electric.  (These names tend to sound quaintly amusing to USAdian ears,
which might not be accidental...)

Apparently, in a fairly clear case of corporate espionage, the fellow's
cow-orkers then "defected with the formula" (PCN says, in a confusing bit;
defected to where he was?), and began to sell the electrolyte to many
Taiwanese capacitor makers.

Alas, there was one small problem.

The formula wasn't *complete*.  The capacitors, which ought to have been
good (in some cases) for up to 4000 hours, were failing in half that -- or,
if you believe Intel, in as little as 250 hours.

The electrolyte apparently outgasses hydrogen, and pops the seals on the
cap, leaking electrolyte onto the board.  The missing ingredient was the one
which prevented this.  I'd speculate that this might not be a
point-catastrophic failure... these caps might pop and leak out slowly,
shorting out circuits.

But it's even worse.

The Inquirer may put it best:

  It is not currently known how many market segments may have been affected
  by these poor parts, which can be found in motherboards, switchmode power
  supplies, modems and other PC boards.

  The failures of the aluminum capacitors might just be the 'tip of the
  iceberg,' says Zogbi. "Other component failures from low-cost Asian
  suppliers might be forthcoming," he warns.

  Around 30 per cent of the world's supply of aluminum capacitors is
  manufactured in Taiwan, according to the Paumanok Group.  Confusion over
  which manufacturers may have used the faulty electrolyte is sending buyers
  back to Japan to source their capacitors.

  The extent of the problem in product that has already shipped won't become
  clear until components start failing, which may not happen until halfway
  through the products' life expectancy.

But even *that* may understate the problem...

How many electronic products do *you* know of that use electrolytic
capacitors?  The RISKS are so obvious that I don't even have to say "The
RISKS are obvious".  [But you did anyway!  PGN]

*The Inquirer* coverage is at http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6085

*Passive Component News* is at http://www.niccomp.com/taiwanlowesr.htm
Check out the tenor of the editorial footnote; it's as classic as it is
uncommon.

TTI, who bill themselves as "The world's leading distributor of Passive,
Interconnect, and Electromechanical components" have put up an entire page
tracking press coverage of the issue:
  http://www.ttiinc.com/MarketEye/Aluminum_Cap_Issue.asp

73DG

Destroyed my sister's Apple computer and many of it's compatriots. Dell was hit particularly hard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_capacitors

My wife was given an Apple (Mac, not sure what model)  computer which worked for awhile but started to overheat for some reason.  I took the whole thing apart, removed the screen etc.  I concluded that there was a short on one of the DC lines somewhere on the main board.  I removed one cap that wasn't shorted but thought it had to be one of the other caps since that line showed only a few ohms resistance to ground.  Problem was that it was impossible to get to the caps without destroying the whole thing.  It is still laying on the floor in pieces.

Her son sent her another Apple Mac which I'm using to write this post.

Fred

All my apples predate both scares.
Pretty smelly down there in the cellar.
Guess I ought to clean out the bins. ;D

Seriously, component problems predate Asian products especially in the commercial markets.  Thanks for the heads up. Kinda reminds me of the acid paper era in book and magazine publishing.  At least that type of degeneration is observable with a chance to copy the originals.

 --But those Black Beauties are pretty and still command premium prices on Escam.

Lightning coming, better unplug.  Sitting on front deck looking west this pm. No great sun pillars to show y'all tonight.

This kind of garbage is why I did not choose the 'user experience' of a high-brand computer this time, did not trust any of them to stand-up for me and seek recourse properly from their suppliers. didn't get sucked in this time.

There are no electrolytics on the mainboard, for one.. and every other critical assembly was chosen from a supplier with a documented supply chain. All the caps in this one are Japanese or better.

Uh, ok. So which one do you have?  Build up your own from Jameco?