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Capacitor caps going bad, what equipment will that affect

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Posted by rrebell on Sunday, December 26, 2021 8:38 AM

MrMe

Computer power supplies generally have electrolytic capacitors in them, and tend to create a warmer environment for themselves, so those caps may tend to age faster.

Hard drives are high-speed, high-precision mechanical devices with a finite life span. Wear and tear take their toll on the actuating mechanism, and once a head hits a platter, they're toast.

 

Don't I know it. Also once had a printer blow up on me, didn't even know that was possible.

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Posted by MrMe on Saturday, December 25, 2021 10:21 PM

Computer power supplies generally have electrolytic capacitors in them, and tend to create a warmer environment for themselves, so those caps may tend to age faster.

Hard drives are high-speed, high-precision mechanical devices with a finite life span. Wear and tear take their toll on the actuating mechanism, and once a head hits a platter, they're toast.

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Posted by rrebell on Saturday, December 25, 2021 10:04 PM

That kinda hits on the question, I have had computers fatl on me but it is always the power supply or the hard drive.

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Posted by betamax on Saturday, December 25, 2021 10:30 AM

The capacitor plague was years ago, anything impacted by it would have failed more a decade ago.

Electrolytics do dry out in time, but that can be a long time unless operated at high temperatures. In a consumer device, that could be ten or more years. Something else would probably fail first, and the device may not be worth repairing either.

Vintage computers often require "re-capping" to get them going again, but they were sold 25 or more years ago. Worthwhile, because the example in question is not available anymore.

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Posted by gmpullman on Saturday, December 25, 2021 10:22 AM

rrebell
Capacitor caps going bad,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

Good Luck, Ed

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Posted by Mark R. on Saturday, December 25, 2021 10:03 AM

Can you elaborate a bit more ? Capacitors in what ? Pretty much any electronic device will have capacitors of some kind in them.

Mark.

¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ

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Capacitor caps going bad, what equipment will that affect
Posted by rrebell on Saturday, December 25, 2021 8:49 AM

Capacitor caps going bad, what equipment will that affect, also what non railroad stuff might have a problem in our homes, never heard of this untill a thread here.

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