I-Appliance BBS The Official Source for Internet Appliance Upgrades and Mods BBS Main List | Sign In | Sign Up | Search | Help | Linux-Hacker.net Reply to Thread | Printer |

Home / Other I-Appliances / Gateway/AOL Connected Touch Pad capacitors (caps) blown... capacitors (caps) blown...

capacitors (caps) blown... (modified 0 times) wireless Profile Hi- I just took 2 GCT's out of the closet and what do ya know... a capacitor blow out on both of them. On one, I have taken apart, there is a row of blue caps along the bottom right side when looking at the back of the GCT. On the top row, the 4th from the right blew. and the 6th has not blown but is looking like it will pop... even looks like it is "bubbling". I think the + etch on top is going up and down (like breathing) and the light is reflecting... making it look like it is bubbling. The second I have not opened yet... but when I do... I will post again. Sigh! The GCT's STILL work! But I guess it would be prudent to replace them. I looked quickly under the board and they dont look too hard to desolder are replace... anyone have any thoughts? -Wireless 12-26-2005 17:17:59

RE:capacitors (caps) blown... (modified 0 times) wireless Profile well... the story gets more interesting... I did do a battery replacement on the motherboard... but the GCT (a 3rd one) tries to boot. It flashes the power switch and goes click click click... nothing. no boot. Ok... fiddle fiddle fiddle... try again... flash flash flash... POW POW!!! 2 caps... the tops deformed... smells... OH NOOOOO the blue smoke that makes the electronics work is escaping.. DAMN IT!!! Ah WTF power it on again... what could happen? WHAT? WHAT I TELL YOU! It powers up. LOL! I do not know what those Caps do... BUT I think it prolly is a good idea to replace them? What do you all think? The funny thing... 3!!! all different power supplies and different units. Are the Caps OLD? are they deformed and when they blow they are not a short? What? :/ 12-26-2005 20:48:15

RE:capacitors (caps) blown... (modified 0 times) wireless Profile ok... 4 out of 6... same problem... different outlets. no surges... same issue... caps blow... powers up fine. Seems like a design issue. 12-26-2005 21:46:40

RE:capacitors (caps) blown... (modified 0 times) keith721 Profile Wireless: Thanks for the warning! I picked up two GCTs from eBay in November, one was gently used and the other was new-in-the-box. I'd wager one of them may blow and the other may not, but there's no telling until I unpack 'em and plug 'em in. 12-27-2005 10:06:51

RE:capacitors (caps) blown... (modified 0 times) wireless Profile My guess is this... before you power them on... open them up. Do not have the GCT plugged in of course. Look at the Caps... the weak ones look "bloated"- they are not FLAT on the top. The ones that seem to blow are the bulging ones. Also, your battery may be weak or dead as well. It is a standard MoBo battery CR 2032. Radio Shack and CVS have them for 3+ bucks. CyberGuys has a 5 pack for $2.99!! Anyway, DO NOT turn on the GCT without the metal cover over the CAPs. DO NOT HAVE YOUR FACE, EYES, ETC. NEAR THE CAPS WHEN YOU TURN ON YOUR GCT! THEY BLOW UP! Contents are toxic and are not good to get on you. If they blow... turn off the GCT and look at the CAPS (wearing safty glasses etc) some may be bubbling. Wash your hands if you handle anything. and use a paper towel etc. I will look at what the CAP ratings are... if anyone knows off hand please post as well. It looks like I finally have an excuse to buy the Cold Heat Soldering Iron... This project NEEDS the Cold Heat Soldering Iron for the CAP replacement... ;) ;) Nudge Nudge! 12-28-2005 01:19:24

RE:capacitors (caps) blown... (modified 0 times) wireless Profile AHHHH HAAA!!!! Capacitor failures plague motherboard vendors Got a failing motherboard that smells bad? You've probably got "burst capacitor" syndrome! http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2003Feb/bch20030207018535.htm 12-29-2005 19:49:53

RE:capacitors (caps) blown... (modified 0 times) wireless Profile The suspect capacitors are 1000uF 105degreeC 6.3V Radial Electrolytic Capacitors by <YEC> (Diamond around the name) The others near them (that look fine for me) are 330uF 105degreeC 25v Radial Electrolytic Capacitors 12-29-2005 20:23:15

RE:capacitors (caps) blown... (modified 0 times) wireless Profile Here is an online picture of an open GCT. The CAPs I am referring to, are down in the lower right corner below the memory slot and above the power connector. http://www.geocities.com/b48098/GTC_w_ethernet_1.jpg 12-29-2005 21:21:24

RE:capacitors (caps) blown... (modified 0 times) keith721 Profile Well, I opened both of my GCT's this week. The "gently-used" one was just that. It only had normal signs of wear on the keyboard and display. I didn't have AA batteries handy (yeah, shame on me - I just moved back into my house after EIGHT months of renovations) so the keyboard wasn't available. It powered up fine (no snaps or pops!) but the touchscreen was non-functional. I opened it up and one of the capacitors had very small leakage on top and a few others were bulging. Not really a surprise, I guess. As you noted, it still works fine (well, except for the touchscreen.) The "new-in-box" unit was exactly that. It was in the Gateway box with original packaging and paperwork, plus the vendor had stuffed extra newspaper in there to cushion everything during shipping. After unpacking and setting up everything, I plugged it in and pressed the power button. It flickered green, then turned off. Did the same thing several times. Finally, POP! and it stayed on. Apparently some of these capacitors had gone too long without power flowing through them. It stayed up and everything worked fine. (I picked up some AA batteries last night.) When I opened it up to install a larger SODIMM, I checked the capacitors and they were all fine with no leakage and only slight bulges. Now I've just got to start unpacking my office/workshop (you know everything else in the house comes first, right?) and find my USB CompactFlash adapter to burn one of these Midori images... 03-10-2006 08:07:25

RE:capacitors (caps) blown... (modified 0 times) keith721 Profile ping wireless . . . I found your GCT postings from December on the stux forums. Since stux uses a Slackware variant of Knoppix, you might be interested in my post regarding DamnSmallLinux ( http://damnsmalllinux.org/ ) running on the GCT. DSL is a Knoppix-based Linux in under 50 megabytes, so it easily fits on a 64MB or 128MB CF card. I've got an Atheros wifi card working and just need to get the touchscreen setup. Fortunately, DSL already includes the MK712.o kernel module for the touchscreen. Now all I need to do is piece together the X configuration information and work it out (hopefully this weekend.) Thanks for sticking with the GCT and Linux work!!!! 03-31-2006 09:51:12

Reply to Thread | Printer | All times are PST Powered by UltraBoard v1.62

I-Appliance BBS General - NEWS, Breaking NEWS - linux-hacker.net BBS on CD Questions - User Groups in Your Town - E-Bay, Yahoo Auction LINKS ONLY (MODERATED) - Jokes & Humor - usdtv box I-Opener Areas - I-Opener General Posts - I-Opener Technical Stuff - I-Opener Technical Info Reference (MODERATED) WebSurfer Areas - WebSurfer General Posts - WebSurfer Technical Stuff - WebSurfer Technical Info Reference (MODERATED) Other I-Appliances - Virgin Webplayer - WebPal - MailStation - 3Com Audrey - ThinkNIC / Oracle NIC - Gateway/AOL Connected Touch Pad - Philips/AOL-TV - ACER NT-150 STB - MSN Companion - Compaq IA - Emachines IA - IBM NetVista IA - Intel dot.station - MSNTV2 Network Computers - Fujitsu-Siemens Scovery Linux Net Computers - GallantWeb Server Consoles - Dreamcast - xbox hacking Web Pads - Epods One General Post - Panasonic CF-01 - Fujitsu Stylistic 1200 - Cybiko Thin Clients - Thin Clients DigitalVideoRecorders - DTV Recorders, Replay, TiVo, Etc... - Tivo Hacks Linux - Midori Linux General Board - ITX MotherBoards Single Board Computers - Earth Computers mARMalade Elite Member Area MISC Areas - The Swap Meet WE TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY TRANSACTION HERE AND NO COMMERCIAL POST PERIOD !!! - Wireless Net - Cameras - Robotics - Routers/Gateways - Mattel JuiceBox