Can leaking capacitors damage scope card ?

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99 Bottles of Beer
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Can leaking capacitors damage scope card ?

Post by 99 Bottles of Beer »

Hello , i have now a dell optiplex and it has a few electrolitic capicitors that have leaked .. the PC seems to work fine and scope aswell
My question is how bad are the leaking electrolitic capacitors ? Can they damage the scope cards in any way at some point ?
Is this a saftey hazard ?
I am planning to replace them soon , but can i use the machine meanwhile ?
Thank you
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valis
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Re: Can leaking capacitors damage scope card ?

Post by valis »

Electrolyte in capacitors is primarily a polar material, so polar solvents (water, methanol, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol) will remove it. However the only chemical to use on electronics is IPA. Demineralized water with a drop of detergent for greasy spots works for home users, but if it's leaked enough then IPA is the solution (IsoProbyl Alchohol), nothing else.

Typically for cleaning contacts or something like a CPU lid where you don't want any residue, you'd need 97-99% IPA so that you don't leave a white film behind. In this case it isn't as important, and sometimes the added water can help.

Check the caps on the Scope cards too.
99 Bottles of Beer
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Re: Can leaking capacitors damage scope card ?

Post by 99 Bottles of Beer »

Ok thank you for the information .
The caps on the scope card are ok today i put the card in this PC for the first time .
I was wondering if the bad capacitors on the MOBo can explode and damage the scope or that if it will harm the mobos functionality the scope will be harmed aswell ?
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astroman
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Re: Can leaking capacitors damage scope card ?

Post by astroman »

If the caps are already leaking, they don‘t explode anymore. Most caps have a cross like carving on top to break if pressure builds up inside. They first get bulky and then some electrolyte may leave through this hole.
The corroding effect of electrolyte takes quite some time.
Circuit board damage is mostly done by hidden leaks at the wires. The fluid diffuses into the circuit board and a chemical reaction damages the copper lanes. It‘s not time critical in the sense of a couple of days.
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valis
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Re: Can leaking capacitors damage scope card ?

Post by valis »

If the cards took an electrical hit, you would know it pretty quickly imho. When I've had the motherboard fail, it's been something like a supporting part of the VRM's that feed the CPU, or the power delivery, or the power supply. Usually anything drawing enough current will be affected to some degree, for instance if the PSU goes and takes the motherboard, I wouldn't trust the GPU for longterm use. The Scope cards are within the PCI spec, and in my machines from that era even the AGP cards fared fairly well during a power failure issue like this, at least until they started adding the option power which was just a 4-pin molex.
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garyb
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Re: Can leaking capacitors damage scope card ?

Post by garyb »

99% alcohol ONLY!
less pure and it leaves a film...
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GordonGekko
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Re: Can leaking capacitors damage scope card ?

Post by GordonGekko »

Yeah but because alcoholics like me drank it all, you can’t find that shit anymore
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valis
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Re: Can leaking capacitors damage scope card ?

Post by valis »

IPA isn’t something you should drink 🤢
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GordonGekko
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Re: Can leaking capacitors damage scope card ?

Post by GordonGekko »

Why, what’s wrong with Indian Pale Ales?
Berny Shoes
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Re: Can leaking capacitors damage scope card ?

Post by Berny Shoes »

GordonGekko wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 11:32 pm Why, what’s wrong with Indian Pale Ales?
A humongous belly
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valis
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Re: Can leaking capacitors damage scope card ?

Post by valis »

GordonGekko wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 11:32 pm Why, what’s wrong with Indian Pale Ales?
Not enough hops to be an IPA?
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