I've been installing my loop and rig into my new case this afternoon, while screwing the motherboard in I noticed one of the capacitors looked a little skew-whiff, stood the case up for a close inspection and it fell off. FFFFF.......... Would this be covered under warranty of it still has one? If not, is it worth seeing about getting a new capacitor and soldering it on? Has anyone done this with any success? Help me bit-tech Wan Kenobi, your my only hope
Why would you need to get another one? Just solder it back on. I'm sure it may be covered by Asus but it won't be a quick turn around.
Sorry didn't explain it very well. Just the head of the capacitor has come off, the 2 connecters are still sticking out of the motherboard. Will upload a pic in a sec. Need a cigarette and a lie down first. EDIT: Here's a couple of pics, found some further damage too. Think I probably did it taking off my antec 620 as it's a bit awkward in it's modded form. The broken capacitor Another compent that seems to have taken a knock. Not sure if I coul just stick a blob of glue on this one to cover it?
So, anyone got any advice or handy hints for mobo surgery? Or should i just smash it to bits office space style and forget about it?
Don't smash it! I reckon it'd be fairly straightforward for someone who's good with a soldering iron to source an equivalent cap and solder it on. Edit: I'm on a tablet and can't tell which component in the second pic you mean.
Yes it's really no problem... the hardest part is removing the old pins. ROHS solder and multilayer PCB can make a mean combination. For this kind of stuff I usually feel it's better to take it to some electronics repair, or someone that has 'pro' grade desoldering gun, real soldering station so it gets done right. Of course, having 3rd party repair void the warranty I'm sure. Then again, with Asus they will probably simply say it's your fault and not cover it now anyway.
I've emailed a bunch of local repair shops see if they can help. See of I get any replies and if not I'll just pay them a visit Saturday.
It's a choke i think, circled here in red. Although i think that might have been like that for a while.
So repair shop number 1 didn't want to touch it. Repair shop number 2 wasn't keen as the contact points are surrounded by a bunch of trace, but liked my idea of soldering a new capacitor to the old pins as they're still solidly attached. Unfortunately he didn't have the right cap and suggested I get the cap from maplins and he'd solder it on. Maplins didn't have the foggiest so I've order one off the bay along with a soldering iron and will do it myself. Should have done this a week ago. lol
If you got some junk PCB it'd be useful to do a little soldering on that before moving onto the real thing!
I strongly recommend practicing to get used to the new equipment and not overheat anything in the process . Good luck, in reality it isn't that hard. Relax and take your time.
Thanks for the encouragement and advice guys, much appreciated. I'm not completely new to the world of soldering, but this is definitely the most expensive piece of equipment i've tampered with. I'd 'stupidly' thrown out all my dead motherboards so not sure I have anything to practice on, but I'm sure I can find something. Could always get an electronic doo-daa from poundland to play with.
No they've all gone too. Even my old vcr bit the dust when I moved last year. Not a lot of space in my flat and my computer bits take up too much room as it is. Ha ha I do have a zalman fan controller I could use, but that works so I'd rather not break it. I have found an old megadrive emulator thing I don't mind butchering though. Not sure how I'd go about breaking a cap off in similar fashion to recreate the join since I don't know how it happened in the first place. Might just get a few caps from maplins and solder the together.