Has anyone been successful in replacing capacitors on a multi layered MoBo? I have an ACME soldering iron kit and a selection of old capacitors from a redundant PC.
Just wondering if it is worth the effort or will I simply melt the bonding?
Can I use a standard multimeter to test the PSU or do I need a specialist PSU tester?
Are they surface mounted or through the board?
What’s the psu from ?
Dav1d:
Are they surface mounted or through the board?
What’s the psu from ?
They go through the board, but they were a pig to remove. I am just worried that resoldering the new ones will zb up the board.
I read on a forum about someone who cuts the cap off and leaves the legs, then solders the new cap to them. Hindsight is a wonderful thing…
The PSU came from an identical machine from a recycler. They say it works. I just didn’t want to plug it in and take the risk. I am a bit of a jack of all trades, master of none, especially with electronics. The alternative is to buy another PC from the scrapyard 
Leaving the legs is a bit of a bodge, but comes in handy for trial replacements.
(You’d usually tidy it up before putting it back together).
As the caps are out, you can just replace them, though it seems you’re replacing the caps on the replacement psu, not the original ?
PC psu’s are generally interchangeable.
When they die, they tend to kill themselves (the psu unit) not the motherboard or anything else (though there are probably exceptions !)
Dav1d:
Leaving the legs is a bit of a bodge, but comes in handy for trial replacements.
(You’d usually tidy it up before putting it back together).
As the caps are out, you can just replace them, though it seems you’re replacing the caps on the replacement psu, not the original ?
PC psu’s are generally interchangeable.
When they die, they tend to kill themselves (the psu unit) not the motherboard or anything else (though there are probably exceptions !)
Thanks for your help Dav1d.
No actually I have 2 PSU which are complete, the blown caps were on the MB, 2 were quite swollen and one leaking electrolyte. I thought the PSU had caused it so I bought a replacement which I haven’t tried yet.
I am actually enjoying all the trial and error, if it never works again it just means I will have to spend some money 
(from Yorkshire you see)
Def replace the swollen capacitors then, nothing to lose and you’ll gain a bit of experience in trying.
I do a lot of this on my machinery controls.Failed caps are the usual cause of most faults.Get some solder braid/wick from RS Components or Maplins.
This ■■■■■ the solder off and the component will often fall out.
All sorted thanks for your advice. I have got all of my files back, the PC lives and I gained some valuable experience.
If anything it could now do with a replacement CPU fan as it has a noisy bearing. I found one for 99p which I have got a bid on