Author Topic: time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)  (Read 2462 times)

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Offline Fox_Of_The_Wind

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time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)
« on: June 10, 2017, 02:51:18 PM »
Was trying to fig out why my computer running some of my webcams and weather radio stream was doing the blue screen of death all the time now....found out..

computer is about 10 years old now and still running windows XP so it don't owe me a thing. and I have a backup computer running windows 7 anyway

Anthony

Offline DanS

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Re: time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2017, 05:55:42 PM »
I just had the same thing happen with me. 8 or 9 years old, XP and bad caps. I guess it was time. The tedious part is starting over with the software build and trying to get back to the way things were. ;)

Offline Aardvark

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Re: time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)
« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2017, 06:11:54 PM »
I wouldn't go for an apple, things are not the same.  Stay with a nice PC with all the memory you can afford and a honking big hardddrive. some of them are fusion drives, that is solid state.

Then you can set up, for example Weather Display and transfer over your accumulated log files as well as data,etc . Get a new registration code from Brian and you will be has  happy as a clam at high tide.

Offline miraculon

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Re: time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2017, 08:44:00 AM »
I wonder if these were the dreaded "fish oil" electrolytic caps. Wasn't this about the approximate time frame when they were in use.

Greg H.


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Greg_M

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Re: time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)
« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2017, 10:10:16 AM »
I wonder if these were the dreaded "fish oil" electrolytic caps. Wasn't this about the approximate time frame when they were in use.

Greg H.

I was going to say......
I have a lot of XP computers that are older that still work.
Can you tell us the brand so we avoid them?

Offline miraculon

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Re: time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)
« Reply #5 on: June 12, 2017, 12:06:51 PM »
This was so long ago, all I can remember is that they were out of China. They got such bad notoriety that they may not even exist anymore. I would hope that reputable suppliers like Digi-Key and Mouser wouldn't sell them.

Greg H.


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CoCoRaHS: MI-PI-1
CWOP: CW4114 and KE8DAF-13
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Offline SLOweather

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Re: time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)
« Reply #6 on: June 12, 2017, 01:37:54 PM »
Here's an article about the counterfeit capacitor problem from the early 2000s.

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

Offline miraculon

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Re: time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)
« Reply #7 on: June 12, 2017, 02:32:04 PM »
I wonder if these were the dreaded "fish oil" electrolytic caps. Wasn't this about the approximate time frame when they were in use.

Greg H.

I was going to say......
I have a lot of XP computers that are older that still work.
Can you tell us the brand so we avoid them?

In the footnotes in the Wiki article that SLOweather posted, there is a link to an article that contained www.badcaps.net. In their forum, there is this post that has a list of suspect suppliers. http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=388

Maybe the "fish" thing was just how they smell when they rupture. I somehow got it that they were made with fish oil...

Greg H.





Blitzortung Stations #706 and #1682
CoCoRaHS: MI-PI-1
CWOP: CW4114 and KE8DAF-13
WU: KMIROGER7
Amateur Radio Callsign: KE8DAF

Offline Fox_Of_The_Wind

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Re: time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)
« Reply #8 on: June 12, 2017, 06:15:40 PM »
I wouldn't go for an apple, things are not the same.  Stay with a nice PC with all the memory you can afford and a honking big hardddrive. some of them are fusion drives, that is solid state.

Then you can set up, for example Weather Display and transfer over your accumulated log files as well as data,etc . Get a new registration code from Brian and you will be has  happy as a clam at high tide.

Don't worry I would not get a apple thing. I would not know a clue on how they work. I have had windows since I got into computers many years ago.

The computer that died was running my webcams and makeing the all day video. (OH and now my weather radio stream)

Anthony

Greg_M

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Re: time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)
« Reply #9 on: June 12, 2017, 07:42:17 PM »
The name might be printed on the Mbrd

Offline Fox_Of_The_Wind

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Re: time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)
« Reply #10 on: June 12, 2017, 08:01:23 PM »
It's a Dell xps 410

Anthony

Offline WA7FWF

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Re: time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)
« Reply #11 on: June 13, 2017, 12:09:47 PM »
Why not just replace them? they are not expensive, that type is leaded so they really are not that hard to change.

Offline Fox_Of_The_Wind

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Re: time to retire a old computer (Bad caps)
« Reply #12 on: June 13, 2017, 05:08:29 PM »
Why not just replace them? they are not expensive, that type is leaded so they really are not that hard to change.

the computer is too old. it only has a max of 4GB of ram and it's still running Windows XP. I did think about it for a bit. But then I decided it was not worth it.

Anthony

 

anything