EXTREMELY URGENT Video Card Question PLEASE LOOK!!

[Death_blooms]

Originally Posted by ST!X

:( i thought the worst would happen.

so is there ANY way to fix this?

superglue-ing the piece back on? yes im desperate...there is no way to get this working for my cousin now is there? i was supposed to give him this so i could upgrade, now im left with less than what i started with.

this is not good. series of bad events have been happening to me lately...this may be a sign...

for better detail

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/6...800gtx6xy0.jpg

series of bad events? thats what my girlfriend said when we broke up

But seriously sorry to hear about the video card my 250GB hard disk died on me recently and ill never forget it lol

[halutzparilla]

just want to say good luck and may you not put the CAP BACKWARDS...

[JazzyJake]

hey hitman
about seeing it explode
i've soldered caps backwards in other circuits and the only thing that happens is the circuit won't work.
i dunno if you all have had different experiences that i have, but broken components usually crack and let out some NASTY smelling smoke

[Reloadron]

I don't want to be the grim reaper but the capacitor you broke is what is known as a Surface Mount Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitor. Other than polarity and getting it correct you have a much bigger problem. These capacitors do not have leads extending through the board. They are a surface mount device. If you look closely at the board where the capacitor was you likely will not see through holes the leads extend through. You will see two tiny pads. Now if you look at another capacitor like the broken one on the same board and again turn the board over you will not see any leads extending through the board. Thus the term "Surface Mount" is used. These devices though soldered are not soldered in a typical fashion.

You need a good soldering pencil to attempt this, preferably with controlled heat. Your soldering pencil should have a very fine radius. You need to find someone with experience reworking SMD (Surface Mount Devices). If you have the broken off part the odds are the part is good unless the tabs on the part were ripped out.

I would do it for you but I am in Cleveland and clueless about sending things back and forth to and from Canada. If something like this can simply be mailed or UPS no problem. Thus if you can't find someone up that way feel free to PM me. No, I won't charge you.

This is a good link to what these devices actually are:

SMT Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors

Ron

[Lead Head]

Originally Posted by Reloadron

I don't want to be the grim reaper but the capacitor you broke is what is known as a Surface Mount Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitor. Other than polarity and getting it correct you have a much bigger problem. These capacitors do not have leads extending through the board. They are a surface mount device. If you look closely at the board where the capacitor was you likely will not see through holes the leads extend through. You will see two tiny pads. Now if you look at another capacitor like the broken one on the same board and again turn the board over you will not see any leads extending through the board. Thus the term "Surface Mount" is used. These devices though soldered are not soldered in a typical fashion.

You need a good soldering pencil to attempt this, preferably with controlled heat. Your soldering pencil should have a very fine radius. You need to find someone with experience reworking SMD (Surface Mount Devices). If you have the broken off part the odds are the part is good unless the tabs on the part were ripped out.

I would do it for you but I am in Cleveland and clueless about sending things back and forth to and from Canada. If something like this can simply be mailed or UPS no problem. Thus if you can't find someone up that way feel free to PM me. No, I won't charge you.

This is a good link to what these devices actually are:

SMT Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors

Ron

Even though the capacitor is surface mount, it is still possible to solder some leads to it, the solder those leads to the pad on the board, no?

[Reloadron]

Even though the capacitor is surface mount, it is still possible to solder some leads to it, the solder those leads to the pad on the board, no?

Sure, they can be retouched. The trick is that the task is not easily done with a basic Radio Shack soldering pencil. That is why I mention a soldering pencil with a very fine radius tip. Also, depending on the pads and capacitor, the type of solder used may or may not be importand.

To best identify the part the link I provided helps and here is a link from the link on how to read the values on the part:

http://www.niccomp.com/SMTE-CAPmark0403.pdf

The polarity is identified by the usually blue or purple side being Neg. Capacitors like that I don't believe are common Radio Shack stock items.

Overall, yes the board can likely be repaired but it does require some patience and soldering skills with good equipment. Just a case in soldering where my main rule does not apply. The bigger the blob the better the job.

Sitting here looking at a BFG GEForce 7800 GT that has several of them. A few look to be an easy fix and some of them would be a bitch. These caps are commonly called V-Chip as they have a small plastic base they sit on. Another trick is not to burn and melt into the base when trying to retouch one.

Ron