Quote:
Originally Posted by Baddad
What you are looking for is if any of the small electrolytic capacitors have expanded. The end swells from heating of the electrolyte, causing expansion. Its very slight but will later become worse and eventually leads to failure of the board.
I had it happen to me. After a lightning strike. The computer motherboard had most of the capacitors slightly swollen. It still ran for a year, then failed.
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Good advice about delayed failure.
For electrolytic capacitors, that capacitor swelling often happens with age as well, so not necessarily due to a surge/lightning strike. Swelling doesn't seem to affect performance - at least I've not yet seen it - but they can then burst or leak at which point the capacitor fails. There may be little evidence of leakage (you might have to look hard for it) but a burst capacitor can go with a pop and some smoke - quite spectacular if you see it ... well spectacular as far as solid-state electronics goes! One of my old motherboards (Compaq) even has two burst electrolytic capacitors but still works alright. I just have to put up with a slight burning smell whenever I power it up.
