Asus TUSL2-M

[mh84]

Hi everyone, I need your help with finding proper capacitor replacements for this quite rare board which I got recently. 3 caps are obviously bad, but board still works. I'm not sure if I should replace also 3 on the other side which looks good. This is my first MB capacitor replacement job.

Bad caps:
Nichicon HM(M) H0138 3300uF 6.3V

Caps not sure if I need to replace:
Nichicon HD(M) H0135 1500uF 6.3V

I'm from Central Europe so I'm pretty much limited to ebay to buy high quality replacements.

Thank you for your help.

[momaka]

Re: Asus TUSL2-M

Hi MH84, welcome to the forums!

The three defective capacitors on your board are made by Nichicon. The company had a batch of defective capacitors from 2001 through 2005 affecting their HM, HN, and HZ series. The 6.3V, 3300 uF ones you have appear to be HM series from 2001 (as indicated by the H01xx date codes). All three of these capacitors should be replaced.

Meanwhile, the 6.3V 1500 uF Nichicon HD capacitors are not affected from this problem. However, since this board is rather old now, it may be a good idea to replace all of the electrolytic capacitors. Of course, this will also depend on what you need the board for. If it's a critical task (like running an expensive machine), then you should replace all the caps. Otherwise, you can get by just by replacing the Nichicon HM capacitors and maybe the Nichicon HD capacitors, just in case (Nichicon HD series are fine in general, but still not as reliable as other brands with equivalent specs, like Rubycon ZL, for example).

For replacements of the Nichicon HM capacitors, you can use Nichicon HM again, but just with a newer date code (ones made after 2005 are not affected by this issue). Nichicon HN or HZ will also work. Or, if looking for another brand, Rubycon MBZ and MCZ are directly equivalent to HM and HN above. But because this is an older motherboard, even series like Panasonic FM and FR should work okay.

You absolutely DO NOT have to buy caps from eBay, as there are actually suppliers in Europe. One of them is member Behemot here, who is also in the same country as you! I don't think he carries Nichicon HM/HN/HZ or the above mentioned Rubycons, but you should ask him and see what he has.

Alternatively, this site, badcaps.net also ships to Europe, so that's another alternative. Here is the store link:
https://www.badcaps.net/index.php?pageid=master_list
I think RS Components and Farnell may be anther option in Europe. The only reason I discourage from buying caps on eBay is that there are very very few sellers (if not just one or two) that sell good genuine caps. Big sellers that usually sell all kids of electronic components (not just capacitors) typically have counterfeit Japanese capacitors, so certainly avoid those.

Also, DO NOT use your motherboard with the bad capacitors like that, even if it appears to work fine, as this can cause damage to the MOSFETs, RAM, and sometimes even CPU. Turn off power to it and wait until you replace its capacitors.

[mh84]

Re: Asus TUSL2-M

Wow. Thank you momaka for so many answers and information. I really appreciate your time.

Board will not be used much. I want to keep it mainly for preservation purposes. I bought it very cheaply with 1.4Ghz Tualatin P3. So it's probably enough to replace just those 3 for now. The rest of bigger caps on board are made by Sanyo. These 6 are only Nichicon brand ones I was able to identify.

I will definitely ask Behemot and try to search elsewhere for replacement you have suggested. Thank for the warning about eBay, I was already little suspicious.

Board is already disconnected and waiting for the repair. The only reason I know that it works is that I bought it as a fully functional machine and I have discovered bad caps right after initial testing.

[momaka]

Re: Asus TUSL2-M

You're welcome.

Let us know how it turns out or if you run into any other problems.
Most people here like it when they see/hear retro hardware repair success stories (myself included.)

[mh84]

Re: Asus TUSL2-M

I will let you know for sure. I'm already working on getting replacements with Behemot. He is super helpful.

[mh84]

Re: Asus TUSL2-M

Success story here!

Nichicon HM caps were replaced with used Rubycon MBZ provided by Behemot.

Board is now water cleaned and works perfectly! Good as new.

Thanks again for your help and thanks Behemot for sending me replacements.

[momaka]

Re: Asus TUSL2-M

You're welcome and congrats on the repair!