Well known cases of bad capacitors?

Rookie (18)

05-06-2019, 23:16

Pretty much what it says in the title. Are there any MSX computers that are particularly well known for having bad/cheap/leaky capacitors? I suppose for my own purposes I'm mostly concerned with the computers I currently own, a Spectravideo SVI-728 (Swedish), a Canon V-20 (EU), a Philips_VG-8235 and a Panasonic FS-A1FX. Of course it would probably be good to know of any other potential trouble makers if I ever buy more computers.

By Grauw

Ascended (10679)

05-06-2019, 23:29

See this wiki page:

https://www.msx.org/wiki/Vulnerable_MSX_hardware#Capacitors

For all those currently mentioned there the bad caps are isolated to a specific daughterboard, so fairly easy to replace. See the forum thread the wiki page links to. Other than those I haven’t seen much capacitor disasters reported here. If you’re not having any issues, I wouldn’t pre-emptively recap machines unless it’s one of those listed (and then only the daughterboard).

I think the “capacitor plague” mostly happened after MSX, around the new millennium, and it’s not a common issue for us.

By Macross_VF1

Rookie (18)

05-06-2019, 23:27

Thanks and in more than one way. While none of the MSX computers I own is on that list, I did notice the other part about batteries and I have to check if my VG-8235 still has one.

By gdx

Enlighted (5994)

06-06-2019, 02:12

I think nowadays, all MSXs can have a capacitor problem, and the symptoms are very variable. The MSX may not even work at all.

By Grauw

Ascended (10679)

07-06-2019, 17:48

Absolutely... To clarify, I didn't mean that there aren't any problems with aging capacitors in MSX computers, but just that I don't see many cases of leaking capacitors (which would need to be urgently replaced to prevent damage). Other faults don't need pre-emptive action, can be dealt with if you encounter them.

By Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3541)

07-06-2019, 18:20

Not every MSX has a capacitor problem. Some time ago I wanted to recap my Yamahas, but then I realized that the old caps had better parameters than the newly-bought ones.

By LS120

Expert (105)

16-06-2019, 07:57

that and they run slower than newer pc's. but in saying that i have had to repair alot of 1980's pc's that have bad caps incl floppy drives (single sided and double sided)