Sorry to hijack your comments Rich,
It might help to understand why capacitors, in particular Electrolytic
ones fail, possibly more than any other electronic component.
Particularly on mainboards.
On Saturday 08 July 2006 18:28, Rich Koziol Inscribed Thus:
> On 8 Jul 2006 at 8:22, Stephen Bird wrote:
> > Is it a good idea to power off the monitor when the computer has
> > been turned off?
> >
> > I'm thinking that turning off the monitor might "save" something
> > from wearing out.
> Yes, it will save the Power Supply capacitors from drying out. If
> any lights (LED) lights are on, the Power Supply (in the monitor) has
> to be energized and all the components are active. Diodes/resistors
> do not suffer age much in that mode, but caps do.
There two primary causes of failure of capacitors ! One of these is
simple mechanical failure ! The other is heat ! Heat is generated by
the current that is forced to pass through it ! There are two general
reasons for current that is beyond the ratings or physical capability
of a capacitor to handle. The simple one is that the capacitor is
subjected to a voltage above that it can handle, ie is above it maximum
voltage rating. The leakage current causes heat buildup ! This causes
dielectric failure and usually a short circuit. The more complex is
the alternating current that the capacitor is forced to carry, and this
has little to do with excessive applied voltages ! As mentioned below,
exploding and leaking capacitors became very visible. In these cases
the normal heating inside the capacitor, caused the electrolyte to
deteriorate and loose its dielectric constant ! This increased the
heating and caused them to burst and leak. The loss of dielectric
caused the capacitor to loose its value, in turn causing circuit
failure.
Power supply smoothing capacitors under minimal load are less likely to
suffer failure than those that are allowed to discharge compleatly and
then have to withstand the high surge current on switch on !
Its your choice ! Either way we pay ! Whether it is in electricity or
repair costs !
<--Snipped-->
> Perhaps the problem became very visible, after switching cap mfg to
> the Orient and using some bad copy of chemical formula, but why tempt
> faith.
>
> Regards,
>
> Rich
--
Best Regards:
Derrick.
Pontefract Linux Users Group.
plug at play-net.co.uk
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