Spent 6 hours troubleshooting a power board that just needed a cap swap

Picked up a Dell monitor from 2018 last week that wouldn't turn on. No standby light, no click from the PSU, completely dead. I checked every diode and transistor on the primary side for like 4 hours using my multimeter and scope. Nothing was shorted or open. Finally decided to just replace all the small electrolytic caps on the secondary side since they looked fine but were 6 years old. Took me maybe 20 minutes to desolder and put new ones in. Plugged it in and it fired right up. I basically wasted a whole afternoon because I didn't start with the simple stuff. Has anyone else spent way too long chasing ghosts on a PSU that just needed fresh caps?

3 comments

3 Comments

henryr4516d ago

6 years is barely broken in for a cap swap.

keith16416d ago

Hold off on that swap for a few more years if everything's running smooth. I've seen filters that were still pulling their weight after a decade. A cap swap too early can cause more headaches than it solves, like messing with flow rates. Just keep an eye on it and only swap when you actually see a drop in performance or pressure. Let it ride until it gives you a real reason to change it.

alext5216d ago

Pointed follow up question though: what exactly are you seeing at the 6 year mark that makes you say it's barely broken in? Like are you measuring something specific or just going by gut feeling? I've been running my system about 4 years now and everything seems fine but I keep second guessing myself when I read stuff like this. Genuinely curious if there's some real world data behind that take or if it's more of a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy thing. Because I could see both sides making sense depending on water quality and usage patterns. Just trying to learn what actual signs people look for before deciding to swap.