- Source: Wiki, September 2007
I had one of the computers open the other day, and noticed several bulging/leaking capacitors.
Capacitor leakage is a huge problem now-a-days with older technology. They result in system random shutdowns, rebooting, BsoD’s, POST failure, memory errors, corrupt data and much more. Some causes of Capacitor leakage maybe related to power issues coming through the electrical lines (when you have no surge or battery backup attached), ambient temperatures too high, high humdity, or simply DOA or poor design of mainboard, video card, power supply anything that has Electrolytic capacitors. Today newer designs have capless capacitors to help prevent the inferior capacitor leakage. See Asus Crosshair mainboard. In order to fix these types of failures the simplest solution is to replace the part (warranty replacement) which has capacitor leakage and to find the cause that shortens the life of your computer, if any. See my article on Extending your Computers' Lifespan. For more technical information on the cause of capacitor failures read Badcaps.net on the cause.
References:
Hardware Secrets - Explosive Motherboards
Wiki - Capacitor Plague
Silicon Chip Online - Motherboard Capacitor Problem Blows Up
Chris Quirke - Bad Capacitors
Badcaps.net - website dedicated to bad electrolytic capacitors