VOGONS


First post, by Blitz_25

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I have a chanse to acquire V3 2000 (at a price of 1/2 of mint condition card) that according to seller is working even though C95 cap is broken off. It's selling as broken or for spare parts. I'm tempted to by the card but would like some advice from you guys if it's a good idea. i'm thinking of resoldiering missing cap but em bit affraid to do it even though i have basic skills at THT soldiering however have not done any SMD before and from what i can see from photos V3 caps are SMD soldiered. As seller is stating the card works as it should even with missing cap is it safe to run the card in this state if i decide to run the card this way?

Reply 1 of 6, by stef80

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Pic would be nice. Pads could also be missing. In that case it may be more difficult to solder on new capacitor. Depending on the situation, I'd give it to somebody to do it professionaly.
I have Voodoo Banshee with missing cap (also with missing pad), and it works ok.

Reply 2 of 6, by aaronkatrini

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C95 is the SMD Electrolytic cap at the top-right of the card, right at the edge?

I know the V3 very well... the card will "work fine" without that cap. It's a common problem with these cards, people pull them out without paying attention and it gets snapped right away. It's a non critical cap, meaning it doesn't affect the usability or performance, however if you have a weak PSU I'd recommend you put that cap as soon as possible as it could affect stability.

As I'm speaking to you now, I have in my hands an identical V3 2000 with that exact cap missing 😜

Reply 5 of 6, by B24Fox

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I can confirm what kixs said.
I've seen cards install fine with all those 3 caps broken, and even C41.

If the pads are intact, my recommended method of soldering those SMD type of caps, is this:
- clean both pads of solder
- add solder to one pad
- add flux to both pads
- place capacitor in position on pads [mind the ploarity!!]
- heat up your iron to @350*C
- melt the solder on the soldered pad, while gently pushing down on the capacitor with your finger/fingernail
*you should now have an exemplary looking solder joint on one of the legs of the capacitor*
- proceed to heat up the other pad/leg with the iron tip, while adding very small amounts of solder between the tip and pad/leg, until the joint looks satisfactory

Good luck!

P.S. You can use any old 10uF cap that can take at least 6Volts, that you are able to find.
The original caps have an ESR of @8 Ohms. So you can put total $hit on there, and it will do the job just fine 😀