Recapping Tutorial - how to replace old, leaky surface mount electrolytic capacitors

Old electronic devices with surface mount electrolytic capacitors are often affected by capacitor leakage.
Here is a brief tutorial describing the process of replacing old, damaged capacitors on a Macintosh Classic II motherboard.
Capacitor replacement guides:
recapamac.com.au
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[@stoo]

This in excellent video and tutorial. I wish I had found it 5 years ago when it was created. Thank you so much for putting the effort in to create it and share your experience with world

[@Mr.RyanButterly]

All I can say is Bob’s your uncle excellent work.

[@sweetmemories4448]

I clicked "Like". Now the real appreciation. I am grateful to you for your video. I was giving up repairing because I could not replace a SMD capacitor approx 2 mm in size in a very narrow space surrounded by electrolytic capacitors and the connector/jack in a Main Board of a TV. The capacitor was moving away while soldering. I needed another hand to hold the capacitor in place and then use my two hands to do the soldering. I was using a pointed tip for the soldering iron since the capacitor was too small. Your video suggested to use a bevel tip instead. That freed up my hand because I could carry a blob of solder on top of the bevel tip and hold the capacitor in place with a tweezers by the other hand. I could solder the SMD Capacitor and tested. It was successful and the voltage reading return to the condition prior to the bursting of the capacitor (happened while testing an IC chip on the Main Board with a DMM with a tip which was slightly (0.2 mm perhaps) bent in a "L" shape that touched an adjacent pin). Thank you again. Hats off to you Sir for your contribution. You have provided lot of tips for us in your video. We highly appreciate. By the way, just Subscribed to your channel.

[@santospoland]

This is an excellent video, such great advice here. Most of what anyone doing this for the first time will ever need is in this video and I've watch a lot of videos on this subject matter. REALLY EXCELLENT!

[@uptwisting]

You’ve taught me a lot and due to your advice, I’ve managed to reflow a controller port, mod a Famicom for AV and put a 60hz switch on a Master System. I’ve watched this video multiple times, as I may try to recap and Amiga but I think I’m learning that I need a new solder tip as mine never gets as hot as yours and sometimes, I have to wait for solder to melt!

[@ForgottenComputer]

Nice, as a novice recapper I learnt a lot from this video :). Thank you!!

[@emmettturner9452]

I like to add fresh solder first. Depending on the electrolyte formula, corroded solder can require a lot more heat to melt… so much it sometimes causes the capacitor to explode. If it has trouble taking fresh solder you probably weren’t going to get it with a reasonable temp on the heat gun so you might as well crank your iron temperature for some targeted heat until you get it to take fresh solder. Once the old stuff is diluted with fresh you can switch to the heat gun but I like to keep the iron going so I can hit the negative side of each cap directly (the one that’s often on a thick ground plane). That way I get it off much quicker, before all that heat can conduct into the electrolyte chamber. Your iron has to remain hotter than the air or else the hot air will just cool the iron (all things relative).

[@batintube]

Very well explained and professionally done!

[@TortureBot]

Thank you! Great tips for surface mount soldering and desoldering.

[@BranchusCreations]

Very welcome!

[@mattcox1465]

From recapping many apple mac boards, and learning along the way, I find the SAFEST way to remove capacitors, surprisingly is to use needle-nose pliers and gently twist them (not pulling but twisting left/right). It basically pulls/breaks the terminals out of the capacitors (not from the circuit board). Safer than a heat gun or trying to use 2 irons. Again, we are NOT pulling these off the board, we need to protect the delicate pads. Once removed you basically heat up and remove the left-over legs of the capacitors.

[@SireSquish]

I saw that on another tutorial video and indeed it looked like a good method.

[@andrewhenderson9474]

Thanks Matt . That’s sounds like a great way of doing this. I will give it a go..

[@TerryLondon]

Yes, this twisting those SMD capacitors method works like a magic. Just tried it out today successfully. Saved me a lot of trouble.

[@AstalkeZ4209]

Its the easiest way to remove em

[@paulklasmann1218]

Nonsense, thats the worst way to remove them and damages the pads. Use desoldering tweezers or don't do it at all. Ive bought gear with the pads missing because some idiot twisted the capacitors off.

[@MrDoneboy]

Great soldering example...Thank you, sir!

[@greebo7857]

Came here from Krazy Ken. Subbed straight away. THX. Going to help me a lot doing up vintage HiFi and my old Macs.

[@frankiii9165]

One of the best recapping guides! Great job!

[@frankiii9165]

Bruce I think we got spam

[@DevilbyMoonlight]

good guide - I find using 2 irons thats one in each hand can be a quick way to remove components as you can heat both pads up simultaneously - can be handy sometimes in situations where you cant run hot air

[@AERVBlog]

That is the way I do it, 2 irons. I have found that I stand a lot less chance of ripping off pads or blowing away parts that are very close. I have fixed dozens of Symetrix 528E mic processors that have 14 4.7uF 35V SMDs and the 2 iron method is both fastest and safest. I have tired every way possible.

[@thecosmologist]

Thanks for a great video, I've got my first recap ahead of me, but feel a little better about tackling it now.

[@pk-fb2yr]

That really turned out good.Thank you for posting its given me more confidence in my first attempt to try to soder .

[@andrewhenderson9474]

Brilliant tuition . Keep up the great work

[@adrs2]

Microscope is so important for smd repairs. I managed to solder over ribbon tape from fullhd laptop lcd because my kids breaked some of the paths while stupidly playing with the screen. Only under microscope with back light I found a place of fracture, abraded the front foil to expose copper and slided the soldering iron over the tape with a lot of smd flux > tin connected all the fractures, and then applied a bit of varnish. It worked like new few month till they shattered the LCD ;)

[@dragonbleu1205]

The best video i saw for this subject. Number 1

[@robinsattahip2376]

I go low-tech, use a new cheap toothbrush then hang them outside on a clothesline, but it's hot here in Thailand. I'm amazed if that board actually worked, it seemed almost too far gone for repair. Thanks, good video.

[@dnaldoog3114]

Fantastic- great teaching. Thank you.

[@GarthBeagle]

Another great tutorial!

[@ivanmartin5339]

What a great video!!!!!!!!!! Is hypnotic

[@josemariapinto1060]

Great educational video, thank you !

[@catriona_drummond]

I actually use my hairdryer to dry boards, it doesn't get too hot, warms to board up nicely so that water evaporates and you can really blow it out from under sockets and chips. I do however let them rest for at least 24 hours even after that.

[@mbart]

Really excellent explanation!

[@heedmywarning2792]

Excellent!

[@thomaspethe9554]

Thank you. Great tutorial.

[@jmebusiness]

Nice video, thanks

[@Dawstering]

Great video, I was wondering how do you choose the correct size of tantalum capacitor when replacing the old caps?

[@ConsolesRetro]

Merci pour le tuto! Les condensateurs « tantalum »… c’est une bonne idée pour ne plus avoir des condensateurs qui coulent! Comme quoi c’est une solution qui peut être très prometteuse ✌️🕹

[@omegamark4155]

36:41 I would definitely recommend replacing these sockets.

[@srs1969ccs]

if using tantalums to replace electrolytic do you derate the new tantalums, if so how much?

[@davidlixenberg5999]

Not one wasted word.

[@GaitaPonto]

one can replace these aluminum can caps with tantalum ones for any application? I have an old synthesizer that needs a recap and I would love to be able to replace these unreliable cans with something that would last longer.

[@JV-nt9bp]

Great job.

[@EJEuth]

Very instructive, thank you for sharing. Why did you prefer to replace electrolytic cap. by tantalum ones? I understand about the potential dry out (increasing ESR), or even leakage. But I’ve heard about problems on tantalum, including exploding (if I remember correctly). Another point is about proper component sourcings - Chinese vendors are Ok for Caps, or also questionable, even for that too? Thank you for any clarification about these topics.

[@fordfalcon85]

Hi Bruce, love your channel. I have a Mac Plus and a Mac SE FDHD which I have owned since childhood. I would like to recap them eventually. I also own my grandparents 1962 AWA TV which I am planning to recap which has a lot of old paper caps. I'm very new to electronic repair. I have been told you can test the capacitor with a multimeter but you need to bleed the capacitor first to get an accurate reading, however some sources say you could get a lethal shock from some capacitors. Do you think you could do a video on this? Thanks mate 👍

[@markhofland1898]

Nice video! I need to do some recapping on an old drum sampler from Yamaha. Now I know how to do it. Btw. Which microscope do you use?

[@guenbelkhir6853]

Hello brother Very happy with your beautiful lesson Question, my brother, I have an external graphics card in the computer. It has a problem, and there are two smd capacitors that are missing or removed from their place. How can I know the solution? Have an answer? Thank you.

[@nataf10]

Hello, I would love to have your help. I'm trying to fix a SONY DAT player and need to replace all the electrolytic capacitors there. Can I replace them with Taltalum capacitors. Please advise. Thank you

[@leecambsuk2871]

was hoping to see some heavy corrosion set in where the solder has turned grey from cap leakage and will no longer flow. myself I don't even bother with hot air on smt caps, just a medium long cylindrical tip and a leg at a time.

[@donaldlemoine3032]

I have a question.. I am always tinkering with old motherboards and video card. Just about all of them have the aluminum electrolytic Capacitors. How do determine which solid to use in place of the aluminum electrolytic Capacitors?

[@woofaki5550]

Hello i have a 32y old walkman with leaking Smd caps.The board is most likely corroded to an extend...using IPA to clean it wont have any impact on the existing components?I have been told that i need to clean the whole board with IPA,and let it dry before i do anything else to it.Any help would be appreciated...

[@hughbetcha436]

Alright mate 👍

[@michaelsimpson1561]

Great video awesome shirt

[@TuhlTeimDE]

Super

[@guitarshred863]

Hello sorry , May I ask if you need to test the aluminum capacitor if they're good or not , if yes , some capacitor read and some don't, at least in my case, the ones that don't show any reading are bad??please help/ thanks

[@robertoestrada9816]

I tried to identify a capacitor that I need to replace. Looks like a conductive polymeric hybrid Aluminum electrolytic capacitor. The number in the top are 98sk10050v, k9f2216v, and 9ek4716v. Any idea of what capacitors are and the supplier or replacement?

[@topman511repairs6]

Great Video. What temperature did you set the rework hot air tool ?

[@jmebusiness]

I was looking for this too and found his answer in another comment: Temperature: 420°C, Air flow to maximum But anyway, I'm not really sure about the air flow setting. I think here you will have to experiment yourself.

[@unLuckyFetus]

​@jmebusiness thanks for the tip!

[@sram993]

Amazing video. Thank you. I actually laughed out loud a few times at the speed with which you removed those four caps. I removed most of the ones from my SE/30’s logic board last night and I must have been at it for at least an hour, possibly two. I have only a 15W soldering iron (with bevel tip) and so I have to work slowly and be patient not to rush anything and cause unnecessary damage. I’ve ordered new caps which should arrive in a couple of days and then I’m going to attempt to fit them. I might try my new 30W iron for that, as the speed with which your iron cleaned up the pads and soldered the new caps in place was just incredible. I’m building myself up to a hot air station but I simply have no room to store or use it in my small apartment. I’ll have a workshop one day! BTW, I’m going with similar spec caps to the original ones, not only to keep the board looking “factory” but I figure that if it lasts 15-20 years before I have to do it again then that’s fine by me 😀 I hope I don’t live to regret that decision. Your other video on rebuilding an old Apple floppy drive was also invaluable and after I followed your instructions and guidance my SE/30 now boots fine from floppy for the first time since under my ownership (almost 10 years!). Thanks for making these very helpful videos.

[@akshaykamble8495]

Dear sir , thanks for sharing video for bigginer like us. I set temperature 407 and air pressure 2.5 to remove capacitor, but black material of capacitor melted. What is your suggestions for me?

[@BranchusCreations]

Yes, the base of the electrolytic capacitor will melt during removal, but because the old capacitors are being discarded, this doesn't really matter.

[@seniorpz1969]

question..one of my smd capacitors got knocked off while I was installing my GPU. it has the numbers 535, pc, 330, 6-but the 6 could be 16, at least thats what I could see, its so small..do I need to replace that capacitor with the same type or can the voltage be higher. and it has a purple color on top, left side. thanks.

[@BranchusCreations]

Yes, you should be fine using a 16V capacitor in place of a 6V (actually 6.3V). The purple colour indicates that it's a polymer capacitor. I can't be certain without seeing the original component myself, but this is probably a suitable replacement: www.mouser.com/Search/Refine?Keyword=16SVP330M

[@EmpressOfExile206]

Wouldn't it be safer & faster to dry the alcohol from the board with a blow dryer on low setting? 🤔 I've found that _moving_ warm air usually drys much faster than just being placed somewhere warm with no air current

[@papertoyss]

A question from an amateur who's about to start his recapping career: how many seconds you suggest I can touch a capacitor with my iron and not harm it? I mean it probably depends on the size of the capacitor, but is there a kind of rule for this?

[@jimmack676]

Your sonic clean time is 10 minutes per side. Is that your experienced average timing? I realize there are lots of opinions on timing, some say no longer than 2 minutes. Thx

[@philexile2954]

Hello, nice video! I was just curious: don't tantalum capacitors fail to short, rather than open as with electrolytic caps? If that is the case, couldn't these be more dangerous in some respects to a standard electrolytic? Thanks again for the videos!

[@vincents.3996]

For small value capacitors like 1 to 10 microfarads, would’nt it be better to use ceramic caps?

[@Michael-Sasser]

I'm not that big of fan of tantalum caps. There are some better ones, which aren't that cheap. If the board is small and space is tight, they might become in handy. The big thing is, that the board has to be pretty stable. Extreme temperature differences, warping, vibration or stress next to a tantalum cap may crack the inner layers of the tantalum caps. Then they become a ticking timebomb. Some tantalum cap manufacturers are doing a better job mitigating that, by putting a guard around the pad area (inside the cap). As board designer, you need to think about, what happens on your board an where you can place them and in which direction does the board contract and expand the least. I have seen some placed next to a connector or screw terminal, which blew a hole through the entire PCB.

[@qqryqq123]

what temperature you have your hot air station at when desoldering these SMD caps...?

[@BranchusCreations]

I have it on about 420ºC, with the air flow turned up to its maximum setting.

[@schardin2005]

@@BranchusCreations Wow, seems very hot for us just starting out. Would you have a different recommendation for someone without your level of experience?

[@brucerayne3425]

@@schardin2005 What sort of hot air station are you using?

[@schardin2005]

@@brucerayne3425 Yihua 948-II it has both a temp control and and airflow control.

[@sokoloft3]

My issues is that I don't have hot air. I want to recap a super nintendo motherboard. I've seen people either twist them off or cut the barrel with flush cutters and then they fall apart. Just need to clean up the pads after. I'm going to try that and hopefully it works out.

[@SirQuacksalotthe1st]

Hey abit of a noob here got a board with a 47uf 50v I got a 4.7 UF 50v can that be used to replace it ?

[@SteveTeeIridium-Plus]

Nope. Your replacement has far lower capacitance than the original.

[@catriona_drummond]

That idiocracy joke. well done.

[@MrDoneboy]

Hi, What are the best, least expensive microscopes, for an American?

[@thecodeprofessor]

You have a note saying don't use your dishwasher. Why do you think this is a bad idea? I have heard people for it, and against it. I can think of some reasons, I am just curious what your thoughts are.

[@WelshLad.]

If you have an area where there is plastic near the capacitor's you can just twist off the old capacitor's

[@zdzxzdzx]

What the name of the microscope you use ?

[@BranchusCreations]

There are links to all of the equipment I use in the video description.

[@freda5344]

since you can now easily get 1-10u ceramic caps, why not use ceramic ?

[@user-wj9xq7ig2v]

I bet it smells like a fish market with those caps coming off.

[@vistron888]

On another video the guy just twists the old caps with a small plier. Just leaves the solder tabs to be taken off with an iron. Good alternative.

[@BranchusCreations]

I've had quite a few boards come to me for repair after tearing the pads off using that method. I know a lot of people do it successfully, but I would *never* recommend it.

[@Trex1268]

AL-LOU-MINI-UM..... Priceless

[@BranchusCreations]

This is a great value channel - extra syllables at no extra cost.

[@catriona_drummond]

@JC Denton That's a bit of a nasty thing to say. We should be more polite and give them some leeway on how they want to pronounce thing in their proud nation. Just recently I heard they pronounce "covid 19" as "chinese flu" which definitely speaks to their "independent thinking" in regard to the science of thing. However - I wish they just went with it and made it a pattern and applied the missing "i" to all metals with a latin name. I'd LOVE to hear proud Americans, as they are, to talk about "Titanum", Plutonum, and , especially, Uranum.

[@squirlmy]

That's actually how it's said in most of the world, even most of the English-speaking world: UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia. Just like other metals, and indeed much of the periodic table of elements; titanium, uranium, cesium, barium. all "-ee-um". Really, it should be a little embarrassing to know that when mass-production of it was developed, the industry tricked Americans into calling it Al-lou-min-um as if it were an entirely new material.

[@squirlmy]

@@catriona_drummond I didn't see this answer earlier but, I'm an American and basically agree with the previous statement. Fun fact: the top of the Washington Monument is tipped with an aluminium pyramid, when it was still a valuable material. Soon after, mass production made it one of the least expensive materials, tour guides and such mention it less often.

[@chrish8904]

@@catriona_drummond That's too far encompassing of a generalization for that to even be accurate. Regardless, I think rather than trying to logically think about how languages (especially in the case of accents developing from a language) changing over time SHOUD be, we should simply except them for how they are. We could come up with a million why-the-heck-do X-people-say-it-this-ways and they would probably never make logical sense.

[@noahscott7272]

Not sure why you would go so far as to say “ you’re not going to want to use an all in on.” I legit accomplish everything I try with the same exact amount of effort with my all in one lol, infact, I’ve tried to replace it and I always go back, and it’s not even a name brand lol. If I’d spend extra anywhere it would be iron tips. I guess I’ll be trying a more expensive hot air gun, but only to see if I am missing something, but I wasn’t impressed the change last time I bought a dedicated unit and again went back to my cheesy 898d lol. By far, the difference make has been tips.

[@noahscott7272]

And flux. I admit, I frequently day dream about getting an expensive station, but the honest truth is, it’s a pointy piece of metal that gets hot. Heat is heat and if the temperature is reliable on a cheapo, what could I possibly be missing? If anything, I may walk into another learning curve haha.

[@erwinvangrinsven9345]

Flux-capacitor ‼️

[@m.m.m.c.a.k.e]

SOL-DUH hahah

[@SteveTeeIridium-Plus]

That's how it's pronounced!

[@TheSwartz]

It's pronounced aluminum ;p lol

[@hagbard72]

Cheaper to just replace the device if you're only doing one or a few.

[@squirlmy]

I came here from a "vintage computer restoration" site. And because of aging, the capacitors on many old computers and game consoles and synthesizers are very often are ready to burst or leak if it hasn't happened already. That's just three examples where re-capping is desired. "Replace the device" only applies to a specific set of electronics, where a replacement is easy, and/or the cost of replacement is low enough.

[@resipsaloquitur13]

But... why would anyone do this rather than using new ones? I mean, its neat to see how one could do this. But caps grow on trees these days. And they're way better than anything you can fabricobble.

[@resipsaloquitur13]

Ps. Im a machinist by trade. Im all about the "made from scratch" idea. But I mean damn... If you do something like this for a living, its neither cost nor time effective. And def. not of better quality.