Hardware Insights Forum

Can't deny that putting 85°C caps near hot components is ridiculous. But I'm not aware of the same failure rate happening with Chemi-con SMG series (equivalent specifications to my knowledge).

PeteS in CA did extreme stress tests on several series of capacitors. As far as I remember, Nichicon HE outsurvived Rubycon YXG and YXH, whereas Chemi-con KZE and Rubycon ZL outsurvived Nichicon HD. (There seem to be more complaints about HD than KZE.) It may well be similar for general purpose caps. Not surprisingly, KZG didn't compare too well, but neither did KZH. (Chemi-con LXZ, Nichicon PW and Panasonic FC all did well, as did Panasonic FM.) I'm not saying any of these other series are as bad as KZG or the defective batches of HM and HN (I don't know if HZ was also affected), but you get the point.

severach doesn't trust Rubycon MBZ or MCZ - ironic considering that Topcat originally preferred those.

I don't think SM* from Chemi-con would fare any better than VR. I think there was a thread posted on Badcaps where a 400V, 85*C SMG failed in a washing machine. I don't think SMEs/SMGs, etc, are used all over motherboards the way Intel did with the VR series, that could be why. I wouldn't say Nichicon HD, YXG, YXH, or even KZH are necessarily bad either, even if they are more on the aqueous side of capacitors... just because I've never heard of problematic failure rates from any of them with exception to KZG.

Rubycon MBZ and MCZ is harder to say. I would think there were some defective batches out there based on Topcat's experience, but then there are many Rubycon counterfeits out there, perhaps more than with any other Japanese brand, so it's hard to say. I don't really hear of MBZ/MCZ failures the same way I hear of KZG failures so I don't think they're as bad, probably just that they're on the aqueous side as well (especially MCZ and HN). Panasonic/Matsushita capacitors are very high quality. I think they have the lowest failure rates out of all the brands (as far as lytics go), but those Dell SFFs even cook Pannies, along with some shoddily designed PFC circuits in PSUs. And yeah, Toshiba drives are horrible. They never have anything more than an one year warranty. If they do, it could be because Western Digital/Hitachi acquired them?

It's all relative. Just as bad cap brands vary in how bad they are...

I agree that Panasonic/Matsushita capacitors are probably the best.

Toshiba recently started making desktop drives which IIRC have a 2-year warranty. I don't know how many hours those are rated for.

Toshiba desktop HDDs are just re-badged Hitachi Deskstars (Deathstars). The BIOS even identifies them as Hitachi drives.

Hmmm...the only Deskstar that still shows on their site is the 7K1000.C.

Hitachi are now owned by WD, so I'm sure that soon enough, toshiba will either make their own desktop HDDs, or switch to WD as the OEM.

Wester547 wrote:(remember that 85*C capacitors only have 1/4th the life of 105*C capacitors, and the VR series is only rated for 2,000 hours at 85*C, which is equal, in lifespan, to 500 hours at 105*C)

You forgot that small general-purpose 105°C caps are usually only rated for 1,000 hours at 105°C, so the difference isn't as big as you'd initially think. Specifically...

Nichicon VZ, VY and Chemi-con KME (obsolete) are all 1,000 hours
Chemi-con KMG are 1,000 hours except for high voltage (160V and up) caps of 12.5mm or larger
Rubycon PX, Panasonic NHE (obsolete) and HD, Chemi-con KMQ are 1,000 hours for 8mm and smaller, 2,000 hours for 10mm and larger
Panasonic NHG are 1,000 hours for low voltage (100V and below) caps 8mm and smaller; 10mm and larger (and all high-voltage) are 2,000 hours

1,000 hours @ 105*C is still double the life of 2,000 hours @ 85*C, though, so the difference is still huge.

But it's still smaller than the differences between some 105°C series.

By the way, you'd hardly believe what drive I found today.

What hard drive is that?