The full story...
The full story...
The Great Capacitor Scare of 2003
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/22.73.html#subj9
"Jay R. Ashworth" <jra@baylink.com>
Tue, 20 May 2003 16:44:19 -0400
In RISKS-19.13, Mich Kabay quoted the *EE Times* on "The Great Capacitor
Scare Of 1997". People were building motherboards without enough power
supply filter caps, it seems, and machines were locking up.
Oh, to have problems that minor again...
The Great Capacitor Scare of 2003 is going to be *much* worse.
It seems, according to several news stories (linked at the end) that a
materials chemist who worked for a Japanese company, Rubycon Corporation --
which manufactured electrolyte for electrolytic (!
capacitors -- left
his employ, and ended up working for a Chinese capacitor maker, Luminous
Town Electric. (These names tend to sound quaintly amusing to USAdian ears,
which might not be accidental...)
Apparently, in a fairly clear case of corporate espionage, the fellow's
cow-orkers then "defected with the formula" (PCN says, in a confusing bit;
defected to where he was?), and began to sell the electrolyte to many
Taiwanese capacitor makers.
Alas, there was one small problem.
The formula wasn't *complete*. The capacitors, which ought to have been
good (in some cases) for up to 4000 hours, were failing in half that -- or,
if you believe Intel, in as little as 250 hours.
The electrolyte apparently outgasses hydrogen, and pops the seals on the
cap, leaking electrolyte onto the board. The missing ingredient was the one
which prevented this. I'd speculate that this might not be a
point-catastrophic failure... these caps might pop and leak out slowly,
shorting out circuits.
But it's even worse.
The Inquirer may put it best:
It is not currently known how many market segments may have been affected
by these poor parts, which can be found in motherboards, switchmode power
supplies, modems and other PC boards.
The failures of the aluminum capacitors might just be the 'tip of the
iceberg,' says Zogbi. "Other component failures from low-cost Asian
suppliers might be forthcoming," he warns.
Around 30 per cent of the world's supply of aluminum capacitors is
manufactured in Taiwan, according to the Paumanok Group. Confusion over
which manufacturers may have used the faulty electrolyte is sending buyers
back to Japan to source their capacitors.
The extent of the problem in product that has already shipped won't become
clear until components start failing, which may not happen until halfway
through the products' life expectancy.
But even *that* may understate the problem...
How many electronic products do *you* know of that use electrolytic
capacitors? The RISKS are so obvious that I don't even have to say "The
RISKS are obvious". [But you did anyway! PGN]
*The Inquirer* coverage is at
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6085
*Passive Component News* is at
http://www.niccomp.com/taiwanlowesr.htm
Check out the tenor of the editorial footnote; it's as classic as it is
uncommon.
TTI, who bill themselves as "The world's leading distributor of Passive,
Interconnect, and Electromechanical components" have put up an entire page
tracking press coverage of the issue:
http://www.ttiinc.com/MarketEye/Aluminum_Cap_Issue.asp
Jay R. Ashworth, The Suncoast Freenet, Tampa Bay, Florida
http://baylink.pitas.com jra@baylink.com +1 727 647 1274
