Does your BP6 freeze up? Does it re-boot often, unexpectedly and for no reason? Does it lock up tight while you are looking at the BOIS screen then wont let you make changes? Maybe your board is running software acceptably, but do the temps seem WAY out of spec?
Or maybe you have looked at the board and noticed your soldiers(the round cans with black or green plastic around them) are bulging at the top...or have a blackish goo comming out...or standing at an angle instead of straight up?
There are several ways to establish the caps are bad.
The best way is mostly to just lurk about BP6.com and see what problems other people have had. If you are suspicious its your caps...then it probably is. Here are some links to pictures and other resources. You have to forgive me but I haven't had the gumption to get my own pics, but you can click on the links to see if your caps look like bad caps.
This first link has lots of pics and other links(some of which are copied in this article)
http://www.burtonsys.com/bad_BP6/
These are listed in NO specific order and not all are BP6 boards.
http://members.arstechnica.com/x/headseed/bp6_caps.jpg
http://pcstats.com/articleimages/200302/capblown_5.jpg
http://pcstats.com/articleimages/200302/capblown_8.jpg
http://pcstats.com/articleimages/200302/capblown_3.jpg
http://pcstats.com/articleimages/200302/capblown_1.jpg
http://pcstats.com/articleimages/200302/capblown_2.jpg
http://pcstats.com/articleimages/200302/capblown_4.jpg
http://pcstats.com/articleimages/200302/capblown_7.jpg
Heres what happened.
http://theinquirer.net/?article=13962
I hope most of you have good boards, but if not here are some options.
1) Use Abit RMA.
cost: usually free
If your board has P-III mods do NOT use Abit-RMA.
http://rma.abit-usa.com/
instructions are farther down.
Abit recaps(free of charge to you) the boards but they do it after they finish the work the actually get paid for first. They were offering alternate
replacement boards if you wanted instead. If they are out of stock they will eventually get them out but it takes time. See the authors note at the bottom of this post.
2) Let Jackson send you replacement caps and do it yourself.
cost: free
(ONLY do this if you are experienced soldering on multilayer boards)
It takes about 10 days from first emailing them until you have caps in hand.
http://www.jackcon.com.tw/indexen.htm
While at Jackson.com choose the CONTACT US tab.
Oh heck. They will give some phone numbers and an email address. If you email them here is the address.
jackcon@ms14.hinet.net
3) Pay for a capkit and do it yourself.
cost=$14-$50
it depends on your source(try above before you pay for caps)http://www.Motherboardrepair.com
http://www.badcaps.com
They will guide you through the process.
(ONLY do this if you are experienced soldering on multilayer boards)
4) Pay someone else by taking it or sending to a shop that charges.
cost: expect at least $50 or more
http://www.badcaps.com
http://www.Motherboardrepair.com
Or you can check in with a TV repair shop. If you go this route make sure to ask them to check out BP6.com on caps. They need to use LOW ESR caps. If they don't know what that means don't let them do the work.
(only if no other options are available then this is ok)
5) Just use it till it dies then throw it away.
cost: no one will like you ever again
this is a BAAAAAAD choice so I made it small and hard to read
(if you sell it on eBay make sure to mention the bad caps)
Abit RMA
this is the BEST choice in most cases
remember to REMOVE your CPUS, RAM, ETC FROM THE BOARD, or you won't get them back.
Click the link,
http://rma.abit-usa.com/
Register,(maybe you can use your BP6.com username)
READ and Follow the instructions.
READ and Follow the instructions.
Did i mention to READ and Follow the instructions.
Abit will issue a REQUEST number. If you followed the instructions you will get that number via e-mail, which you need before they will let you go any farther. I used my BP6.com user name and password so I wouldn't forget it.
Once you have the RQ number login to
http://rma.abit-usa.com/
and you can proceed. Follow the instructions.
They will issue an RMA number via e-mail, which you need before they will let you go anyfarther. In some cases they may request you ship the board(you pay shipping) to them, in other cases they may issue a call tag which means they pay for UPS or some shipping company pick up the board. If they say they will send a call tag GET IT READY RIGHT AWAY.
Once they receive it Abit will evaluate the board. If they establish failure is due to capacitors they will send a replacement to you free of charge about 10 days(see authors note at the bottom of this post) after they receive it end of story.
If Abit feels failure is NOT due to capacitors, they will most likely contact you by e-mail to let you know whats going on. They may swap your board for $25 OR they may repair your board at whatever they want to charge or they may just send your board back un-repaired. If you have done YOUR part diagnosing a capacitor problem don't worry...Abit is not going to mess you around.
DO NOT CALL this number (510)492-0882 unless you have exhausted all other means. Their line may be flooded with calls and you will do both them and you a service by trying to do everything online. They are going to ask you to do it online anyway if you DO call. However if you can't get online(then how are you reading this FAQ) or if you don't have e-mail, then they will help you via phone.
Author's note added April 25 2005: In Feb. 2005 Abit stock of BP6 replacements ran low. They still met all RMAs but sometimes it took several weeks before the customer recieved a board back. Abit offered a store credit instead of a replacement board when that occured. If you use Abit RMA and they need extra time to send a replacement please be patient. Remember no other MB manufacturer is even supporting customers old "bad cap" boards.
Good Luck
