Felt-tip Markings on Capacitors?

StompinSteve · 14 January 2023, 19:54

Hello,

I just received a Rev 8a A500+ Motherboard. Three of the blue Through-hole caps have a red marking (stripe, "painted" on with a permanent-marker) on the top of them. All the others are not marked in any way. Could it mean that (only) those three have been replaced in the past?

rare_j · 15 January 2023, 19:27

I've also seen these markings, on all the caps on a PC motherboard from 2000 and a graphics card from 2003. Neither had been repaired. I don't know what they denote though.
Perhaps it indicates a test pass at the factory?

jbenam · 15 January 2023, 22:42

According to a thread on eevblog, it heavily depends on the factory. Some marked caps that passed inspection, others caps that were already soldered or that were replaced on the production line.

They could’ve also been marked by a repair centre technician some years later.

Irl · 16 January 2023, 22:30

When I am testing circuits, I like to mark bad components with red and tested-good components with blue. This is really helpful in things like AV receivers which may have dozens to hundreds of capacitors to test. As mentioned, it's impossible to know their meaning without knowing who marked them and why.

StompinSteve · 16 January 2023, 23:06

Thanks for your replies guys. When I replace through-hole Caps, I mark them with a black permanent marker so that I know which ones i've replaced so far. I kinda guessed this would be the same and that only 3 caps have been replaced in the past. I don't know anything about the history of this mobo.

This motherboard is rock-stable and all the caps look clean and good so i'll just give it a rest.

14 January 2023, 19:54	#1
StompinSteve Village idiot Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: Switzerland Posts: 267	Felt-tip Markings on Capacitors? Hello, I just received a Rev 8a A500+ Motherboard. Three of the blue Through-hole caps have a red marking (stripe, "painted" on with a permanent-marker) on the top of them. All the others are not marked in any way. Could it mean that (only) those three have been replaced in the past? Last edited by StompinSteve; 15 January 2023 at 11:05.

16 January 2023, 23:06	#5
StompinSteve Village idiot Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: Switzerland Posts: 267	Thanks for your replies guys. When I replace through-hole Caps, I mark them with a black permanent marker so that I know which ones i've replaced so far. I kinda guessed this would be the same and that only 3 caps have been replaced in the past. I don't know anything about the history of this mobo. This motherboard is rock-stable and all the caps look clean and good so i'll just give it a rest. Last edited by StompinSteve; 16 January 2023 at 23:13.

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15 January 2023, 19:27	#2
rare_j Zone Friend Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: London Posts: 1,176	I've also seen these markings, on all the caps on a PC motherboard from 2000 and a graphics card from 2003. Neither had been repaired. I don't know what they denote though. Perhaps it indicates a test pass at the factory?

15 January 2023, 22:42	#3
jbenam Italian Amiga Zealot Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Italy Age: 36 Posts: 1,911	According to a thread on eevblog, it heavily depends on the factory. Some marked caps that passed inspection, others caps that were already soldered or that were replaced on the production line. They could’ve also been marked by a repair centre technician some years later.

16 January 2023, 22:30	#4
Irl Registered User Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Denver Posts: 76	When I am testing circuits, I like to mark bad components with red and tested-good components with blue. This is really helpful in things like AV receivers which may have dozens to hundreds of capacitors to test. As mentioned, it's impossible to know their meaning without knowing who marked them and why.

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