mattsoft
Well-known member
I picked up a G4 Cube and plugged it in and smoke started coming out of the top! No video on the screen, and the power light was flashing. I yanked the power and the smoke stopped. I pulled the core out of the case and on the back of the VRM, one of the tantalum (?) capacitors had blown clear off the board -- I later found it inside the case. Check out the pictures below.
So anyway, I cleaned off the damage with some alcohol and put the VRM back in because, why not? To my surprise, the Cube powered right up and appears to work OK. No more smoke. Unfortunately, the VRM has a massive crater in it -- 1 of the pads is blown clear off and there is some exposed copper.
Anyone have any idea what those caps are for? The Cube is running, is that capacitor even needed? Curious if I should be worried, or try to repair this, or just try to find a replacement VRM.
So anyway, I cleaned off the damage with some alcohol and put the VRM back in because, why not? To my surprise, the Cube powered right up and appears to work OK. No more smoke. Unfortunately, the VRM has a massive crater in it -- 1 of the pads is blown clear off and there is some exposed copper.
Anyone have any idea what those caps are for? The Cube is running, is that capacitor even needed? Curious if I should be worried, or try to repair this, or just try to find a replacement VRM.