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This is a continuation of “Recapping an Xserve G5 power supply – Part 1 – Preparations” so read that first if you haven’t already 🙂

Received some capacitors today!

(Most up to date parts list available in Part 3, the list that follows is old and links may be broken)
I put them all in place (not soldered) to see if I got the right sizes and here is the conclusion:
1. C111 – 1000uF, 16V – Perfect fit
2. C112 – 1000uF, 16V – Perfect fit
3. C104 – 2200uF, 16V – Too big
4. C103 – 2200uF, 16V – Too big
5. C350 – 1uF, 50V – Perfect fit
6. C353 – 100uF, 25V – Perfect fit
7. C905 – 10uF, 25V – Perfect fit
8. C900 – 100uF, 25V – Too big (but no problem in this case)
9. C901 – 1oouF, 35V – Smaller than the original but fits ok
10. C907 – 100uF, 35V – Smaller than the original but fits ok
11. C909 – 22uF, 25V – Smaller than the original but fits ok
12. C10 – 47uF, 50V – Perfect fit

So that’s:
2x 661-EKY160ELL102MJ2 – $1.22
2x 661-EKY160ELL222MK2 – $1.80
1x 661-EKMGG351ELL1R0MF – $0.73
2x 661-EKZE250ELL101MH0 – $1.00
1x 661-EKMGG250ELL100ME – $0.31
2x 661-EKMGG350ELL101MF – $0.62
1x 661-EKMGG250ELL220ME – $0.31
1x 661-EKMG500ETC470MF1 – $0.30
For a grand total of: $6.29

C103 and C104 are too big, they should be the same diameter as C111 and C112, this resulted in one of the caps sitting at an angle. It still fits but I prefer to have the caps sit on the board flush. I’ll be trying to find smaller diameter ones for the next order.

C900 is too big but since I got C901 in a smaller diameter, they still fit side by side just fine. I’ll probably order a the appropriate diameter caps for the next order.

Everything else fits just fine so I probably won’t be looking for other diameter caps on those.

Time to do some soldering!
With all the caps in place, I flipped the board over and soldered each pin in place.

Snip off the ends of each pin and the recapping is done.

Time to reassemble and test!
I did not replace the white goop around the capacitors. They are well in place and these PSU’s just sit stationary so the risk of bump/drop that can knock these capacitors around is near zero.

I put a very thin layer of thermal paste back between the heatsink parts. It had some white paste on it when I took it apart and I don’t know how hot these things run. So better safe than sorry.

Put it back together the same way you took it apart but in reverse (I also suggest putting a zip-tie back on the fan cables by the connectors) and you’re all set. But will she work….?

Before I stick this in an Xserve, I just plugged it in to see if any smoke or flames burst out. If you want to test your PSU outside of the Xserve, have a look here.

A click and a high-pitched whine that slowly faded off… just like the PSU that works! Let’s stick this in an Xserve and see what happens.

Needless to say I am very happy with the result! Or, as Rocky would say, absolutely tickled pink.

Now I will hunt for some better caps at some point (I’m lazy and these caps work so I’m not in a hurry) but if you have a G5 Xserve power supply that could use some new caps, you can get the ones I linked to in part 1 of this series. They will fit and they will get the job done (if your current caps are the problem, that is). Check back here at a later date for an updated list. (Most up to date parts list available in Part 3)

You have everything you need to get your Xserve G5 PSU’s recapped but if you’d still prefer someone else to do it, I can help out. For $75 + shipping I will do the recapping and testing for you. This includes the purchasing of the new capacitors.

Continue to “Recapping an Xserve G5 power supply – Part 3 – Additional notes”

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