Editing Capacitor plague (section)

==History==

===First announcements===
The first flawed capacitors linked to [[Taiwan]]ese raw material problems were reported by the specialist magazine ''Passive Component Industry'' in September 2002.<ref name= Paumanok/> Shortly thereafter, two mainstream electronics journals reported the discovery of widespread prematurely failing capacitors, from Taiwanese manufacturers, in motherboards.<ref name= "EDN">{{cite journal |last1= Sperling |first1= Ed |last2= Soderstrom |first2= Thomas |last3= Holzman |first3= Carey |title= Got Juice? |journal= [[EE Times]] |date= October 2002 |url= http://www.edn.com/electronics-news/4347300/Got-Juice- |access-date= 11 February 2014 |archive-date= 28 February 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140228054158/http://www.edn.com/electronics-news/4347300/Got-Juice- |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name= "Feb2003Spectrum"/>

These publications informed engineers and other technically interested specialists, but the issue did not receive widespread public exposure until Carey Holzman published his experiences about "leaking capacitors" in the [[overclocking]] performance community.<ref>Carey Holzman, Overclockers, Capacitors: Not Just For Abit Owners, Motherboards with leaking capacitors, 10/9, 2002, [http://www.overclockers.com/capacitors-not-just-for-abit-owners/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018033035/http://www.overclockers.com/capacitors-not-just-for-abit-owners|date=18 October 2014}}</ref>

===Public attention===
[[File:Brand auf Platine.jpg|thumb|right|Results of fire on a printed circuit board, caused by leaked electrolyte which [[short-circuit]]ed conductors carrying power]]

The news from the Holzman publication spread quickly on the Internet and in newspapers, partly due to the spectacular images of the failures – bulging or burst capacitors, expelled sealing rubber and leaking electrolyte on countless circuit boards. Many PC users were affected, and caused an avalanche of reports and comments on thousands of blogs and other web communities.<ref name= "Feb2003Spectrum">{{cite journal |last1= Chiu |first1= Yu-Tzu |first2= Samuel K |last2= Moore |title= Faults & Failures: Leaking capacitors muck up motherboards |journal= [[IEEE Spectrum]] |volume= 40 |issue= 2 |date= February 2003 |pages= 16–17 |issn= 0018-9235 |doi= 10.1109/MSPEC.2003.1176509 |url= https://spectrum.ieee.org/leaking-capacitors-muck-up-motherboards |access-date= 2014-08-22 |archive-date= 5 January 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180105214833/https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/leaking-capacitors-muck-up-motherboards |url-status= live |url-access= subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first1=Paul |last1=Hales |title=Taiwanese component problems may cause mass recalls |url=http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1026911/taiwanese-component-cause-mass-recalls |date=5 November 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510135540/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1026911/taiwanese-component-cause-mass-recalls |archive-date=10 May 2011 |url-status=dead |publisher=[[The Inquirer]] |access-date=20 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.geek.com/science/capacitor-failures-plague-motherboard-vendors-551780/ |title=Capacitor failures plague motherboard vendors, GEEK, 7 February 2003 |access-date=14 December 2014 |archive-date=13 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113173058/http://www.geek.com/science/capacitor-failures-plague-motherboard-vendors-551780/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The quick spread of the news also resulted in many misinformed users and blogs posting pictures of capacitors that had failed due to reasons other than faulty electrolyte.<ref>W. BONOMO, G. HOOPER, D. RICHARDSON, D. ROBERTS, and TH. VAN DE STEEG, Vishay Intertechnology, Failure modes in capacitors, [http://www.electronicproducts.com/Passive_Components/Capacitors/Failure_modes_in_capacitors.aspx] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214165112/http://www.electronicproducts.com/Passive_Components/Capacitors/Failure_modes_in_capacitors.aspx|date=14 December 2014}}</ref>

===Prevalence===
Most of the affected capacitors were produced from 1999 to 2003 and failed between 2002 and 2005. Problems with capacitors produced with an incorrectly formulated electrolyte have affected equipment manufactured up to at least 2007.<ref name=PCTools/>

Major vendors of motherboards such as [[Universal Abit|Abit]],<ref>{{Citation |newspaper= Heise |edition= online |title= Mainboardhersteller steht für Elko-Ausfall gerade |language= German |url= http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Mainboardhersteller-steht-fuer-Elko-Ausfall-gerade-Update-153175.html |place= [[Germany|DE]] |access-date= 14 December 2014 |archive-date= 25 December 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141225181326/http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Mainboardhersteller-steht-fuer-Elko-Ausfall-gerade-Update-153175.html |url-status= live }}.</ref> [[IBM]],<ref name= Paumanok/> [[Dell]],<ref>Michael Singer, CNET News, Bulging capacitors haunt Dell, 31 October 2005 [http://news.cnet.com/Bulging-capacitors-haunt-Dell/2100-1003_3-5924742.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214170952/http://news.cnet.com/Bulging-capacitors-haunt-Dell/2100-1003_3-5924742.html|date=14 December 2014}}</ref> [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], [[Hewlett-Packard|HP]], and [[Intel]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://news.cnet.com/PCs-plagued-by-bad-capacitors/2100-1041_3-5942647.html |title=Michael Singer, CNET News, PCs plagued by bad capacitors |access-date=14 December 2014 |archive-date=14 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214170723/http://news.cnet.com/PCs-plagued-by-bad-capacitors/2100-1041_3-5942647.html |url-status=live }}</ref> were affected by capacitors with faulty electrolytes.

In 2005, Dell spent some US$420 million replacing motherboards outright and on the logistics of determining whether a system was in need of replacement.<ref>The guardian technology blog, How a stolen capacitor formula ended up costing Dell $300m [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2010/jun/29/dell-problems-capacitors] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234931/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2010/jun/29/dell-problems-capacitors|date=3 March 2016}}</ref><ref name=NYT2010>{{cite news|last=Vance|first=Ashlee|author-link=Ashlee Vance|title=Suit Over Faulty Computers Highlights Dell's Decline|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/technology/29dell.html|accessdate=2012-03-08|newspaper=The New York Times|date=28 June 2010|archive-date=28 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128205229/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/technology/29dell.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Many other equipment manufacturers unknowingly assembled and sold boards with faulty capacitors, and as a result the effect of the capacitor plague could be seen in all kinds of devices worldwide.

Because not all manufacturers had offered recalls or repairs, [[do it yourself]] repair instructions were written and published on the Internet.<ref>{{Citation |title= Repair and bad capacitor information |url= https://www.capacitorlab.com/ |publisher= Capacitor Lab |access-date= 26 April 2022 |archive-date= 12 April 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220412005757/http://www.capacitorlab.com/ |url-status= live }}.</ref>

===Responsibility===
In the November/December 2002 issue of ''Passive Component Industry'', following its initial story about defective electrolyte, reported that some large Taiwanese manufacturers of electrolytic capacitors were denying responsibility for defective products.<ref name=Liotta>{{cite journal|first1=Bettyann |last1=Liotta |title=Taiwanese Cap Makers Deny Responsibility |journal=Passive Component Industry |date=November 2002 |volume=4 |number=6 |pages=6, 8–10 |url=http://old.passivecomponentmagazine.com/files/archives/2002/PCI_02_06Nov-Dec.pdf |accessdate=2015-11-03 |publisher=Paumanok Publications |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120065846/http://old.passivecomponentmagazine.com/files/archives/2002/PCI_02_06Nov-Dec.pdf |archivedate=20 November 2015}}</ref>

While industrial customers confirmed the failures, they were not able to trace the source of the faulty components. The defective capacitors were marked with previously unknown brands such as "Tayeh", "Choyo", or "Chhsi".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.opencircuits.com/Capacitor_plague |title=Capacitor plague, identifizierte Hersteller (~identified vendors) |publisher=Opencircuits.com |date=2012-01-10 |accessdate=2014-09-03 |archive-date=11 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150311101131/http://www.opencircuits.com/Capacitor_plague |url-status=dead }}</ref> The marks were not easily linked to familiar companies or product brands.

The motherboard manufacturer ABIT Computer Corp. was the only affected manufacturer that publicly admitted to defective capacitors obtained from Taiwan capacitor makers being used in its products.<ref name=Liotta/> However, the company would not reveal the name of the capacitor maker that supplied the faulty products.