Editing Capacitor plague (section)

===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>