Hardware Secrets


Home | Camera | Case | CE | Cooling | CPU | Input | Memory | Mobile | Motherboard | Networking | Power | Storage | Video | Other
Content
Articles
Editorial
First Look
Gabriel’s Blog
News
Reviews
Tutorials
Main Menu
About Us
Awarded Products
Compare Prices
Datasheets
Dictionary
Download
Drivers
Facebook
Forums
Links
Manufacturer Finder
Newsletter
On The Web
RSS Feed
Test Your Skills
Twitter
Newsletter
Subscribe today!
Search




Recommended
Upgrading and Repairing PCs (19th Edition)
Upgrading and Repairing PCs (19th Edition), by Scott Mueller (Que), starting at $17.49
Home » Other
How to Identify Japanese Electrolytic Capacitors
Author: Gabriel Torres
Type: Tutorials Last Updated: July 31, 2008
Page: 2 of 4
Real-time pricing for ASUS SABERTOOTH-990FX.
ASUS Sabertooth 990FX AM3 TUF Series ATX AMD DDR3 1800 Motherboards Asus SABERTOOTH Electronics Usually ships in 24 hours
Amazon: $184.99 TigerDirect: $174.99
Newegg: $184.99 CompUSA: $174.99

Identifying the Markings

The main problem is that capacitors don’t carry a “Made in” or similar phrase printed on their bodies. This makes the whole process of discovery the country of origin very hard. Several manufacturers won’t even print their names, only their logos. Sometimes not even that! Some logos have the name of manufacturer on it (e.g., Sanyo), but in most cases they haven’t (see real example in Figure 2)! Some manufacturers will only print the capacitor series, and you will have to be smart enough to know that the number printed is a series and you will have to find the manufacturer by yourself!

Typical markings on an electrolytic capacitor
click to enlarge
Figure 2: Typical markings on an electrolytic capacitor

If you are able to decode the manufacturer logo or to know which company carries a particular capacitor series, you will be able to find out the country of origin, by knowing where in the world that particular manufacturer is based. Sounds complicated? It is. For most people it is an unsolvable detective work.

But don’t worry. Our goal with this tutorial is to provide you with a table containing the most common Japanese manufacturers and how to identify their capacitors. Of course there are more Japanese manufacturers around, but we are listing only the ones typically found on PC hardware parts, especially power supplies and motherboards, which are the two components where people are more concerned about the quality of electrolytic capacitors. We are also going to publish tables with the most common Taiwanese and Chinese capacitors in order to avoid questions like “hey, I have a capacitor with XXX marking, it isn’t in your list, is it Japanese?.”

« Previous |  Page 2 of 4  | Next »
Print Version | Send to Friend | Bookmark Article | Comments (4)

Related Content
  • Explosive Motherboards
  • How To Desolder Components
  • Patriot Wildfire 120 GB SSD Review
  • Kingston HyperX 240 GB SSD Review

  • Recommended Deal.
    Corsair VS1GBKIT400Corsair VS1GBKIT400

    Corsair Memory VS1GBKIT400 1 GB PC3200 400Mhz 184-Pin DDR Desktop Kit CORSAIR VALUE SELECT D57454 Electronics Usually ships in 24 hours

    Amazon: $32.80 TigerDirect: $34.99
    Newegg: $32.99 CompUSA: $34.99

    RSSLatest News
    Antec Announces the One PC Case
    February 9, 2012 - 8:06 AM PST
    Cooler Master Releases Elite 361 PC Case
    February 8, 2012 - 7:50 AM PST
    Microsoft Launches Kinect for Windows
    February 2, 2012 - 8:42 AM PST
    Transcend Announces SSD720 SSD Series
    February 1, 2012 - 7:55 AM PST
    .:: More News ::.


    © 2004-12, Hardware Secrets, LLC. All rights reserved.
    Advertising | Legal Information | Privacy Policy
    All times are Pacific Standard Time (PST, GMT -08:00)