Original Xbox fail clock capacitor replacement

Hi guys,

i tried to replace the soon to be leaking(as it was swollen) clock capacitor on my original xbox v1.0. After removing the clock capacitor with a nice desolder job and replacing the original capacitor with a new Panasonic Goldcap Supercapacitor with the same specs 1000 uF with a max voltage of 2.5 V, everything was booting fine and doing great. Sadly, I discovered that when I unplug the power the capacitor won't retain its charge long enough. At first, I thought It was the charging time, but I have read that after one minute, It should be at full charge. The best results I get is a retaining time of 5 seconds, It is supposed to be days not seconds. And for a 5 seconds remain time, I pretty sure that an xbox with no clock capacitor would get the same charge retain.

I am completely clueless toward this problem. I am asking you guys to help me out. I have a few hypothesis :

1.perhaps the supercapacitor is defective
2.perhaps that my soldering job sucks
3.perhaps that this model is know for not retaining its charge at all.

I hop

 

Got some pics of the install??

did you check the polarity?

 

I assume you mean "1000000uF" (I.E. 1F) - a 1000uF cap would probably only last for a few seconds.

 

I checked the polarity of the capacitor, the side with minus on it sits on the small "white strip" on the board. I took precautin to be sure that it follows the same exact pattern as the original capacitor.

Sorry, I don't have pics. I know it would help, but I don't own any camera or cell phone.

You are right. It's a 1F capacitor not 1000 uF. It seems that I have poorly converted the capacitance to microFarad.

Also, the other night, I resolder everything, cleaned every parts that could have been damaged by the older capacitor with 99% isopropyl alcohol. And I am still having the same problem.

 

I just remove them when ever I run across an Xbox. It'll fail again eventually and it'll save future generations the headache

 

Try looking for corroded traces in that area of the board - the electrolyte on those aerogel caps seems to be quite corrosive, and since the xbox uses quite narrow traces it's quite possible for them to get etched through completely.

 

I think that this might be the problem, because I tried my best to clean the electrolytic fluid on my motherboard, but I pretty sure that the acid had a bad impact on those narrow traces.

Is it possible to rebuild those narrow traces with conductive silver lacquer? or is it completely lost?

And guys you are the best

 

I generally use fine jumper wires (like wire-wrap wire) to the nearest pad - conductive paint will work in most cases, but it can be hard to apply and if you have multiple tracks next to each other it's easy to accidentally short them.

 

I have a question. Could you replace the capacitor with a coin cell 3v battery and a diode? Or is the 0.5v overvoltage too much? Thanks!

 

Why bother you'll be changing the battery very often..

 

Really? does the xbox drain the battery fast?

 

Do you have any pictures on how to proceed I am quite cluless for the moment with those jumper wires, I would have an idea how to get thing work with the conductive paint, but I would love to see an example to be sure if what I am thinking is right.

Yup, no wonder why they used capacitors, they can be recharged and technically don't have to be replaced. They use so much energy. In my opinion, it's a defective design that shouldn't have been used in the first time. But it's a thing from the past.

 

Just follow the trace to the nearest pad and solder the wire there.

Capacitors should easily last 8-12 years - the average lifespan of the most popular consoles. Consoles are never built to be playing games still 20 years down the line.

 

I'd always recommend to remove it, but make sure you have a modchip which enables clock check pass. Otherwise you'll be in big trouble.

 

Step 1 : purchase a watch
Step 2 : remove the cap and forget about it
Step 3 : enjoy gaming while looking at the time on your wrist

profit? well, nah but, it works.

 

I picked up another xbox this week and I perform the same procedure. I clean everything next to the original clock capacitor, because it has leaked and replace it with a new supercapacitor of 2.5V with a capacitance of 1F. Now, it's working pretty dam well, but I am quite disappointed, because it's suppose to keep its charge for around 2 months. The new one barely last a day, I am thinking that those capacitors might be problematic, or the electrolytic fluid cause permanent damage on the circuit that the capacitor discharge way faster than before.

Anyone got an hint?

 

I remember when I bought a new 1.6 box back in 2005, I remember the clock only lasted 8hours about if left in plugged..

 

Where did you hear they were supposed to last for 2 months? Even back when the xbox first came out I found it would last for less than a day with the console unplugged.

 

They last no where near 2 days, or even a day at the least. It's even less than 20 minutes or so. Will be less depending the age of the capacitor as well.

 

then what was the point of even keeping any standby current for the clock, I suppose it would be a pain if you had to set the clock every time you reset or ejected a game hahhaha