<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Dec 15, 2025 at 11:49\u202fAM Dave McGuire via rescue <<a href="mailto:rescue@sunhelp.org">rescue@sunhelp.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">On 12/15/25 11:37, HP van Braam via rescue wrote:<br>
>> When doing the visual inspection, are you checking for bulging, or<br>
>> just<br>
>> leakage? I've seen plenty of caps visibly bulging without any<br>
>> leakage<br>
>> apparent, but if you don't know to look for it it's easy to miss.<br>
> <br>
> I was looking for bulging, or broken relief cuts in the top. I didn't<br>
> see any but maybe I don't really know what I'm looking for. That's very<br>
> possible. :)<br>
<br>
If the "splodey lines" have opened up, there will usually be a much <br>
larger mess. When that happens, it is often violent.<br>
<br>
One thing to watch out for, and we see this at the museum all the <br>
time, is leakage *under* electrolytic capacitors that is not visible <br>
until you actually remove them.<br>
<br>
One way to check for this without actually removing them is to heat <br>
one of their leads with a soldering iron. If you get a whiff of fish, <br>
that's amines in the electrolyte.</blockquote><div><br></div><div><div>Also, shining a light at the PCB at an angle can reveal otherwise
hidden venting, as the residue is more matte than the usually glossy PCB
surface.</div><div><br></div><div>- Alex</div> </div></div></div>