Dell Won't Recall Defective Mobo's

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Dell Won't Recall Defective Motherboards

In most businesses, when a product is discovered to have a defect that's likely to cause it to fail, the manufacturer issues a recall for the affected units. Is there any reason that shouldn't be true in the computer industry as well? That's what many IT mangers with large installations of Dell Optiplex GX270 systems have to be wondering right now.

"We are not a very large company, but we have nearly two hundred Dell GX270 small form factor PCs," a reader wrote recently. "This is an information business that we're in, so we depend on these systems to get our work done and keep revenue coming in the door. Earlier this year we began to experience problems such as random reboots and power-downs with some of the GX270s. At first we thought it might be a virus or spyware outbreak, but we eventually realized what we were experiencing is a systemic problem with Dell's motherboard. There's an issue with the capacitors that cause them to start 'bulging' and then eventually burst."

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http://weblog.infoworld.com/foster/2005/08/30.html#a298

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an issue with the capacitors that cause them to start 'bulging' and then eventually burst."

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That's weird ..a few years ago the exact same thing happend on HP desktop pc's ...it was the Vectra line vl400 if I'm nog mistaking ... But the difference is that HP did replace the motherboards...but not until after they "investigated" the problem off course.

So what ... is Dell using old HP motherboards :confused:

Or are they using an old design and making the same mistakes :rolleyes:

Hope the firms get their motherboards though ... Once again the service of Dell under the microscope.

C.

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So what ... is Dell using old HP motherboards :confused:

Or are they using an old design and making the same mistakes :rolleyes:
C.

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Nah, I've had similar problems with higher end boxes. The capaciters just "pop". Quite interesting to see, really. We experienced the same problems... the machines would just reboot periodically.

I've seen this problem on IBM and HP in the past year. They did replace the faulty mobos, or course, under warranty. But that would really suck to KNOW that at any minute you could have a workstation with that problem and it *could* have been prevented by a simple replacement. I know its gonna cost them some $ in shipping, but they can no doubt recoup their original hardware investment from who ever they originally purchaced the mobos. If they don't... it'll cost them more then just shipping... it'll cost them customers.

If it's anything like recent history it'll be dodgy dealing in the far eastern componant manufacturers. My memory is hazy but I think the Fujitsu hard drive mass failures a few years ago were down to the componant manufacturer buying low grade chemicals on the cheap. The componants went pop regularly in the drives causing the HD failure.

Wouldn't be surprised if something similar was happening here.

Inq article:http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=25809

From my experiences in the electrical engineering sector, the issue is one of batch and lot control.

In the case of the bulging capacitor situation, somebody stole a formula for electrolyte and got it wrong in the manufacture. This dodgy electrolyte then went out to all sorts of capacitor manufacturers. Now the problem is that this kind of stuff is a consumable, and is not strictly batch and lot controlled, so it is pretty difficult to trace, assuming the manufacturers would want to?

The other problem was related to the resin used in integrated circuits. A reformulation to make the stuff more environmentally friendly went wrong. There is enough of the stuff out there to make FIVE BILLION ICs and it went to 11 or so manufacturers...............these ICs find their way into HDDs.

As the saying goes "you ain't seen nothing yet" :eek:

I have also worked in foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals where the regulations are much stricter, and tracability would be possible.

Stuff that is issued from bins and tanks is hard to control, as various deliveries get mixed :eek:

Just my thoughts........................