YouTube broadcaster analyzes the cause of the fusible capacitors of ASUS Z690 Hero motherboard

According to a report from Tom’s Hardware, a broadcaster named Buildzoid on a YouTube channel called Actually Hardware Overlocking has discovered that a backward capacitor on the motherboard of ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero caused it to melt. Since then, Asustek acknowledged the problem in an article on its website and plans to distribute replacement products to customers of affected motherboards.

The problem with the Z690 Hero motherboard started to appear on ASUS support forums and on Reddit not long ago. The problems experienced by users are almost the same. Users reported that their motherboards started to smoke in the same place: the two MOSFETs next to the DIMM slot ( Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) and Q-code error code reader.

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In a video on his channel, Buildzoid diagnosed the problem with pictures posted on support forums and Reddit. He blamed the failure of the Z690 Hero on the backward capacitor installed next to the MOSFET, rather than the MOSFET itself. Buildzoid carefully studied the picture of the motherboard and pointed out that the text on the capacitor is actually upside down. This is a potential sign that it is incorrectly installed. An upside-down capacitor can cause polarity reversal, causing MOSFETs to malfunction and burn.

After reports about the problem began to gain attention, ASUS confirmed that Buildzoid’s diagnosis was in fact correct. ASUS announced: During our ongoing investigation, we have initially identified a potential memory capacitor reversal problem during the production process of a production line, which may cause debugging error code 53 or damage to the motherboard components. This problem may affect devices manufactured in 2021 with a part number of 90MB18E0-MVAAY0 and a serial number starting with MA, MB, or MC.

The company said that users can find the Z690 Hero’s serial number and part number on the side of the motherboard package and on a sticker placed on the top or bottom of the motherboard itself. In another article on the Asus Facebook page, the company added a link to a tool that can confirm whether it is affected by the issue based on the serial number of the Z690 Hero.

In the future, we will continue to conduct thorough inspections with our suppliers and customers to identify all ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboards that may be affected in the market, and will cooperate with relevant government agencies to carry out a recall and replacement program, ASUS said.

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