Translations:Xbox:Clock Capacitor/3/en

• All Xbox models make use of capacitors that're prone to failure - clock caps are only notable in that they're the most likely to cause damage to other nearby components. Other likely troublemakers are the large caps located near the CPU, which are often found to be leaking from their tops, and will potentially cause video or power on issues: if need be, refer to the Xbox:Capacitor Lists per Revision for information about replacements. The only way to know the state of a given motherboard is to open the console up and look.
• Even if your motherboard is pristine, your clock cap is best removed as a pre-emptive measure. Pre-1.6 consoles run just fine without it.
• Some 1.4, and all 1.6 systems, shipped with gold colored supercaps which are less prone to leakage: when failing, they tend to just bulge from their tops instead. 1.6 consoles notably become unable to power on at all unless a clock cap is in place or bypassed. If the clock capacitor is dead or removed on a 1.6 console, it will show an error code of 16. You can check your motherboard revision on this page.
• It is possible, although unnecessary, to replace the clock capacitor of a pre-1.6 console with another 1F 2.5V capacitor. Given that even a new cap only runs for a few hours (and serves no purpose at all if the system is left connected to mains power), and that most homebrew dashboards support internet time syncing anyway (eg UnleashX, XBMC), this is generally considered to be a waste of time. Connecting to Insignia will also sync the time. Certainly don't replace a black capacitor with the exact same model, as it will be prone to leak again! Also be sure to line up the white stripe on the new capacitor with the filled in part of the circle printed on the motherboard where the capacitor goes; installing it backwards could potentially cause a fire or other catastrophic failure!
• If you are running an old custom BIOS or softmod (essentially from before 2004), you may need to update your softmod or modchip BIOS to a clock loop patched version before proceeding, or else you will get stuck in a clock loop. If your system can already boot normally even after being left unplugged for at least six hours (double the time it usually takes to discharge), it's not affected and your clock cap is safe to remove.