[GanjaTron]

If it vaguely smells like dead fish you may have capacitors leaking their bodily fluids all over your PCBs...

It's hard to explain, but once you've smelled it you'll recognize it.

Hi JJ,

I'm familiar with it. Been there, done that. I replaced the electrolytics in that thing long ago. Smell definitely more like burnt paper.

I also had a Schaffner IEC mains filter spectacularly blow in my HP Apollo. Instead of a single pop, it let loose a sustained barrage of orange firecrackers under my desk. I was about to grab the fire extinguisher, expecting the rug to catch fire. This was way beyond what I'd experienced with RIFAs, tho I guess it's pretty much the same failure process. Getting a replacement was quite a challenge, as the original part was unusually compact.

--Roland