Recap guide
Recap the Compaq LTE and Contura
LTE electrolytics leak and eat traces, so they are best dealt with before the board is damaged.
Open the interactive checklist Tick off each capacitor as you replace it. It saves in your browser.
Worth a recap. Reports say it is a common and useful fix on this machine.
Which board do I have?
Boards changed during production. These notes come from the linked sources, and many are only partly documented, so check the board in front of you.
- Compaq LTE marked unit with an 8086 (Low confidence). How to tell: One owner found an LTE labelled machine with a 10MHz 8086 although it looks like an LTE/286. Capacitors: The author says all electrolytics need replacing because leaks destroy board traces; no list. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
Where to start
Clues from write-ups and forum threads, not a diagnosis. Low confidence means one thread or one repair; high means several write-ups agree.
- Leaking electrolytics (Low confidence). One write-up reports all the electrolytics leaking on a Compaq LTE and shows the acid trace damage and its repair. It has no part list. Source
Tips, tales and maybes
Found in write-ups and forum threads. These are other people's reports, not tested by us. Check part references and values against your own board.
- Story: LTE/286: the same three caps keep failing (Medium confidence). A VOGONS thread on LTE/286 laptops reports the same three aluminium electrolytics leaking across many units, with symptoms of no backlight, a squealing DC-DC converter that changes with contrast and a 601 diskette controller error. Posters cleaned with vinegar and patched eaten traces with fine wire, and note corrosion can reach inner layers. Source
- Story: Contura 3/20: PSU tantalum, then regulator (Medium confidence). A Contura 3/20 had a blown tantalum in the power supply, a blown fuse and a burned trace, and a 5V regulator putting out about 11V. All the SMD electrolytics on the board had leaked, and the CCFL also had to be replaced. Source
- Story: Contura 4/25 blank yellow screen, C33 (Medium confidence). A Contura 4/25 with a yellow display and dead contrast slider came back after replacing C33 (22uF 35V) on the contrast/brightness board that generates the LCD voltages. A previous thread on a 3/25S was cited as the same known failure pattern. Source
- Story: LTE leak ruined video RAM traces (Low confidence). An LTE restoration says all electrolytics need replacing because they leak and destroy traces, and the owner had to lift three CXK5864BM-10L SRAMs and patch corroded video traces. Source
Before you start
- Boards changed during production. Check your board number against the guides before you order parts.
Guides we used
This page and the interactive bench are built from these. They have the photos and the full detail, so please read them and support their authors.
- Compaq LTE Laptop (Write-up) by oldcrap.org. Shows the acid trace damage and the repairs, no part list
The capacitor list
We have not checked a capacitor list for this machine yet, so none is shown. Follow the guide above for your board, then add the capacitors in the interactive checklist and it builds a shopping list for you.
Skip the sourcing
While you are in there
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Steps, tools and safety
The steps, the tools in top, middle and budget picks, and the safety list are the same for every machine, so they live on one page: How to recap, step by step.
Values are shown as published in the guides above, and boards changed during production. Check the board in front of you. A recap involves hot tools and, on some machines, dangerous voltages. You do it at your own risk.