On Friday, April 17, 2020 at 7:57:47 AM UTC-4, Jim Wilkins wrote:

Electrolytics didn't used to go bad like that. My stock of beer-can-sized
ones from the 80's which I occasionally reform leak less than 1mA after a
few minutes connected to a (vacuum tube) power supply set to their working
voltage and 15mA.

Those capacitors weren't used in high frequency applications, and they didn't pass as much current. Some CPU ICs operate at 1.8V at up to 100 amps. All the ripple is passed to the ground plane as those capacitors filter the rail. Multiple capacitors in parallel are used for several reasons. They are smaller, so each one generates less heat. A cluster of them have a mower ESR than a single capacitor. They can be a lot closer to the CPU to improve voltage regulations, and reduce the radiated noise.


There was a rumor that the bad ones originated when an Asian manufacturer
stole an intentionally leaked faulty formula.

That was around 1999 and they failed while the computers were under warranty. I had it happen to a two month old Compaq computer. I contacted them. I was told to drop it off at the closest Radio Shack, and it would be serviced at their service center in Orlando. Then they said, "Back up all of your files, because they will reformat and install the operating system. I told them that it was dead, and I couldn't back it up without removing the drive.. That would beak the security seal and void the warranty. I told them that I was gong to remove the drive, and never buy another of their products.