QNAP NAS - 12v 0.3a - 1x SMD ceramic cap seems bad

[nerdynerd]

I like to tinker as a hobby and have lots to learn still, please bare with me if I've made any obvious mistakes in my understanding / troubleshooting. Happy to post images if this helps.

I was given a QNAP TS-431P which seems ""dead" bar that the fan spins when you apply power. I do not have the original PSU (12v 7.5a) but I am using a Riden RD6012 bench PSU to power the unit at 12v 7.5a.

I'm very comfortable with soldering and have replaced caps, transistors & BIOS chips before with success, while keeping my work looking professional.

In the QNAP & r/qnap pages there are many reports of the same model dying, especifcally after not being used for while, which was the case with this as my friend used it 6months back and then put it in his cupboard.

Tools available or used so far: Uni-t UT61E multimeter (fluke leads), older fluke meter, Uni-t UT658 USB power tester, soldering iron (not used on this job yet), USB BIOS reprogrammer (not used on this job yet).

Symptoms:
1.Fan spins as soon as power is connected to the DC jack. Power button does not apprear to be stuck or shorted.
2.An HDD will spin if inserted into any of the slots.
3.No front LED's turn on or flash (status, power, USB, HDD1-4).
4.Front USB does not give charge - tested with multimeter & USB voltage tool.
5.Reset button does not seem to have any effect, despite that I can feel it being pushed down.
6.No beeps.
7.Neither of the 2x network ports 2x LED's flash when powering on the device.

Multimeter continuity troubleshooting:

    DC jack - 6x through hole - 5x points beep on ground. 6th does not.

    DC jack - ground to EC18 - only 1 side beeps.

    DC jack - ground to EC20 - both sides beep.

    DC jack - ground to EC12 - only 1 side beeps.
    EC20 - bottom of the PCB, under the CPU - beeps on both sides when tested to ground. At first I didnt detect this but on a second run it did & it seems that I really have to push the leads hard against each end of EC20, unlike any of the other ECxx or Cxxx components.

No other ECxx or similar sized Cxx component does this.

If I test continuity between Ec20 and EC18 being the closest EC, with about 10millimeters between them, then my multimeter beeps when my probes are on the outside of these EC's, aswell as from the outside of EC18 to the inside of EC20.

Resistance mode: Probes places on each side of the respective EC.

EC20 - under the CPU = 22.xx

EC18 - just outside of the bottom of the CPU - (Could be EC16 can't really see the text well) is right next to it however = 166.xx

EC12 - under the CPU = 112.xx


Resistance mode: Probes places on ground (DC jack) and on each side of the respective EC, one side at a time obviously.

    EC20 = +- 0.57 & +-166 on the side marked positive.

    EC18 = +- 0.13 & 22.xx - I assume this side is positive? Cant see any markings.

    EC12 = 0.13 & 112.xx on the side marked positive.

I'm a total amateur with this kind of stuff but this leads me to wonder if EC20 is the problem / part of it. Any advice / corrections etc would be greatly appreciated!