[sdiy] Capacitors questions

[harrybissell]

Hi Scott (et al)

Scott Gravenhorst wrote:

>
> Non polar electrolytics: just to refresh my memory, are these something
> special in construction or are they really just two polar electrolytics that
> are series connected + to + or - to - ???  In other words, can a nonpolar
> electrolytic be made DIY using two equal value polar electrolytics?
> (Obviously, the capacitance would be halved...)
>

Yes you 'can' do that.  A lot of people suggest that you bypass the center tap
of the capacitor to the negative supply with a resistor to be SURE that both
halves are biased properly.

I do NOT recommend using the series capacitor (nonpolar) in high AC ripple
current applications like a speaker crossover, etc...

The non polar lytics at Mouser come in two 'flavors' ... one for normal duty and
one for high ripple current. I use the normal one... most synth waveforms are not

more than a couple mA at best.  No problems there...

H^) harry