[sdiy] Electrolytic capacitor life

[Mark]

Reputable vendors will not guarantee caps over 15 yrs. They give them a 15 year shelf life. Outside that, the lifetime formulas are not valid. 
That doesn't mean they are junk, but from the moment they are sealed in the factory the electrolyte starts to evaporate. Good caps seal better and have better chemical additives. Cheap caps do not...

We binned our entire e cap stock from the lab a year ago and restocked. We had caps that were from the early 80's !

Mark

(Yes I know some of you will have older ones!) 


------Original Message------
From: Travis Shire
Sender: synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl
To: synth-diy DIY
Subject: Re: [sdiy] Electrolytic capacitor life
Sent: 15 Aug 2011 10:42

Here's where a good cap analyzer can be real handy. I always check at least 
a couple per mfgr/value/voltage when I get caps from surplus sellers. Most 
of the time they are ok, but occasionally I will find some that are marginal 
and pitch those.


> Hi all.
>
> A few years back I got many unused electro caps amongst other things from 
> a clear-out of a broadcast maintenance department that was closing-down. I 
> have heard that electro caps "dry out" over time. These particular caps 
> are probably around 10 - 20 years old.
>
> Are they any good? Recently I found and rejected at least one cap that 
> measured well below its rated capacity.
>
> I guess someone here has some real-life info on electro cap ageing.
>
> Any info would be most welcome. I'd have to re-stock quite a lot of 
> electros if the old ones are going to flake out......
>
> cheers,
> Dave
>
 

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