MOTM

Hello,
    Another newbie question I'm afraid but could anyone please tell 
me what the normal life expectancy is for electrolytic capacitors as 
I have seen some panasonic ones stated to be 2000 hours. Is this 
longer or shorter than usual? How does this compare to say Mouser 
equivalents?
     Thanks in anticipation
                   Kerry




















/

Well, ya know that's the manufacturers warranty. Like a fridge with a one
year warranty, lasts for 20 years and you throw it out only because it got
too ugly?

Caps are probably better than they used to be but you might want to Google
the subject if you really want something MORE to worry about....:> !!!

BTW I had a Canon HI-8 video cam in the 90's. It was a beautiful thing but
apparently, the SM caps all went bad in 2 years. At least that was the
story that one repair shop gave me; wanting $200 to replace ALL the
caps.....grrrrr.


> Hello,
>     Another newbie question I'm afraid but could anyone please tell
> me what the normal life expectancy is for electrolytic capacitors as
> I have seen some panasonic ones stated to be 2000 hours. Is this
> longer or shorter than usual? How does this compare to say Mouser
> equivalents?
>      Thanks in anticipation
>                    Kerry
>
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> /
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-- 
John Blacet

My rear-projection TV had this problem; the symptom was that vertical sync
seemed to be erratic, with the picture jumping up and down. It turned out to
be the picture-in-picture board. The service person said a Chinese capacitor
company had recently won all the business with super low prices, but the
lifetime of their caps was turning out to be incredibly short. Once we
replaced all their caps the board was fine and has been working for about 13
years now. -BobC

From: motm@yahoogroups.com [mailto:motm@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of John
Blacet
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 5:01 PM
To: motm@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [motm] electrolytic capacitor life span.......

 

Well, ya know that's the manufacturers warranty. Like a fridge with a one
year warranty, lasts for 20 years and you throw it out only because it got
too ugly?

Caps are probably better than they used to be but you might want to Google
the subject if you really want something MORE to worry about....:> !!!

BTW I had a Canon HI-8 video cam in the 90's. It was a beautiful thing but
apparently, the SM caps all went bad in 2 years. At least that was the
story that one repair shop gave me; wanting $200 to replace ALL the
caps.....grrrrr.

> Hello,
> Another newbie question I'm afraid but could anyone please tell
> me what the normal life expectancy is for electrolytic capacitors as
> I have seen some panasonic ones stated to be 2000 hours. Is this
> longer or shorter than usual? How does this compare to say Mouser
> equivalents?
> Thanks in anticipation
> Kerry
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> /
>
>

-- 
John Blacet

At 10:42 PM 10/24/2007 -0000, kerryhoop wrote:

>    Another newbie question I'm afraid but could anyone please tell 
>me what the normal life expectancy is for electrolytic capacitors as 
>I have seen some panasonic ones stated to be 2000 hours. Is this 
>longer or shorter than usual? 

I manage and co-own an arcade that operates games going back to 1977, so
I've got some experience with component life.  :)

We have to cap (replace the capacitors in) our monitors every 3 or 4 years.
 The games operate around 5000 hours per year, so figure 15k-20k hours of
life for that application.  I'd guess some of our capacitors could have
over 100,000 hours on them, but those are in less demanding circuits.
Vector games (Tempest, Star Wars, Asteroids, etc.) tend to go through caps
faster, but they have more heat & higher AC currents.  Those are your two
biggest enemies with electrolytics.  I take that back - being manufactured
in China or Taiwan w/ inferior electrolytic formulations is THE biggest
enemy.  ;)

My guess is the 2000 hour rating is for the maximum voltage, current, &
temperature ratings.  The datasheet should say something about this.

Jeffrey

PS Thanks for reminding me - it's time for our yearly capping party!
Nothing quite like an afternoon of pizza, solder, and dusty monitor pcbs.
:)

>BTW I had a Canon HI-8 video cam in the 90's. It was a beautiful thing but
>apparently, the SM caps all went bad in 2 years. At least that was the
>story that one repair shop gave me; wanting $200 to replace ALL the
>caps.....grrrrr.

Some of the surface mount electrolytics have a sinister reputation. Sony's
camcorders are famous for this as well (although mine are still working).
It's also happened to motherboards. Welcome to the future...

At 5:54 PM -0700 10/24/07, J.D. McEachin wrote:
>We have to cap (replace the capacitors in) our monitors every 3 or 4 years.
> The games operate around 5000 hours per year, so figure 15k-20k hours of
>life for that application.  I'd guess some of our capacitors could have
>over 100,000 hours on them, but those are in less demanding circuits.
>Vector games (Tempest, Star Wars, Asteroids, etc.) tend to go through caps
>faster, but they have more heat & higher AC currents.  Those are your two
>biggest enemies with electrolytics.  I take that back - being manufactured
>in China or Taiwan w/ inferior electrolytic formulations is THE biggest
>enemy.  ;)

I have a Tempest sitting here with a monitor that dies if you put the back
door on. Wonder what it could be...?

-- 

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

At 09:38 PM 10/24/2007 -0400, KA4HJH wrote:

>I have a Tempest sitting here with a monitor that dies if you put the back
>door on. Wonder what it could be...?

Probably the deflection transistors overheating.  You might want to freshen
up the heatsink grease, as well as drill some holes in the back & mount a
fan to blow across the deflection board.  While you're at it, you may want
to upgrade the transistors to a bigger package (w/ more surface area) - see
http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_VAtari6.html .  Even if these things
don't fix the problem, they'll extend the life of your deflection board.

Good luck!
Jeffrey

PS Don't work on a monitor unless you know how to discharge it properly!