The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

[Heihachi_73]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

Here's few pics in support for ELNA quality, from 36 year old amplifier. Haven't measured them (yet) but still going strong with no bulging or serious voltage leaking.

My 1979 Sharp SM-1122 has Elna caps as well, still going strong as my main PC amp.

[rrick]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

Those must be oooold, or they might be custom. The nichicon GU datasheet says they are white on black sleeve. I am not suspecting fakes at all, just, what is their capacitance and voltage rating?

The board they are soldered to is copyright 2000, but build date is 2004. They are 105C 22x50mm 470uF @ 250V. There are 4 at this size on the board, on the DC side. And one 105C 25x27mm Green GU 100uF 400V on the AC side. Pre China Xantrex 2000W inverter, 100A 12V charger combo, got for a steal due to that slow AC switchover relay. The conformational coating really does a job at keeping PCBs looking new.

Is it bad I am marveling at the largest capacitors, aka the non-5V circuits on the device? All others look fine by visual (and at this point, that is my go/nogo test before I bolt her back up).

[ben7]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

The board they are soldered to is copyright 2000, but build date is 2004. They are 105C 22x50mm 470uF @ 250V. There are 4 at this size on the board, on the DC side. And one 105C 25x27mm Green GU 100uF 400V on the AC side. Pre China Xantrex 2000W inverter, 100A 12V charger combo, got for a steal due to that slow AC switchover relay. The conformational coating really does a job at keeping PCBs looking new.

Is it bad I am marveling at the largest capacitors, aka the non-5V circuits on the device? All others look fine by visual (and at this point, that is my go/nogo test before I bolt her back up).

No, it is good to marvel all the stuff, however, that is only my opinion!

Yep, all those caps are legit GU series. The 100uF 400v is 25x25mm, not 25x27. But I am guessing that was just error on your part. Since 27 is close to 25

[ouimetnick]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

Brands I like (and use) include Nippon/United Chemic Con, Rubycon, Nichicon, Elna, and the others mentioned here.

I've never had any bad Jamicon caps, but I've seen photos of bad ones. Maybe they had several bad batches?

[theOracle]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

That reflects well on what Elna produced 15 years ago. I've worked in power electronics since 1980, and with a few noteworthy exceptions (the Nichicon HMs and HNs in that defective 2003-2004 batch and more recently, NCC/UCC KZG and KZJ) Nichicon and NCC/UCC have been the standard for comparison, and Rubycon and Panasonic are of the same class.

the Nichicon PF (M) series from the late 1980's through most of the 1990's had leakage issues, these caps played havoc with many automotive ECU's, especially Japanese cars.

The problem was the use of quaternary ammonium salt compounds.

the following capacitors from this time period had issues:

Nichicon: RZ, RT, VZ, ET, PR, PY, PF, PL, PQ, PG, MX, WX, WP, MP
Nippon Chemicon: LXF, TXF, SXE, SXG, MVK, MFK, MVF, MFF
Elna: RSH, RSG, RSE, RC2S, RC3S

The production of capacitors that contain quaternary ammonium salt / compounds were ended on September 1998. The final one was Nichicon PF series. The PF series were kind of special version with expensive materials both rubbers and lead wires used. Those had extend lifespan but still it was shorter than conventional ones.

[mockingbird]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

Excellent post theOracle.

[ben7]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

Excellent post theOracle.

Indeed.

Anybody have issues with sprague capacitors? I had a box of misc components that I bought, and one spague capacitor in there (orange, 8x11mm) was bulging. It still had it's regular leads too (not soldered or clipped down)

[Reaper27]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

here's the sites also

Nichicon - http://www.nichicon-us.com/ http://www.nichicon.co.jp
Nippon / United Chemi-Con http://www.low-esr.com/ http://www.niccomp.com/ http://www.chemi-con.com/
Panasonic - http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/components/
Rubycon - http://www.rubycon.com/
Sanyo - http://www.sanyo.com/components/

New Member, good info

[kaboom]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

the following capacitors from this time period had issues:

Nichicon: RZ, RT, VZ, ET, PR, PY, PF, PL, PQ, PG, MX, WX, WP, MP
Nippon Chemicon: LXF, TXF, SXE, SXG, MVK, MFK, MVF, MFF
Elna: RSH, RSG, RSE, RC2S, RC3S

Thanks, added those to my 'notes.'

[PeteS in CA]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

Sprague got sold to NCC/UCC a decade or two ago. So any Sprague 'lytic you might find will be old or older.

[theOracle]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

Marcon was a good Japanese capacitor - a subsidiary of Toshiba, was later acquired by Nippon Chemi-con - have yet to ever see a bad one.

[ben7]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

Marcon was a good Japanese capacitor - a subsidiary of Toshiba, was later acquired by Nippon Chemi-con - have yet to ever see a bad one.

Yep, indeed! I've got a couple of capacitors from them I can show. Their vents are just a 'V' shape, not the 'V' like rubycon.

[theOracle]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

We've spent so much time and posts here ragging on the bad caps brands (and rightly so), but neglected to mention the good ones out there. If you're planning on recapping your board, these brands of caps are definitely good brands to use.

1) Rubycon (My personal favorite)
2) Sanyo/Nippon
3) Nichicon
4) Mallory
5) Panasonic

could you edit post#1 to include Nippon Chemi-con/United Chemi-con? - As the largest capacitor manufacturer in the world for the last 50 years, they have made more "good" capacitors than anyone in history, it seems a shame to leave them out of the first post!

whereas Mallory hasn't made any capacitors under their own name in over a decade

[theOracle]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

anyone know who is the largest distributor for the Suncon (Sanyo) WG's?

[moonhack]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

Hello everyone! I have a question which might be somewhat stupid, also I hope this is the appropriate place to ask: how do you know which capacitors are good or bad?

I see everyone here says Rubycon is a good brand but I have an iMac G5 with 12 inflated Rubycon capacitors, so I guess it only applies to older batches? How would you know just by looking if a certain capacitor is going to fail? I'm about to buy this working G5 and the capacitors seem fine, but maybe it's just luck that they've never bulged? The owner does not know if they were replaced. How would you know?

Thanks!

[moonhack]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

Whoops, sorry for double posting, the failing ones are KZJ. It is Chemi-Con, isn't it?
It also has MCZ Rubycons which haven't failed.
Are these three letters a good way of knowing if the capacitor is bad?
Is there any list with the bad cap series to avoid?

[Wester547]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

Hello everyone! I have a question which might be somewhat stupid, also I hope this is the appropriate place to ask: how do you know which capacitors are good or bad?

I see everyone here says Rubycon is a good brand but I have an iMac G5 with 12 inflated Rubycon capacitors, so I guess it only applies to older batches? How would you know just by looking if a certain capacitor is going to fail? I'm about to buy this working G5 and the capacitors seem fine, but maybe it's just luck that they've never bulged? The owner does not know if they were replaced. How would you know?

Thanks!

A capacitor can fail without bulging or leaking (or without any visual indications or unpleasant aromas). Chemi-con KZGs use unstable electrolyte, along with KZJ, KZV, TMZ, and TMV, which is why they're prone to failure, especially by way of heat (internal or external). Rubycon MCZ/MBZ are also sensitive to heat relative to how aqueous their electrolyte is but I wouldn't peg them as low as KZG and any series pertinent. Those iMacs run rather hot if I'm not mistaken so it's not hard for them to curtail the lifespan of electrolytic capactors.

You can't tell just by looking or smelling. The simplest way to tell if a capacitor is good or bad is to quite simply recap it with a "good" capacitor and ideally to obtain an ESR meter.

[moonhack]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

So I just received the working iMac and checked its insides... all the capacitors seem to be Rubycon MCZs with K tops, there isn't any bulging at all and the computer definitely works good. It's an ALS model and it seems to have been AHT tested back on 2006. It looks like it has been used since the insides were very dusty and it has some marks outside. Am I exempt of the cap plague or not?

Thanks.

[Pentium4]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

Marcon was a good Japanese capacitor - a subsidiary of Toshiba, was later acquired by Nippon Chemi-con - have yet to ever see a bad one.

I've seen one bad Marcon. It was 47uF 25V CE-US series, leaking out of the bottom of both legs. Other than that I have seen them in some really old equipment just fine

[japlytic]

Re: The GOOD Capacitors Thread!!

I've seen one bad Marcon. It was 47uF 25V CE-US series, leaking out of the bottom of both legs. Other than that I have seen them in some really old equipment just fine

I've seen a bad one (400V) in a online UPS unit from the mid-90s, but this does not necessarily mean it's a bad brand - an old Toshiba TV from the early-80s had Marcon electrolytics throughout and still runs.