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    Help with Sprague cap replacement

    What would be a suitable replacement for this Sprague capacitor. I wasn't able to find any info online for a H9111 cap. It's on an Outbound Mac clone notebook board from 1991. Pictures attached.
    Attached Files

    #2
    Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

    Are you sure the brown cap with "H9111" is a Sprague? It looks to me like a Nichicon cap with a date code indicating it was produced in week 11 of year 1991. I also see a "PR" text on the other brown cap next to it, so perhaps this is Nichicon PR series. Please confirm.

    If it is Nichicon PR series indeed, I do actually recommend replacing those, as I've seen plenty of these leak electrolyte from the bottom and destroy PCB traces. Direct replacement for Nichocon PR is Nichicon PS. However, PW and PM series will also work, size of capacitor permitting. I like PW the best, as I've really seen those prove themselves in the field. Not that PS and PM are untrustworthy (I use those too in my recaps)... but PW is known reliable workhorse.

    Other alternatives are Panasonic FC, Rubycon YXJ, and United Chemicon LXV, LXY, and LXZ. Chemicon KY and KYB series will probably also work, though. Most (if not all) of these should be easily obtainable through Digikey and Mouser.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

      Momaka, Nichicon’s history specifies that there was a time (September 1970 and July 1991 at least) where Nichicon and Sprague established a joint venture for producing tantalum capacitors, so it’s quite possible that Sprague was also distributing (putting their name on) genuine Nichicon electrolytic capacitors for a time. NCC also bought out part of Sprague’s electrolytic division IIRC, and their tantalum division was eventually sold to Vishay.

      But yes, I agree that replacing the PR, especially now that it is ~27.5 years old, is par for the course. Nichicon’s PR, PF, PL, PY, PQ, and PC series, etc, were all known leakers due to the use of quaternary ammonium salts in the electrolyte. All Japanese brands had their share of leaker series at the time due to this type of electrolyte.

      Nichicon PS is a fine choice for a replacement. PW are indeed excellent, like the above mentioned equivalent series from NCC (LXZ) - I’ve never seen either series fail and you can’t go wrong with them (so long as they are appropriately chosen for their application).

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

        The Nichicon PS series is supposedly the RoHS-compliant version of the PR series. Similarly the PM series is the RoHS-compliant version of the PL series. These probably are the best go-to series for replacing low impedance caps in vintage equipment.

        The UCC/NCC LXV series is a generation or two newer, but still a safer (= stability) choice than the LXZ or PW series (which are pretty much equivalents). I forget where Rubycon's YXJ series fits in that spectrum.

        In the late 70s into the mid-late 80s, Sprague's low ESR series were 672D (similar to NCC/UCC RX series), 673D/674D (similar to NCC/UCC RZ series), and 676D/677D series.
        Last edited by PeteS in CA; 09-12-2018, 03:41 PM.
        PeteS in CA

        Power Supplies should be boring: No loud noises, no bright flashes, and no bad smells.
        ****************************
        To kill personal responsibility, initiative or success, punish it by taxing it. To encourage irresponsibility, improvidence, dependence and failure, reward it by subsidizing it.
        ****************************

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          #5
          Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

          Thank you for the options! The H9111 is marked Sprague, just couldn't get a good angle for a picture.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

            Originally posted by Wester547 View Post
            Momaka, Nichicon’s history specifies that there was a time (September 1970 and July 1991 at least) where Nichicon and Sprague established a joint venture for producing tantalum capacitors, so it’s quite possible that Sprague was also distributing (putting their name on) genuine Nichicon electrolytic capacitors for a time. NCC also bought out part of Sprague’s electrolytic division IIRC, and their tantalum division was eventually sold to Vishay.
            Wow, didn't know that. Thank you!

            I just went by the picture the O/P posted, and both the text and the sleeve color of the cap (along with the "X") vent looked like Nichicon's so I went by instinct here.

            Originally posted by orangevw View Post
            Thank you for the options! The H9111 is marked Sprague, just couldn't get a good angle for a picture.
            Ah, that explains the "PR" text I saw on one of the sleeves.

            Still, is there no other text on the cap, other than the "H9111" and Sprague? I think there has to be a series somewhere.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

              Originally posted by momaka View Post
              Still, is there no other text on the cap, other than the "H9111" and Sprague? I think there has to be a series somewhere.
              Wow, my bad. I looked again and I missed grabbing a pic of that side. It says 517D(M).

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

                "517D" would be the series name. "(M)" is the tolerance, +/-20%.
                PeteS in CA

                Power Supplies should be boring: No loud noises, no bright flashes, and no bad smells.
                ****************************
                To kill personal responsibility, initiative or success, punish it by taxing it. To encourage irresponsibility, improvidence, dependence and failure, reward it by subsidizing it.
                ****************************

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

                  ^ Yup. And here is the datasheet for these (apparently owned by Vishay now):
                  https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...bb0c4a11d9.pdf

                  So looks like these are general purpose 105C-rated caps - i.e. probably no need to go with low ESR ones. That aside, is there a reason why you are changing these caps? Granted they are from 1991 (over 27 years old), so it's probably not a bad idea to change them anyways. But I'm curious if you have checked their ESR, just to make sure these caps are the source of whatever issue you may be having with the board (if there is even one?? )

                  As for replacements, looks like Nichicon VZ, Rubycon PX, and United Chemicon KMG should work. But the entry-level low ESR mentioned in my previous posts above may also be a good idea, if the circuit has any switching regulators on it.
                  Last edited by momaka; 09-14-2018, 01:23 AM.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

                    Hi,

                    Any recommended replacement suggestions for this:

                    Sprague 501D106M063LL
                    10uf 63V aluminium axial electrolytic - is there anything particularly special about it being axial, could I just flat mount a standard equivalent radial?

                    Actually quite interested where this brand considered to be any good?

                    I found some for sale and they seem to be selling for a ludicrous sum of money!


                    Thanks,
                    FS
                    Attached Files
                    Last edited by firespace; 02-06-2021, 04:36 AM.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

                      when in doubt - panasonic FR series.
                      axial vs radial - no difference performance wise.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

                        Axial caps usually are general purpose, nothing special about them, possibly excepting some that may be 105C. So, assuming such things are available, a 105C axial part that fits should be fine. If axial parts are not available then kludging is a general purpose 105C radial part should be OK (whatever series from a good brand with a good price).
                        PeteS in CA

                        Power Supplies should be boring: No loud noises, no bright flashes, and no bad smells.
                        ****************************
                        To kill personal responsibility, initiative or success, punish it by taxing it. To encourage irresponsibility, improvidence, dependence and failure, reward it by subsidizing it.
                        ****************************

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

                          how do u fit the legs of the radial cap through the holes meant for axial caps tho? there seems to be clearance issues and the lead spacing makes it awkward to fit one there.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

                            i like to bend one leg back along the cap and put a heatshrink sleeve over the cap so it looks like a radial.
                            you may have to extend the wire doing this.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

                              sometimes I wonder, will this be as bad as leaving radial caps not flush to the board...

                              No difference with extra wire length to fake an axial cap this way, right?

                              (I've straddled the two holes with a radial cap before too and bent both wires close to the board surface. Don't think it's any better or anything but yet another way to mount...)

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

                                if you extend the ground and keep the + short it's probably fine

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Re: Help with Sprague cap replacement

                                  Originally posted by eccerr0r View Post
                                  sometimes I wonder, will this be as bad as leaving radial caps not flush to the board...
                                  It depends on the circuit.

                                  Leaving radial caps "hanging in the air" is not always a bad thing. But again, it just depends on the circuit. For any switch-mode (read: relatively high frequency power switching), it can matter and is not recommended. But for GP stuff where high-frequency is usually not involved, the extra lead length of those axial or radial caps hardly matters. If you look on old boards with axial caps, anything high-frequency or RF that needs filtering is usually done with tantalum, ceramic, film, or a combo of these three. The electrolytics on these old boards are simply there for general "smoothing" (and in rare occasions, timing.)

                                  So using radial caps with long leads in place of axial ones is *usually* OK.

                                  Comment

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