CJT wrote:
B. W. Salt. wrote:

In article , B Stanton
(ll.com) wrote:


There are also rectifiers that look like multiple square
pieces of metal separated by some rectifying material.



Those are selenium rectifiers. No longer used except as replacements
in very old equipment. Smell like rotten eggs when they fail.


Definitely not a good thing to breathe in.

I still have a

battery charger that uses selenium...

If you use it often, replace with silicon. A series resistor is
required to simulate the original voltage drop. As CJT notes, it's NOT
a good thing to breathe...poisonous, I've heard.

The old rectifier 'will' go out...not if, but when.


Do people repair
older equipment with this stuff for "authenticity?"


Often, restorers will use the shell of the old component to hide the
new--for authenticity. OTOH, some of those old wax caps bring high
prices on Ebay, due to a misguided quest for an 'authentic' sound.....

jak


Might well be so in the case of the capacitors, but one would have to
be really dedicated to authenticity, I would think, unless a modern
component doesn't fit the bill.