On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:20:05 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Mar 9, 10:39*pm, John Fields wrote:

As you now realize, Michael _wasn't the source, and I disagree with
your proposition that it would be potentially rational.

The reason? *Simple.

With a power supply connected opposite to the polarity indicated on
the capacitor, the anode oxide would be reduced but, at the same
time, the cathode would be oxidized leaving the total thickness of
the dielectric about the same, consequently keeping the capacitance
about the same.

I'm running a series of experiments to determine if that's the case,
and I'll post the results when I'm done.

If Wikipedia is right

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolytic_capacitor

then so are you. It isn't a foregone conclusion - some electrolytic
capacitor manufacturers might not use pure aluminium for the counter-
foil and it wouldn't take much of the wrong metal oxide in the
oxidised film to make it conductive enough to be irrelevant.

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True. Good point.
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Best of luck with your experiments.

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Thanks. :-)

BTW, here's an excellent link:

http://electrochem.cwru.edu/ed/encyc...electr-cap.htm

--
JF