On Wed, 8 Jun 2016 11:25:48 -0700 (PDT), whit3rd
wrote:

On Tuesday, June 7, 2016 at 5:10:12 PM UTC-7, Micky wrote:

[about a suspect capacitor] I'll replace it. Easy enough.

16volts 1000uF, I suppose the bag of caps in the basement for the last
30 years are too old to use???? If so I'll buy a new one.

If you have a suitable (15VDC, but 10V or 24V would work, too) power source,

The adapter for my laptop is 17v or thereabouts. I presume the
negative side goes to the negative on the capacitor?

clip it onto a few old capacitors overnight. The next morning, unclip 'em,
wait a few seconds, and any that make your voltmeter jump, are good to use.

Even if an old electrolytic doesn't meet its original specs after storage, it DOES
heal if you give it a voltage bias. I've done it in minutes with overvoltage
and a heat gun, but overnight at room temperature is good enough. The capacitor needs applied
voltage and time to re-form its oxide layer.

All very good, thank you. a) one cap is expensive by mail, plus
the postage. (Time is not much of a factor anymore. Mail order is a
lot faster than 50 years ago.) b) There was no point to saving
these capacitors if I can't use them anymore. c) There is only
one store in Baltimore that woudl have this and they fairly far away
and expensive. Hmm. Radio Shack is still in business, sort of. (They
used to have the best webpage, that said everything a specific store
had and how many of them. When I bought one, the number on the web
went down.) Well they sell the part but I've waited 10 minutes and
"Find in Store" never loads.

But I'll start with what I already have.