On Friday, 29 September 2017 03:31:04 UTC+1, wrote:
On 28 Sep 2017 22:09:50 GMT, Jim Mueller wrote:

Jeff was lucky, his capacitors failed quickly while he still had the
radio apart. My experience was different, each one lasted months, so I
ended up taking the set apart numerous times to replace one capacitor
each time. I learned from that, now I replace them all at one go. But
if you like taking things apart repeatedly, that's up to you.

Considering my age, it probably dont matter, but I bet all the modern
caps will fail in far less time than those old paper caps. Nothing these
days is made as well as in the old days. Caps that are still working
after 70 years were not poorly made. I think a lot of that was because
in those days, people had respect for their customers, anad wanted the
name of their company to stand out. That was before our "throw away
society". That is no longer the case.

Add to that, the fact that most caps are now made in China, and I know
they wont last. I try to get all NOS Orange Drop caps. They were made in
the USA and were top of the line. They cost more, but are the only ones
I consider worth buying.

Capacior reliability is another topic to learn about. The 3 unreliable types are electrolytic, paper and multilayer ceramic. Other types are extremely reliable. Unfortunately most 1950s or earlier small caps are paper, and most are well & truly shot now. Replacing old papers with new plastic film is a big reliability & longevity upgrade.


NT