DIYbanter - View Single Post - Who makes RELIABLE modern electrolytic caps?

Ralph Mowery

In article ,
says...

Even the big name companies have problems. I have some test get that I
bought surplus when the cell phones went from the 800 Meg to higher
frequencies. The $ 50,000 piece of gear had capacitors go bad in the
switching supplies. That was made around 1995 so they only lasted about
20 years.

I don't know how long they will last, but I just bought a lot of
capacitors from China off ebay. About a dozen of them are in use in my
equipment and have worked for the last 3 months. They may or may not go
out today. I would not put them in equipment that I was repairing for
anyone for money, but this isfor my hobby work.

I don't think you're understanding why they died.

I think I have a fair understanding of why capacitors die.

The could be made out of crap materials like the ones on the computer
boards.

The switching power supplies really stress capacitors and they need to
have a low ESR.

Heat will be bad for them. Some are rated around 85 and some are rated
over 100 deg C.

The voltage ratings should be in the correct range. If they sit around
a long time some will need to be reformed to meet the voltage
requirement. Some of the capcitors are formed at a higher voltage than
they are rated for to insure that as they age on the shelf they will
still meet the rated specifications when used year or more later.