Re: Replacing Electrolytics

On Tue, 23 Jul 2024 17:34:45 +0100, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com>
wrote:

HI all,
>
Electrolytics of all values tend to fall under suspicion when any
vintage piece of equipment develops a fault. I'm just seeking a bit of
clarification on a couple of points:
>
1) Axial electros are getting really hard to find new and even my old
spares bin doesn't have that many to choose from. I find increasingly
there's no option but to replace axials with radials. This results in
longer lead lengths than one would like, however. Is that likely to be
a problem generally speaking (ignoring the issue of whether they can
be accommodated on a board 'expecting' axials).
>
2) Unused old caps ("NOS" stock). Is there any reason why one
shouldn't use NOS electros for repairs?  Assuming they can be reformed
and pass muster with an ESR meter, of course?
>
Yes, I know ideally you'd want to use brand new caps, but with so many
cheap Chinese fakes around, I'm wondering if I'd be better off using
NOS caps from unquestionably high-end manufacturers. Even Mouser's
supply chain got infected with these a while ago!

NOS electrolytics should be re-formed before re-use.

This is a standard requirement for parts approaching end of
shelf-life.

RL