Shelf life of a capacitor?

[Frihed89]

You don't want electrolytics in your signal path for any reason. That use will make them degrade even more quickly. if you stick to Jensen, Black Gate and Audio Note (or others of this type quality), a lot of other stuff will go bad before the caps.

 

[Carl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frihed89 /img/forum/go_quote.gif You don't want electrolytics in your signal path for any reason. That use will make them degrade even more quickly. if you stick to Jensen, Black Gate and Audio Note (or others of this type quality), a lot of other stuff will go bad before the caps.

Black Gates are electrolytics.

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif Black Gates are electrolytics.

Black Gates are the gods of electrolytics so they never die. :^) Many amps use electrolytics as decoupling caps (in the signal path) for the output for headphone home amps. I use BlackGates for this but they are too expensive for most manufactures if they want to keep within a certain price range.

 

[cotdt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamato8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Black Gates are the gods of electrolytics so they never die. :^) Many amps use electrolytics as decoupling caps (in the signal path) for the output for headphone home amps. I use BlackGates for this but they are too expensive for most manufactures if they want to keep within a certain price range.

M-Audio uses blackgates for some of their sound cards =)

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cotdt /img/forum/go_quote.gif M-Audio uses blackgates for some of their sound cards =)

Audio Note UK uses them like popcorn in some of their equipment. Peter Q, the owner redid a highend TV with them and said the difference was astounding.

 

[cotdt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamato8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Audio Note UK uses them like popcorn in some of their equipment. Peter Q, the owner redid a highend TV with them and said the difference was astounding.

hmm... then maybe we should all start using them in computer motherboards. i've been through around 6 different motherboards with blown capacitors! damn jamicons!

 

[GotNoRice]

Though none use tubes, I have several solid state receivers from the mid-70's that are going strong. The main Yamaha 240wpc amp I use with my Little-Dot as a pre-amp was made between 1979-82 and is going as strong as ever. Of the two pairs of speakers I use (with caps in the crossovers), the production years are 1978-82 and 1985-88, both pairs going strong.

So yeah, caps that don't suck should last a good long time.

 

[kipman725]

I have some electrolitics that still work and are about 80-90 years old from very old radios. Not sure if they still have the full capacitance but the radios are still working so they have sufficiant

Some electrolitics are just bad though due to manufacturing defects and die within a few months/years.

The amp im currently listening to has 4 47000uF capacitors in it (there massive!) and there working just fine (power the amp for a whole minuite or so after power off). they are about 35years old.

 

[cotdt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kipman725 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have some electrolitics that still work and are about 80-90 years old from very old radios. Not sure if they still have the full capacitance but the radios are still working so they have sufficiant Some electrolitics are just bad though due to manufacturing defects and die within a few months/years. The amp im currently listening to has 4 47000uF capacitors in it (there massive!) and there working just fine (power the amp for a whole minuite or so after power off). they are about 35years old.

yes, i looked into the chemistry of some of the older electrolytics and some of the best electrolytics today like Blackgates, and the chemicals used is entirely different. i speculate that certain electrolytics may well outlast several human lifetimes. but i've also used electrolytics that only lasted 2 years before exploding!

 

[Spareribs]

What about the capacitors used in the Singlepower PPX3 amps?

According to the website, the PPX3 uses Multiple Stages of Filter capacitors. I don't know what that means but do those capacitors have a good shelf life?

 

[lowmagnet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cotdt /img/forum/go_quote.gif hmm... then maybe we should all start using them in computer motherboards. i've been through around 6 different motherboards with blown capacitors! damn jamicons!

I'm pretty sure part of that was due to industrial spies stealing part of a formula and reverse-engineering the last part of it. It pretty much affected every supplier of computers for the last 2-3 years.

 

[Harricanes]

New caps are far better than the older versions. Better construction, tighter tolerances, and better specs.

Senseless to pay $200 for an interconnect while leaving 20-30 year old caps in your preamp, amp or tuner, especially in the audio path.

I've had good luck with Panasonic and Nichicon caps and I don't think I would worry about brands.

Having said that, I'll warn you that discussing pros and cons of various brands of caps can lead to long boring and not so boring flame wars.