Poll: electrolytic capacitors

Panasonic, Nichicon, United Chem-Con, Vishay Sprague seem to be good.

Usually Panasonic but also at times Chemi-Con and Nichicon. Once in a blue moon I use Rubycon but they're expensive so only for special purposes (they make nice Alpo parts).

Any statement that combines "electrolytic cap", "best" and "bang" makes me nervous.

Would you rather replace "electrolytic" with "tantalum"? ;-)

Tantalums are very reliable if used properly. They don't dry out, or freeze out, like aluminum lytics.

We used them by the bucket-load in IBM. Not so much since. People are afraid of 'em. As you noted in another post, as long as you derate them by 2-3x, they're OK. However, at times the manufacturers lose the recipe and disaster happens. I use mostly ceramic now, but it's not hard to find aluminums rated from -40C to +125C.

And if you accidentally drag a grounded O-scope probe across a board that's connected to the hot wire, they throw these really pretty flaming bits around the lab.

(I didn't work for Intel for long, but when I was in the lab, people LEFT ME ALONE :) )

You know ive done that trick with the scope probe ground more times than id Like to admit. I had a thought the other day. How well would the scope work with 100 ohms in series with the ground clip. That would protect against many oooopsies. Im gonna try it.

Mark

That is so funny. Thanks.

Heh!

How about a small wire lead 1/8 amp fuse in the ground lead? Or even better, an isolation transformer to separate ground and neutral to your system under test?

They are fine at 1x rated voltage as long as peak current is limited. Like timing circuits or something, or bypassing current-limited rails. On serious power rails, derate 2:1 or so.

I've been using some Panasonic SMT electrolytics in the several thousand pieces quantity, and had good luck with them. These are all in their EEE series.

For places where a tantalum would be used, I use OxiCaps. Tantalums sometimes fail after being left unpowered for a few years, and can then burn if used to bypass a stiff power supply. I've had no problems with the OxiCaps, and have used a few thousand of them, too. (Some of our gear runs in vacuum, and that isn't too compatible with aluminum electrolytics.

Jon

"Joe Master", you didn't say ANYTHING about what you were actually aiming for. A thirty day warranty "Joe Master" is perfectly fine.

Even if current limited, they will fail short. They may not catch fire but it's still a failure. Of course we had 1KA supplies behind them so fires could be spectacular, particularly when the innerplane short grew large enough.

We've used over 150,000 tantalums in the last 10 years, and they are very reliable when used right.

With a 2-3x derating, sure. ...at lest until they lose the recipe again, as happens every so often.

Check, but i would put the Vishay first with Panasonic and Nichicon more-or-less tied for second.

Good for electronic "dogs"?