Source Of Capacitors?

you can get them with low shipping on ebay.

--

Jean-Yves.

If you're in the US or Canada, there is a little gem buried in Digi-Key's terms and conditions. From

:

--
II. Conditions of Order 
  6.  Shipping Charges 
    [...] When a check or money order accompanies your order, Digi-Key 
    pays all shipping and insurance (our choice for method of shipping) 
    to all addresses in the U.S. and Canada.

Just rip open a couple of those failed CFLs you have. There's a 15 or 20uF 200V capacitor in each one.

A couple of things come to mind...

1) What voltage?

2) 15uF is an odd value (although somewhat common). Where is it used? You might be able to get by with a 22uF which may be cheaper as it is a more common value.

3) What size is the cap? Yes, size does matter.

4) Where are you located? Shipping costs are based upon target location.

Dan

And why would you suppose that a failed CFL has good caps? It was probably the caps failing that killed the CFLs.

Not to be mixed up with the Canadian Football League!

John :-#)#

--
(Please post followups or tech inquiries to the newsgroup) 
John's  Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9 
(604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games) 
                      www.flippers.com 
        "Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

Per Allodoxaphobia:

That begs a question from somebody who has no clue electric-wise: Is the voltage of a capacitor just a capacity limit? i.e. can a 100v capacitor be replaced with a 300v capacitor with no problem?

I'm guessing the capacity in microfarads is critical. i.e. a 15uF cap cannot be replaced by a 30uF cap.

--
Pete Cresswell

Shipping costs are crazy, I sold a tek 465 minus the case, I allowed $32.95 for shipping. It cost Over $39.00 to ship. I recently bought an HP8640B that turned out to by not working, I shipped it back, it cost $43.95 to ship. I got my $430 returned on the Ebay purchase to cover the item and shipping. But I have not been offered the defective item return shipping costs. I even made my offer contingent that the frequency counter work. I noted in their pictures that the display read zero and the range setting was 512 Mhz. I pointed out it could be the int/ext switch and to verify proper operation. When I got it the counter didn't work. I'll keep arguing my case. I should get me new working 8640B today, they tried delivery yesterday, I wasn't home when they came by. Mikek

You might have shipped it to me as I fix them: However, you won't like my rates. I get two types of customers for such repairs. One is the bargain hunter, who also wants a bargain repair. I can't afford to give away my time. The other needs the HP840B because its cavity oscillator has one of the lowest phase noise specs (for the price) and is willing to pay my exorbitant rates.

That's why I like to buy items with "free shipping". If there's a refund, it includes the paid shipping cost. However, you're still stuck with paying the return shipping.

I about 4 hrs trying to fix an HP8640B that has similar symptoms. I traced signals, changed modules, and swapped boards, with no progress. I eventually discovered that the INT/EXT time base switch, on the rear panel has fallen apart and there was no clock. I thought this was an oddity, but I've seen it on two similar signal generators, and have exchanged email with another HP8640B owner that has the same problem.

Good luck. At about 50 lbs, I'm sure the delivery person will not be thrilled with another missed delivery, and will probably throw it through a window just to get rid of it. I suggest that you plan on being home.

As for small quantities of caps, I buy those on eBay. However, the chances of getting garbage is high, so I always buy duplicate parts from two different vendors. If I find something that's worthwhile, I then buy a 100x bag of the same brand.

Testing the caps is easy if you have an ESR meter. The problem is that I'm not sure my method is 100% reliable as I've only done it with about 10 different types of caps. Therefore, do not assume that this works quite yet. I place a cap in boiling water and in the oven. The ESR does *NOT* drop as it should when the cap is hot, it is likely to fail. Unfortunately, all the caps, good and bad, have their ESR go up radically when cold, which doesn't help.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

"Trevor Wilson"

** Shame about the MILLIONS of electros used in audio equipment as coupling caps that have no DC bias on them.

.... Phil

DigiKey.com is cheap for US shipping on orders that weigh no more than

8 ounces because they ship them through the US Postal Service.

I don't know how trustworthy Alibaba is, but most Ebay capacitor dealers sell low grade brands or even counterfeits, but one of the few honest dealers is:

They buy surplus from Japan, but I don't think they have many high voltage capacitors.

I've seen counterfeits sold by DealExtreme.com, including some capacitors meant to be Nichicon brand (4 radial spokes stamped on top), and some of them looked a lot like Teapo (3 radial spokes with a dot between each pair):

I think I've also seen counterfeit Sanyo/Sun caps with those Teapo markings instead of the usual Sanyo/Sun fat "K" stamp on top.

DIGIKEY. 4 caps $7.50 ea. + $33.00 to ship to CAN.

I just went through the thread, and I don't see any indication of where the original poster is.

It's not just an issue of country, but city. Someone out in a little town isn't likely to be able to visit an electronic parts store, but if they guy lived in Canada and lived in Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal, there surely is some place they could go to buy parts.

Has Active Electronics been whiped out? I don't know abut the US, but in Canada they had outlets in the major cities, and you could just walk in, and either pull parts off the rack, or for more exotic parts, fill out a form, and they'd fulfill it on the spot.

Michael

I am 10 miles from Los Angeles and I get caps from Digikey or Mouser or Antique Radio Supply. Fry's is a joke. Radio Shack is depressing.