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Questions tagged [electrolytic-capacitor]

An energy-dense polarized capacitor type, used in low-frequency filtering applications.

6 votes
3 answers
4k views

What does the term 'lifetime' mean for electrolytic capacitors

I am making a circuit for a car and a regulator is used to get from 12V to 5V. This regulator is surrounded by two 10 uF electrolytic capacitors rated at at 25V. These capacitors have a 'lifetime' of ...
Kafros's user avatar
  • 165
6 votes
2 answers
1k views

What do "cycles" in a capacitor mean?

I'm trying to replace some old leaky capacitors for this radio I'm working on and in the data sheet they have this rating of cycles for the large capacitors near the bottom of the sheet here: What ...
Capn Jack's user avatar
  • 777
6 votes
3 answers
5k views

Is it safe to use series polarized capacitors to form non-polarized capacitors to be used for higher rated voltage?

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab It is known that we can use series capacitors to increase rated voltage. But I want to know how far we can push this feature to? ...
Alper91's user avatar
  • 1,313
6 votes
3 answers
784 views

Electrolytic capacitors connected with one terminal only?

I've got an ordinary PC motherboard. So, out of curiosity, I started looking at the power circuits on it and found several large 1000–1500 μF electrolytic caps: It's easy to see that their cathodes ...
ulidtko's user avatar
  • 178
6 votes
1 answer
259 views

Why is this circuit drawing excessive current (Suspected culprit: Large capacitor on switching DC-to-DC Converter Output)?

On a PCB of mine I'm employing two ADP2504 Switching DC-to-DC Converters (one fixed version outputting 3.5V and one adjustable version set to output 4V) which have their inputs connected to the output ...
entrée's user avatar
  • 103
6 votes
2 answers
3k views

Capacitor value in schematic with "mk" units

I've got a schematic that originated in Brazil that generally uses European symbols rather then US. But some values for capacitors are confusing me. There are several that are marked 100n and so ...
tcrosley's user avatar
  • 48.2k
5 votes
5 answers
13k views

How to remove remnants of a capacitor pin?

I want to replace swollen capacitors on a motherboard. Unfortunately, when removing one of them, a fragment of a pin has stuck in the PCB: I tried to remove it using pliers, but it only made the ...
kinokijuf's user avatar
  • 906
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why are SMT electrolyic capacitors so much more expensive than their through-hole counterparts?

I noticed recently that there's a large discrepancy in price between electrolytic caps that are surface mount and those that are through-hole, particularly at higher working voltages. Here's a good ...
PKL's user avatar
  • 398
5 votes
2 answers
5k views

Why do some capacitors not have vents?

Some (electrolytic) capacitors I have in a kit have vents, some do not (not on the top, not on the bottom). The vents are there to safely let the gas out instead of letting the capacitor shoot. So ...
Kevin Van Ryckegem's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
451 views

Sprague 673D Electrolytic Capacitors

I have vintage Heathkit H89 computer from late 1970's and early 1980's. It uses linear type power supply and used Sprague 673D series electrolytic capacitors; two 10,000uF @ 15WVDC for +8V circuit and ...
sfeinsmi's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
16k views

Why, when calculating rise time, do we use 2.2·τ? (RC low-pass circuit)

I am just trying to understand why we use 2.2·τ when calculate the rise time. I can't find a derivation anywhere, I don't understand where this 2.2 comes from.
user3474943's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why some electrolytic capacitors have a bigger distance between their two legs?

SE fellas Today I was thinking about electrolytic capacitors. it's a question to me Why some electrolytic capacitors have(or manufacturers make) a bigger distance between their two legs? I'm talking ...
Roh's user avatar
  • 4,650
5 votes
2 answers
805 views

Voltage drop due to leakage current in capacitors in series

When capacitors are connected in series in a DC circuit, the voltage drop across individual capacitors at and immediately after the initial charging period is inversely proportional to the individual ...
Duke William's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
6k views

What direction to place electrolytic caps for AC coupling?

If using polarised electrolytic caps in an amplifier circuit as shown below, Does it matter which way round I place the caps? If so, why?
learnvst's user avatar
  • 1,341
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Electrolytics and PCB Routing

In researching whether or not it's common practice to run traces/place vias underneath electrolytic capacitors (specifically SMD electrolytics, didn't seem like it would be an issue to me), I came ...
User7251's user avatar
  • 365

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