23 Apr
2020
23 Apr
'20
5:43 p.m.
Hey this is all super useful info, thanks!
Any idea how to visually identify a tantalum cap? I suppose I could Google
it but maybe standards have changed between 1984 and 2020?
On Thu, Apr 23, 2020, 8:06 PM Jon Elson via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
wrote:
On 04/23/2020 12:53 PM, Robert via cctalk wrote:
I'm under caffeinated and not really with it
yet, having recently gone
semi
nocturnal, so you'll want to double check
this with someone who's
actually
awake.
That said, variacs aren't a universal panacea and can sometimes be
harmful
rather than helpful. My disorganized memory is
offering TVs as an
example,
but take that with a pinch of salt. I've only
ever used them with tube
radios and amps, so have nothing further to offer, save this caution.
Well, if the power supply is all linear, a Variac is
probably fine to slowly ramp up the capacitors and
let the dielectric reform.
If it has switching power supplies, this can cause the
supply to try to operate at severe undervoltage, and cause
damage. On the other hand, powering it up to 10 V or so on
the AC input for a few minutes
is unlikely to allow the switching stage to start up, but
will reform the main input storage caps.
It won't reform the low voltage caps in the rest of the
unit, though. You could apply low voltage
(1-2 V for a minute or two) to each low voltage rail before
fully powering on. Especially if it
has bunches of tantalum caps in the logic, that could
prevent disaster.
Jon