The thing is, whereas I wouldn't just turn on
a 1980s business
computer with multiple moving parts, the donations chap at TNMOC has
put The Fear into me by sternly warning me Not To Turn Any Of Them On,
because They Will Blow Up.
Well, In my years of doing this hobby I've literally powered up about 30+ o=
ld computers of about the same age as the BBC or older, and in that time I'=
ve only ever had a single blown cap in a single power supply. The worst par=
t of it was the smell. The bang was a little shocking, but nothing to freak=
out about. I would just recommend you stay close to the on/off switch at t=
he mains.
I;'ve had afew go up, but it;s not all that common, I agree.
If a mains filter capcitor decides to fail it generally doesn't do any
other damage. It just goes bang. It doesn't even blow the fuse most of the
time.
In gneral, if one capacitor in the mains filter circuit has failed, I
change the lot. There are normally only 4 or 5 of them.
-tony