Capacitors -- replacements?

That's the punch line of "NOS" capacitors: if they are as old as the ones you're replacing, you're replacing crap with crap. Many folks have noted that caps sitting on the shelf aren't any better off than those sitting in a power supply. When I was rebuilding power supplies on our VAX-11s, I sought replacement units with as close physical dimensions as I could find. In one case, I had to use a Dremel tool to "oval out" the mounting holes to fit the new units. The PCB had plenty of plating to accommodate the new spacing, or this would not have been successful. YMMV. If the new caps are dramatically smaller than the originals and you are not seeking to perform historical restoration, perhaps consider caps with wire leads, crimp-fit lugs on the leads and screw/nut fasteners through the original PCB holes. I think the idea of hollowing out the original caps is "too much work to have fun." I'd far rather document for future generations (since I'm doing a historical restoration) why I "ovalled" the holes or otherwise mounted a capacitor of different dimensions -- Ian ________________________________________ From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Chuck Guzis [cclist at sydex.com] Sent: Friday, December 10, 2010 11:58 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Capacitors -- replacements? On 10 Dec 2010 at 21:57, ben wrote: Nothing exact, but some pretty close-enough stuff. How reliable are these NOS caps? They've got to be pretty old. --Chuck