I don't have a ESR meter or similar. It is
not shorted at least and the
resistance is in the several mega ohm range when measuring in circuit. Are
they likely to go bad in a non catastrophic way?
They can. The translucent yellow Rifa (now owned by Kemet) class X/Y
safety capacitors in particular have a 100% failure rate and are on my
replace-on-sight list. They usually begin to show visible signs of cracking
in their outer casing before they finally go out with a bang. It seems to
be due to chemical decomposition of the paper insulator which swells over
time and causes the case to crack. I usually replace them with a film
capacitor from Epcos of the same value and safety class.
This is a 0.0033 uF 1600VDC SPARAGUE capacitor. It looks nice and orange
and there are no signs of cracks whatsoever.
What is the likelihood of this being bad?
/Mattis
