From: "Brian Chase" <vaxzilla(a)jarai.org> Someone passed this along to me today. It's a current news item, but I though it at least tangentially relevant to classiccmp folks. You'll get a bang out of this one--quite literally: -> In September 2002, reports started to surface in the United States -> among brand name computer manufacturers that there were problems -> with low-ESR aluminum capacitors produced in Taiwan. Apparently, a -> poor-quality, water-based electrolyte had been supplied to multiple -> manufacturers of low-ESR aluminum electrolytic capacitors in -> Taiwan. Our intelligence sources in Taiwan later confirmed that as -> many as eleven manufacturers of low-ESR aluminum capacitors in -> Taiwan might have been exposed to the poor electrolyte. The -> electrolyte, which is a locally produced knock-off of the Japanese -> P-50 type water-based system, was produced without the proper -> additives required to stave off excess hydrogen gassing. Consequently, -> aluminum capacitors produced with the P-50 knock-off tend to fail -> catastrophically, by blowing open the rubber seal and leaking liquid -> electrolyte on the printed circuit board. These failures reportedly -> occur at half the rated lifetime of the components. http://www.ttiinc.com/MarketEye/zogbi_on_passives_20021014.asp ObClassicCmp: What are the expected lifespans of various capacitor types? I don't have any truly ancient systems, but some of them are coming up on the 20 yr mark. When should I look into replacing the old caps? -brian.