[ARC5] [Milsurplus] Duracell Coppertop batteries and other things

[mstangelo at comcast.net]

I remember the era.

I bought some name brand electrolytics from Digi-Key. Years later I received a notice about a class action suit against the manufacturer with instructions on how to join the lawsuit. I didn't have any issues with the caps and just spent a couple of dollars so I didn't bother to replay.

I wondered what happened to that lawsuit? If I find the notice I may follow up.

Mike N2MS

> On 01/08/2023 1:15 PM Kenneth G. Gordon <kgordon2006 at frontier.com> wrote:
> 
>  

> > 
> > --Tom
> 
> I don't know if anyone or everyone here remembers the HUGE problems we had a number of 
> years ago with small electrolytic capacitors used in computers and peripherals, but it was 
> REALLY horrendous!
> 
> Some chinese fellow worked for awhile at a well-known Japanese manufacturer of 
> electrolytic capacitors, and stole their proprietory forumla for the electrolyte.....except that he 
> didn't get the entire formula.
> 
> Then he quit, went back to china, and somehow convinced chinese manufacturers to use his 
> stolen formula to make tens of millions of those small electrolytic caps used on computer 
> motherboards, peripherals, and power supplies, and since they were cheaper than the better 
> ones made in Japan, convinced even "high-end" makers of motherboards, like IBM (before 
> they sold their computer division to china) to install them in almost everything 
> computer-related made in the U.S.A.
> 
> VERY shortly after those things were built, the chinese capacitors failed, some 
> catastrophically, others a bit more slowly, and caused a HUGE problem with defective 
> motherboards, etc. 
> 
> We compiuter techs had considerable difficulty for some time keeping up with replacing 
> motherboards, and other crap.
> 
> Some few of us learned quite early on what to look for and how to replace the caps.
> 
> Although I was wary of chinese-made stuff before this, I have never trusted anything made in 
> china since then.
> 
> Ken W7EKB