[Boatanchors] Old Electrolytics Any Good?

[Vic Rosenthal]

Jamesnf at aol.com wrote:

> I stumbled across a box of 1000Mfd @ 450v electrolytics on a shelf in the 
> basement.  I think I brought these home from a hamfest 20 years ago, maybe 
> longer.  Is there any possibility these could still be usable after all this time?  
> Or should I just deposit them in the trash?

It's quite possible that they could be fine.  It wouldn't hurt to re-form them 
-- hook them to a variac-controlled power supply and bring the voltage up to 
450v slowly over a period of several hours.  Put a fuse or something in series 
to protect the power supply if the capacitor shorts.

-- 
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco