[Boatanchors] Re: GB> "Micamold" capacitors??

[Bill Stewart]

Sandy, I just finished replacing over a dozen mostly Micamold and a few Sola 
"black beauties" in my R-100/URR entertainment SW rcvr from the mid forties. 
These look like black dominos. At first the rcvr only had a slight hum in 
the spkr, no sigs coming thru. I replaced a few at the time then checked the 
rcvr....it was amazing to see it come back to life as I replaced the "B-B's" 
with orange drops. Now its a real hot SW rcvr. It works so good, I doubt if 
I will go back and check any resistors. I was glad it came back to life 
since this model rcvr was my first SWL rig in 1954. I'm gonna put the old 
"B-B's" in my safe deposit box and put on eBay if Social Security runs 
out...hi.....73 de Bill K4JYS
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sandy W5TVW" <ebjr at i-55.com>
To: <glowbugs at piobaire.mines.uidaho.edu>; "Boatanchors reflector" 
<boatanchors at theporch.com>
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2006 4:18 PM
Subject: GB> "Micamold" capacitors??


> Can anyone remember?  Micamold corporation used to make a rectangular 
> shaped molded
> series of mica AND paper capacitors that looked pretty much like the
> mica "postage stamp" capacitors nearly everyone made back in the
> 1940's and 1950's before the dipped mica capacitor came out.
> The question is:  how did one tell which was a paper capacitor and
> which was a mica capacitor?
> Seems like the color of the case material was the clue as I remember?
> I also think the papers were black and the micas were the yucky brown
> color?
>
> Micamold molded paper caps were VERY notorious for going leaky!
> ( Even worse than the infamous Sprague "Black Beauties"!)
>
> I remember replacing many, many in SCR-522 radios when trying
> to convert them to 2 meter AM rigs!  We even still had some in service
> in aircraft back in the mid and late 1950's.  (Some of our B-26 aircraft
> that didn't have the ARC-3 installed yet!)
>
> 73,
>
> Sandy W5TVW
>