[Boatanchors] 2013 myth

[Ron]

This brings to mind the (in)famous Red Cap Disease all Nakamichi cassette decks aficionados are 
familiar with. These orange PP caps were of low quality and tended to leak after a short 30 years 
of use     :-).  This has developed into a cult thing, where every ill in a Nakamichi cassette deck is 
believed curable by replacing every orange cap in sight. 

Recapping has blossomed into a general cure all. Practitioners claim that recapping has improved 
the sound of their deck. Often, dramatically. In some cases, this could even be true, if one of the 
replaced caps was actually leaky and the owner has managed the job without introducing new 
faults. In most cases, though, owners (having spent much time and money) hear what they expect 
and want to hear.

-- Ron






>________________________________
> From: J. Forster <jfor at quikus.com>
>To: Bill Cromwell <wrcromwell at gmail.com> 
>Cc: boatanchors at mailman.qth.net 
>Sent: Sunday, July 7, 2013 10:12 AM
>Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] 2013 myth
> 
>
>I think there is more myth than fact in this issue.
>
>The BBs have developed a cult following among the electric guitar fand. I
>can just see someone taking their vintage amp in for service and getting
>it back, and then complaning
>
>"Hey, dude. My amp doesn't sound right!! Whatt'd ya do to screw it up"
>
>"I replaced the leaky caps"
>
>"Put back the originals, to get my sound back  !!!!!!"
>
>When, in fact, the electrically BBs had biased a stage non-linear.
>
>YMMV,
>
>-John
>
>====================
>
>
>
>
>> On 07/07/2013 09:42 AM, J. Forster wrote:
>>> I would actually like to see some data on BB's. And I do not mean
>>> measuring those that have been removed because they have failed, which
>>> will obviously badly skew the stats.
>>>
>>> Do they, in fact, fail more than other similar caps of the same vintage?
>>>
>>> -John
>>>
>>> ===========
>>>
>>
>> Hi John,
>>
>> That's on my mind, too and it's why I asked. Some of the messages I have
>> read BB and other paper caps were tested after a "shotgun" replacement
>> and all found to be bad. Leakage has two different meanings in these
>> discussions. There is electrical leakage that can pull down the B+ or
>> apply DC voltage from a preceding stage. There is mechanical leakage
>> when oil and goo escape from the capacitor body. Some hams have
>> testified that goo covered caps sometimes were still working well as
>> caps. The suggestion is that BB caps fail more often than others. The OP
>> in this thread says "not so".
>>
>> There haven't been very many hard numbers.
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Bill  KU8H
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