[Boatanchors] [Milsurplus] Micamold Recovery

[Ed via Boatanchors]

Dave and other s  connected  with  this...
 
I think it is a GREAT experiment...
yes   heat and seal and good for another 50 years and they look  right.
 
I support this  effort.
Keep us posted!
 
Ed Sharpe archivist  for SMECC
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 6/4/2014 12:19:35 P.M. Mountain Standard Time,  
arc5 at ix.netcom.com writes:

Thank  you for all the input.  I do understand the 
"conventional wisdom"  concerning MicaMolds,
but I'm not convinced just yet.  
Here's  why:  These caps were all produced about
70 years ago and have been  taking-up water at about
the same rate.  They have been aging as a  group.
Capacitors or coconuts- age a group of things 
produced at about  the same time and they'll 
all be in about the same shape.

We got  them over the last 20 of those years.
Many of them have taken-up water (as  would be 
expected) and test "bad."
We've had to change them, leading us  to curse them 
and just change them all- it's only human nature.
But, as  far as I know, no one has tried to drive the
water out, re-seal them and  see if they can make another
50 years (or better, since we have better  stuff to seal them).

I like the way they look and I like the  possibility of 
"original replacements."  Got nothing to lose but a  little 
time and effort.   So here's what I plan to do:
Coat  the "dried-out" caps with varnish or poly..
anyone know which is a better  water barrier?
Then build a low-freq oscillator using all of  this
handful of caps, plug it in and leave it running
for a loooooong  time.  Like two years.
See what the "mean time between failures"  
really is.  If they stay in service with no failures
for a year or  two (which passes quickly at our age)
or if they pop like popcorn after a  week,
I'll let ya know. 

73 DE Dave  AB5S

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