[Boatanchors] replacing oil filled capacitor in Viking II ?

[Rob Atkinson]

The PCB scare is 90% BS.  Don't worry about it.  Also don't worry
about the oil cap.  If it ever fails, you'll have enough warning.  The
rig will quit working and the fuse will blow.  The rig is fused right?
 It should be.  Until then, it isn't a problem until it's a problem if
it ever is a problem.

There are a couple of ways an oil cap can fail.  After around 70
years, if the case is mounted so the lugs are on the top side, the
seals can dry out and air contaminant can get in and produce a carbon
track inside.  If you see seepage on the side with the lugs that's
good provided you don't have a puddle of oil, but in this case the
"oil" is actually paper dielectric impregnated with oil.  The way that
can fail is if the v. across it is close to its rated working v.  Keep
the dc down to 900 v. or less  and it should last.  If you ever
replace it, replace it with polypropylene film caps or another oil
cap.  Electrolytics in my opinion, are not desirable for this amount
of capacitance because they have a shorter MTBF compared to the
alternatives.

CW needs more vintage rigs on the air too.  Oh yeah, it's probably a
1000 v. cap; not 100 v.

73

Rob
K5UJ