[Central-Electronics] FP Capacitor Discussion

[NICKTUSA at aol.com]

Hi Folks,

Here are some comments I sent to Jon...some of which might be of interest to 
all:


It's close.  for a 750piece lot, the cost was around $11 each.  I run enough 
sets thru and sell enough small parts orders that I was willing to take a risk 
on the large lot purchase, knowing that this was about the only way we could 
get an exact parts match.

I also looked at another firm that makes "custom" FP-like caps (they don't 
look quite the same, but fit the chassis punchout) in small lots (1 to 50pcs) 
but here the cost was in the order of $34 each.  I need to mark them up, 
obviously, to recover costs but hopefully to fund some other parts sourcing issues.  
For example, the little motors in the 100V and 200V were commom in the days 
when phonographs reigned and there were no muffin fans. While I have a good 
stock of end bearings to rebuild these motors and keep them quiet, the problem 
I've been seeing is that the shafts are worn due to lack of lubrication, 
clearances are too large and some continue to rattle on.  It will only get worse in 
the future.

Barber-Coleman made most of these little motors for Central and  while I've 
found a handful of suppliers that will make a  run (300-500 pieces) for us, 
again the costs are high.  At one point, you could buy these motors for $0.50 on 
the surplus scene, but those days are over!

What I hope to do is use the profit from cap sales to fund the motor project 
and bootstrap ourselves to plug the parts availability holes.  Next on the 
list is to source replacement switch assemblies for the Oak power switch wafer 
used on the 100 and 200Vs...My factory-original supply of those is rapidly 
running down,

So, that's my story.

As for the $34 cap...I actually ordered a few to evaluate their performance.  
Before I talked to a human at CE I had Wes (Schum, that is!) actually 
identify places were we could buy the metal cans, terminal plates, lug washer, a 
tooland die guy to build a can crimping tool, etc so we could make them 
ourselves...assuming no one would accept such a small quantity order.

Getting to the end of the FP story was quite interesting, actually.  With FP 
twist lok style caps having been used in so many applications in the consumer 
and test equipment market and so much interest in audio, I am surprised that 
they are so difficult to buy new.

73  Nick