[NJARC] Atwater Kent question

[Dave Sica]

On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 22:40:12 -0500 Al Klase <al at ar88.net> writes:
> I can't prove it, but it almost seems like there was a change for the
worse in the 
> paper industry in the late twenties.  A lot of the early paper caps
seem OK.

Supposedly, all but the most expensive paper was being made using the new
"acidic" manufacturing process after about the mid-to-late 1800s. Books,
especially paperbacks and magazines made after this time weathered time
badly while many older ones - somewhat counter-intuitively - survive in
much better condition.

I wonder if capacitor manufacturers might have, at least initially,
thought it wise to invest in premium quality paper. Once cost-cutting
became an issue in the radio industry, they may have specified less
expensive paper. That might explain your sense that earlier caps survived
better than later ones. Just a theory.