[Premium-Rx] tantalums

[mikea]

On Thu, Apr 28, 2005 at 04:57:34PM -0400, Ken Maltz wrote:
> Last year, when my RA6790/GM went belly up due to bad tantalums, I contacted 
> Gary Wingerd who told me to replace them with those of a higher working 
> voltage. I did so and have not had any further problems. The original design 
> called for caps carrying a rating too close, in my opinion, to the actual 
> working voltage. This seems to be a common problem so it may be wise to 
> re-cap in advance if possible.

I've been following the discussion on tantalum caps with considerable
interest, and find myself wondering about the possibility that at least
some of these failed caps were using the stolen electrolyte formula that
didn't have the corrosion or gas-formation inhibitor.

I know from all-too-personal experience at work and at home that a great
many motherboards from quite reputable manufacturers wound up using what
purported to be brand-name caps, and many caps which failed turned out to
be knock-offs with the bad electrolyte formula.

-- 
Mike Andrews, W5EGO
mikea at mikea.ath.cx
Tired old sysadmin