[Premium-Rx] tantalums

[ToddRoberts2001 at aol.com]

I had quite an experience with a tantalum going bad in a RA6790 a few years 
ago. This was my first RA6790 and I wasn't too familiar with them and tried to 
be cautious when using it. Then one day I turned it on and all of a sudden I 
heard a loud hiss and smoke came billowing out of the top perforated cover. I 
thought the radio would be a total loss! After I nervously removed the top 
cover and inspected things I could see one of those little 25 volt tantalums was 
all black and singed-looking and a spot of black around it on the circuit 
board. After I got up the nerve to remove the board and replace the tantalum cap 
everything turned out OK and the radio has worked fine ever since. I know what 
to expect now but for someone not familiar with that failure mode it can be 
quite spectacular! 73 Todd WD4NGG.
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