[R-390] Orange Drop Caps vs Film Polyester Axial

[Drew P.]

Charles wrote:

"The C-D caps in the link you provided are metallized film, which have
serious drawbacks for use in tube equipment.  There is lots on this
in the archives -- use "film-and-foil" and "self-healing" as search
terms, along with "orange drop"

At issue is the self-healing action, which consists of momentary short circuit between the capacitor's "plates", followed by vaporization of a small portion of the very thin metal layer.  It would seem that at some low voltage this would not occur, and so we might use caps rated for, say, 800V in a typical receiver application where the voltage encountered is much lower.  Would this approach have merit?

Drew