[R-390] killer and mica caps

[Charles Steinmetz]

Chris wrote:

> How about ASC film caps?  I just learned and verified that one at least
> one value of both the X675 series and X363 series are indeed made in the
> USA.

All of the ASC "Xyyy" Series caps are metallized film, not film and 
foil. The X363 Series only goes up to 400v.  The X675 Series comprises 
specialized high voltage caps (2kV and up), which have some design 
tradeoffs that we don't need to accept in applications below 1kV.  I 
would not recommend either for tube radio or audio erquipment.

ASC does make some film and foil types in both polypropylene and 
polyester, for example the 368, 321, 621, 668, 663, 663F, and 621 
Series.  From what I have seen, these may be worth considering -- but 
ASC is not really a "large" capacitor manufacturer, so that would need 
to be proven over time.

> It's unfortunate that the Orange Drops are now exclusively made overseas.

I'm not sure that is true, and even if it is, I'm not sure that it has 
negative implications.

Here's the history of the Orange Drop line:  Sprague started making the 
basic design in a factory in Vermont where they were developed for use 
in bomb and missile fuses during WW2, and adopted the trade name "Orange 
Drop" for the line in the late 1950s.  In 1985, Sprague sold the OD 
line, including the production facilities, to SBE.  SBE continued to 
manufacture ODs in that same factory until it sold the line to CDE in 
2012.  CDE continued to produce them in that same factory, but said at 
the time that it planned to move production to other CDE facilities.

That change has probably been made by now, but I have not heard whether 
OD production moved to facilities in the US or overseas.  So far, all of 
the CDE "Country of Origin" slips I have seen say "USA," and 
distributors still list CoO as "USA."  There has been lots of uninformed 
chatter on the web claiming that CDE ODs are now made in Mexico and/or 
China, but I have seen no evidence of that as recently as this summer.

Furthermore, factories all over the world are fully capable of equalling 
and even bettering the quality of US-made capacitors.  It all depends on 
what the management does.  It is entirely possible that ODs are being 
made today on the very same machinery that the factory in Vermont was 
using.  It is also possible that they are being made in a brand-new, 
state-of-the-art factory where tolerances and materials are held to much 
tighter tolerances than in the VT factory.

In either case, that facility may be in the US, or it may be in Mexico, 
or India, or China.  It probably makes no difference in the quality of 
the capacitors, and could even mean that quality has improved.

Best regards,

Charles