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Power & Energy
Forum Visual Signs of Capacitor Failure - Bulging
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Related

Visual Signs of Capacitor Failure - Bulging

Jan Cumps
Jan Cumps over 1 year ago

I received a new TV box from the cable provider They suggested to drop the old one at an electronics recycle collector. That didn't happen Slight smile - I opened it up. I've put the internal hard drive for sale on a 2nd hand site. For the other components, I'm checking what (if anything) is worth keeping.

What caught the attention, is that one of the electrolytical caps is beyond end-of-life. It's definitely bulging: It's the first time that I see one where the symptom is so obvious. I had others that failed or leaked. But never such a visible sign of the internal pressure effects.

image

Can you spot the culprit?

Title inspiration: capacitor labs.

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Top Replies

  • dougw
    dougw over 1 year ago +4
    The top isn't flat anymore....
  • beacon_dave
    beacon_dave over 1 year ago +3
    Jan Cumps said: It's definitely bulging: It's the first time that I see one where the symptom is so obvious. I had others that failed or leaked. But never such a visible sign of the internal pressure effects…
  • michaelkellett
    michaelkellett over 1 year ago in reply to shabaz +3
    If you want low noise then put some little ceramic caps around the rectifier. Doing so is mentioned in AOE Edition 3 (maybe in the X pages book) and after I read that I measured a design I was working…
Parents
  • bidrohini
    bidrohini 11 months ago

    The electrolytic capacitor at the front right side of the board, near the edge, appears to have a bulging top. That means it is at the end of its life span. Since you can read the value, it is better to replace it. You can also test this capacitor with your multimeter. www.richardelectronics.com/.../how-to-test-a-capacitor-with-a-multimeter

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  • Jan Cumps
    Jan Cumps 11 months ago in reply to bidrohini

    The device it was in, is also end of life. 

    Looking back, I should have measured the capacitance and ESR before disposing it. Just to see how far off it was.

    The device itself, a cable TV decoder with hard disk for recording, was still operating well. Even with that cap being like that.

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  • Jan Cumps
    Jan Cumps 11 months ago in reply to bidrohini

    The device it was in, is also end of life. 

    Looking back, I should have measured the capacitance and ESR before disposing it. Just to see how far off it was.

    The device itself, a cable TV decoder with hard disk for recording, was still operating well. Even with that cap being like that.

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