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Pretty long!

Lifespan of oil caps is pretty long, but I'd suggest you get a good cap meter if you plan to recycle old capacitors.

The Sprague series is quite nice, and the EICO 950B is very inexpensive and works well. I think I paid $10 at a hamfest for mine. You need an older tester that will put 500+vdc on a cap and measure leakage to get a good idea of condition.

If you do get an old tester, take the time to re-cap the tester before using. Also be warned that the Eico 950B actually uses a negative power supply - so at 500v the positive terminal is at ground and the negative is at -500v. Don't ask how I found this out... It wasn't pleasant.

I've personally used lots of PCB caps - my opinion is that they present very little risk if the seals are in good condition with no signs of leakage. Modern "motor-run" caps also work very well.





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  • Pretty long! - Gary Kaufman 02/4/0411:45:50 02/4/04 (1)


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