Orange drop caps in early Dumble's... what series were they?

[desertbronze]

Does anyone know exactly what series Sprague orange drops were used in early Dumbles. Can't read the numbers from the pics I've seen posted but being that they are round in shape they can be 418P, PS, 715P or 716P

[jameslenahan]

Hi: In the 80's I often bought Sprague "Orange Drops" for Howard and took them over to his place (actually Jackson Browne's grandfather's place) and hung out and jammed and ate pizza with him.

He would call and tell me how many .1's and .022's he needed, etc. but he never specified 715P's or anything like that. He just told me to buy whatever they had. Many times he told me to hit several shops and get all of them.

I worked at Yale Electronics and Pacific Radio in Hollywood, and back then we carried a lot of Orange Drops. So, as far as specifying which Sprague series of Orange Drops, I can tell you that he did not.

Sorry for the belated reply.

Cheers, Jim

[ampdork]

Seen a lot of 6ps and some 715.

Another interesting tid bit though about OD's is before 1980 they were "Di-Film" meaning they had actual foil and paper.

After 1980 they are all metalized film...

[llemtt]

I see most of them are PSs (6PS)

they are still made nowadays by Vishay which bought Sprague

up till 1000v nominal voltage they are polyester but they are not "metallized", over 1000v they are polystyrene

I know that 30 years ago they were made differently but I think they were non-metallized polyester anyway

cheers
teo

[FYL]

they are still made nowadays by Vishay which bought Sprague

Vishay has divested in 1986 it's Orange Drop lines to SB Electronics, a spinoff of the former Sprague-Barr division in Barr, Vermont. All OD's manufactured since then have nothing to do with the Vishay empire.

http://orangedrop.sbelectronics.com/index.html

[llemtt]

Vishay still sells these caps under vishay-sprague brand

http://www.vishay.com/capacitors/film/leaded-radial/

I see that they currently only redistributing them...

Vishay has divested in 1986 it's Orange Drop lines

anyway 1986 it's an interesting date cause lots of ODSs where made before so there's a high chance that they carry caps made with different manufacturing processes

[FYL]

Vishay still sells these caps under vishay-sprague brand

Only two Filmite series, which have nothing in common with SBE's except the Orange Drop name.

anyway 1986 it's an interesting date cause lots of ODSs where made before so there's a high chance that they carry caps made with different manufacturing processes

Same factory, same employees, same process, same components, nothing really changed.

[llemtt]

Only two Filmite series, which have nothing in common with SBE's except the Orange Drop name.

I have to change supplier, I think I still have some from vishay around...

Same factory, same employees, same process, same components, nothing really changed.

so those producing Orange Drops before 1986 are the same people producing them now, is it correct?

[FYL]

so those producing Orange Drops before 1986 are the same people producing them now, is it correct?

Yes. Still made in USA in the same factory - a new one is currently being built, cf. http://www.sbelectronics.com/2010/04/gr ... -facility/

[Structo]

Interesting, it seems as if the new plant is for making things for electric cars.

Snip:

SBE Inc. has recently won a matching grant of $9.1 million as the major piece of funding for an $18 million project under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Electrical Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative, part of President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to expand its electric car technology manufacturing. The manufacturing facility, dedicated to the transportation market, will be located in Barre, Vermont at the Wilson Industrial Park and will have capacity to produce Power Ring capacitors for over 100,000 plug-in hybrid and electric drive vehicles within 3 years