anybody use these 'lytics?

[eniam rognab]

ELUM DL-8 33uf and 22uf 450v

ordered them on the internets on the ebay from the china, couldnt really tell how big they were, they are noticeably smaller than a sprague atom of similar ratings (30 vs 33uf)

are these just superior technological advancements in miniaturization in the faraway land of the china? or are they lower rating donkey turds dressed up to look purty? or does nobody know and i am the first to find out....

ill stick them on a high voltage DC supply at school tomorrow, only four months to july 4th!!

(im getting a better camera i promise!)

[Phil_S]

When I'm feeling cheap (often), I buy caps that look just like those except for the label. They'll do. The big problem is when they are counterfeit. Sometimes they take a radial cap and repackage it as an axial. You cut it open and find the real cap inside. Often it is not the stated value. The big risk, IMO, is the voltage rating. You buy a 450V cap that is really a 300V or 150V, thinking it is OK to put into your 6L6 amp with 1st B+ cap running over 400V. IMO, if you want cheap caps, you can buy them from Steve at Apex Jr. or you can buy the stuff sold by Weber. A while back I scored some 20u Epcos caps on ebait. Still haven't used them but they have a nice quality look to them ;-}

Last purchase, I found some IC caps on eBait for a decent price. Those I felt much better about because I needed them to be 500V rated and didn't want to fool around.

Good luck. Chances are you'll be OK with them. Just don't expect such a long MTBF from them.

[eniam rognab]

ok cool, thanks phil, they seemed like a good deal but you get what you pay for i guess, i am planning on using a doghouse on this build so i will just build it big enough for the atoms and try these out if they dont blow up tomorrow

i heard about those counterfeit re-leaded radials and that is what came up when i searched for these...

man i watched this crazy documentary about chinese forgeries, bbc i think it was quality. the most appalling was the fake eggs made from food additives and industrial chemicals, i wish i just made that up.

quote from the documentary "once the counterfeit eggs are sold you leave there straight away"

[lord preset]

It's pretty much guaranteed to be filled with melamine laden drywall. But you could really cut one open if you are curious about what's inside.

I like cheap too and have bought some bargain electrolytics from Apex Jr. I sort of assume that he won't sell junk. I've used them in two amps so far. No explosions yet.

[eniam rognab]

now i feel guilty... score 2 for steve, i should have spent my monies more domestically...

dont step over dollars to pick up cents, some jerk told me once, screw him

[matt h]

(deleted)

[Leo_Gnardo]

Awhile back I was busy with my second most favorite waste of time, scanning Audio Asylum, when I found this:

http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/tubed ... 16991.html

which led me right back to my first most favorite xx.., pastime, and a real eye-opener of a topic I recommend to one and all.

https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.ph ... c&start=15

I've never been attracted to buy capacitors on flea-bay. Stick with reliable distributors. I'll count ApexJr among them.

[Cliff Schecht]

Atoms are still made specifically to support the TV repair shop guys. Most every old TV that required these caps called for the Atoms as OEM replacements and thus Sprague carried that family of caps along for a very long time. The manufacturing process for these is expensive and Sprague probably f*ing hates these caps, especially since for their physical size they're really not very good (low ripple current ratings, 85 degC temp rating, etc).

As far as the Chinese el cheapos go, they're probably fine. I stick with Illinois Capacitors for my "cheapies" and I'm yet to have one fail, other than when misused.

[xtian]

If you want good ESR, who do you buy?

[jelle]

Nichicon

[Smitty]

+1 VX for axials and PW for radials

[Cliff Schecht]

For the caps we use, they typically do not specify the ESR. They give the rated ripple current and you have to back-figure how much capacitance you need to be able to effectively handle the ripple current you are dealing with.

[David Root]

I have used MIEC in a few builds now and they seem to be fine. I get them from www.justradios.com They are reasonably priced and 105 deg C rated.

I don't know if they use what is called "etched" technology, of which I have seen some negative comments here and there.

MIEC are made in Taiwan, not China, and they have 600V up to 100uF too, which is nice if you want 1.4 times operating voltage to cover start up spikes, without doing series with two caps. Much smaller footprint too.

[TUBEDUDE]

I've had one 47/450 IC cap explode, but I've used many Illinois caps that worked well. I mostly use F&T now. For can electrolytics, i use Webers. They had some issue with one of their can caps years ago, but got that sorted out pronto.
Reliability is job one, but for better or worse, the power supply contributes to the sound.

[armillary]

I've bought lots of capacitors from David at justradios.com. Never had a problem with any of them. I see he has an ebay store called justradios. Lots of good info on his website too.