Capacitor electrolyte or just glue?

Reidy- · 26th July 2010, 05:46 PM

Opened up my subwoofer to try and work out what is causing the intermittent popping noise.

nothing looks decidedly suspect other than these cap's

my capacitor tester only goes up to 200uf and these are rated at 2200uf @ 35v so dont have anyway of truly testing them.

but if the leakage is electrolytic fluid then they will need replacing

please have a look at the image and see what you think.

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/6754/p1000769.jpg

Conrad Hoffman · 26th July 2010, 06:16 PM

Life is too short to wait for that image (dial-up here), but remember that electrolytic caps don't have much liquid in them. If you see a brown deposit of any significance, it's glue. If you see something that looks like a dried up white deposit, I'd get suspicious.

avr300 · 26th July 2010, 06:38 PM

Looks like glue to me.

Now you have them taken out pop in some new ones. Just to be safe.

amc184 · 29th July 2010, 06:01 AM

Looks like glue to me as well. I'd also recommend replacing them, they don't have to spew electrolyte everywhere to be performing badly. Replace them with some quality equivalents, like Nichicon, Nippon Chemicon, Elna etc.

Quote:

my capacitor tester only goes up to 200uf and these are rated at 2200uf @ 35v so don't have anyway of truly testing them.

Unless your capacitor meter shows ESR, it isn't going to help with detecting all but the most catastrophic failures.

Mooly · 29th July 2010, 06:41 AM

Agreed... glue

Make sure you fit good quality parts that are physically the same size.

For those on dial up,

DreadPirate · 30th July 2010, 01:24 AM

I have never seen an audio product's cap leak, but I have seen many computer motherboards and they are usually bulging at the top along with leakage at bottom. It makes sense that the pressure would build internally, cause bulging at the top to a point, then begin leaking from the bung. That dark brown glue is very common. Most likely glue.

wwenze · 30th July 2010, 01:34 AM

Glue, if the electrolyte leaked from the bottom it couldn't have travelled upwards against gravity.

Reidy- · 30th July 2010, 08:06 PM

Hi, thanks for the responses I bought a new tester and you were right it was glue however I found out that these caps were largely out of balance where as one read at 2100uf the other was at 2500uf.

cheers, Reidy-

noSmoking · 30th July 2010, 08:13 PM

hi,
You could just replace them those are not expensive,

cliffforrest · 30th July 2010, 08:21 PM

Sorry, but you misunderstand.

21/22 is about 5% low. 22/25 is about 12% high.

Both well within a 20% tolerance. Even for 10% caps it isn't bad.

26th July 2010, 05:46 PM	#1
Reidy- diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2009	Capacitor electrolyte or just glue? Opened up my subwoofer to try and work out what is causing the intermittent popping noise. nothing looks decidedly suspect other than these cap's my capacitor tester only goes up to 200uf and these are rated at 2200uf @ 35v so dont have anyway of truly testing them. but if the leakage is electrolytic fluid then they will need replacing please have a look at the image and see what you think. http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/6754/p1000769.jpg

26th July 2010, 06:16 PM	#2
Conrad Hoffman diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Canandaigua, NY USA	Life is too short to wait for that image (dial-up here), but remember that electrolytic caps don't have much liquid in them. If you see a brown deposit of any significance, it's glue. If you see something that looks like a dried up white deposit, I'd get suspicious. __________________ I used to be an audiophool like you but then I took an arrow to the knee.

26th July 2010, 06:38 PM	#3
avr300 diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: DK	Looks like glue to me. Now you have them taken out pop in some new ones. Just to be safe. __________________ Join http://TurnMeUp.org

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30th July 2010, 01:24 AM	#6
DreadPirate diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Virginia, USA	I have never seen an audio product's cap leak, but I have seen many computer motherboards and they are usually bulging at the top along with leakage at bottom. It makes sense that the pressure would build internally, cause bulging at the top to a point, then begin leaking from the bung. That dark brown glue is very common. Most likely glue.

30th July 2010, 01:34 AM	#7
wwenze diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2008	Glue, if the electrolyte leaked from the bottom it couldn't have travelled upwards against gravity.

30th July 2010, 08:06 PM	#8
Reidy- diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2009	Hi, thanks for the responses I bought a new tester and you were right it was glue however I found out that these caps were largely out of balance where as one read at 2100uf the other was at 2500uf. cheers, Reidy-

30th July 2010, 08:13 PM	#9
noSmoking diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: SanAntonio,Tx	hi, You could just replace them those are not expensive,

30th July 2010, 08:21 PM	#10
cliffforrest diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: UK	Sorry, but you misunderstand. 21/22 is about 5% low. 22/25 is about 12% high. Both well within a 20% tolerance. Even for 10% caps it isn't bad.

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