Overdriven Capacitor?

[dsavitsk]

I dropped some Russian PIO caps into a working linestage as parafeed caps, and I seem to be overdriving them. Everything else I have tried in the circuit is fine, but these sound like the bass is clipping. I have used them elsewhere without noticing anything out of the ordinary -- can this actually happen?

[Alastair E]

Originally posted by dsavitsk
I dropped some Russian PIO caps into a working linestage as parafeed caps, and I seem to be overdriving them. Everything else I have tried in the circuit is fine, but these sound like the bass is clipping. I have used them elsewhere without noticing anything out of the ordinary -- can this actually happen?

I guess anything is possible,-- Have you checked these caps for any leakage or other faults that may be upsetting bias etc...?

Another thought, Are they actually the capacity they say they are-Within tolerance...?

If you can have a check with a 'Scope and sig-gen, maybe you can see whats happening

Personally I am not a fan of 'PIO' caps no matter what make....

Weird, You shouldnt have any issues-thats why I'm thinking there may be something wrong with them-, Although I'm not a fan of these type caps, I have used them and not noticed any weirdness....

[Original Burnedfingers]

I'm not an engineer but I would take the cap out of circuit and hook it up to a signal generator and scope and look at the output.

Personally I don't think the cap is overdriven. Never seen an overdriven cap before.

[jackinnj]

Here's an over-driven cap:



So much for my experimentation with photo-multipliers.

[Original Burnedfingers]

Looks like an over voltage cap to me

[nhuwar]

POW!!!!!!

How loud was that cap when it went vertical?



Nick

[SpreadSpectrum]

Here's an over-driven cap:

Looks like an over voltage cap to me

What's the difference, exactly?

[Ty_Bower]

What's the difference, exactly?

To me, overdriven suggests the circuit was run to beyond its maximum design ratings. A voice coil on a woofer may bottom out when overdriven. An amplifier may clip when overdriven. I'm not sure how the concept applies to a capacitor.

If you over-volt an electrolytic capacitor, an arc will occur between the plates (foils). This usually results in fire, explosion, and capacitor guts spewing out all over the place.

In this case, we might be arguing over semantics.

[SpreadSpectrum]

I'm not sure how the concept applies to a capacitor.

I wasn't either. I thought about it and decided that for capacitors overdrive = over-voltage. It seems that others in the forum might have a different idea of how the word 'overdrive' applies to capacitors and was curious what that was.

[rdf]

Over voltage at low freqs, over current at high. Extra points for a combo pop.