That is an interesting question.
I estimate the probability of this to be very high, since the duration of the expected service life for all modern (networkable) products such as Bluetooth stuff is considerably shorter than it was 20-30 years ago (due to the mentality regarding a quick replacement of smartphones after a short period of use). Unfortunately, also with high-priced components.
The images of the products shown with the leaked electrolytic capacitors (many models of SONY's ESPRIT series like CD player Mini-Disc, DAT etc.) are all 20-30 years old and issues with leaked caps only occur after about 10-15 years useful life.
Currently available components are no longer used at all in most cases - from that point of view it is actually completely superfluous to worry about it.
The question was asked anyway, but in order to getting an overview of home audio devices that one shouldn't shortlist before buying used vintage hi-fi.
P.S.: a great issue of SMD parts like electrolytic caps is the fact, that no branding resp. no logo is to find in most cases (in opposite to normal versions with solder lugs or srew terminals) - as a result, there is no possibility of holding the manufacturer of the components liable in the event of serious consequential damage.
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Maybe the hidden message is to leave old stuff for what it is, buy recent stuff and replace caps straight away for known good stuff. Costs less time, leave less worries and lists, keeps you up with time and technical possibilities. Therefor I choose this system.
From the tube era I remember Spraguemex yellow or orange single or dulal lytics exploding and spraying particles of aluminium and paper several metres away from them. Also the bulk Siemens capacitors made in Brazil.
For those who have never heard of a Mean Time Before Failure analysis each type of part has a value in the calculation. Not surprisingly some parts are given values as being less reliable. However no matter what parts you use, the more parts used at the same stress level, the sooner the failure is expected.
As I suspect is obvious in this thread, electrolytic capacitors are among the worst. Although some types and brands are more reliable. Also using them close to the maximum ratings including temperature, increases failures. Of course using electrolytic capacitors well below their voltage ratings also is discouraged.
As to CD failures, I haven’t seen that problem. If I get the chance I will inquire at a local radio station that has in excess of 40,000 of them. (I built some special shelving to hold them.). Of course for many the contents are stored in special purpose computers files.
For humor if anyone is storing their CDs on a computer, you should move them, the heat is bad for them. 😉
As I suspect is obvious in this thread, electrolytic capacitors are among the worst. Although some types and brands are more reliable. Also using them close to the maximum ratings including temperature, increases failures. Of course using electrolytic capacitors well below their voltage ratings also is discouraged.
As to CD failures, I haven’t seen that problem. If I get the chance I will inquire at a local radio station that has in excess of 40,000 of them. (I built some special shelving to hold them.). Of course for many the contents are stored in special purpose computers files.
For humor if anyone is storing their CDs on a computer, you should move them, the heat is bad for them. 😉
Almost any thing today has a calculated failure time. You can see the Edison's lamp still illuminating from a century ago. LED lights among the disastous amounts of QRM they spray in the HF and VHF ham bands, they long some few hours only.
My fluorescent tube lamps with electromagnetic ballast are 20 years old and still in use.
My fluorescent tube lamps with electromagnetic ballast are 20 years old and still in use.
even here are the reason in many cases bad electrolytic caps - mainly due thermal stress inside of edison socket
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/414791/troubleshooting-defective-led-bulbs
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/led-driver-ic-51lp/
Mainly because quality is very low AND thermal stress. Not the best marriage.
The lamp Osvaldo pointed at:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Light
The lamp Osvaldo pointed at:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Light
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Yeassss. But I listen versions talkíng about severe led overloading in order to create more light for less $$$$. I had at hand a led lantern whose only current limiting was the internal series resistance of the 3 small (Silver?) cells.
I bought a pair of Quad 909 amplifiers on ebay, neither was usable as all the power supply capacitors had leaked and deformed, these were made in China and about 10 years old. Once replaced the amps worked very well and I use them every day
The Chinese have bought the rights to many great reliable names to fool us into thinking their crap was quality made! Bell and Howell among others. The stuff is so badly made it pops its caps after hours of use. Nothing is as good as it was. If a cap blows you throw it out and buy a new one.
The main issue is because of what's called "Brand Recognition".
Remember Zenith's famous phrase? - "The Quality goes IN.....before the Name goes on!"
Or, RCA Victor's - "The Most Trusted Name in Electronics"
How about Westinghouse? - "You can be Sure, if it's Westinghouse!"
And those now vintage products lasted, and you owned them for decades, maybe a minor thing like a tube replaced.
Bell & Howell made some excellent products too - expensive, but I'll bet they are useable today.
But those annoying TV commercials for those crappy LED lights, flashlights, etc, creep me out.
With that added LIE: "A brand you trusted for a hundred years" - yeah, right, BS, plain and simple.
I could go on, but I digress.
Sad.
That made me smile. I'm younger than you so I remember these brands differently.
RCA meant Renowned Crap Association. Zenith was trash and some of them even caught fire in your living room, and "You can be Sure (it's crap) if it's Westinghouse"...
Bell and Howell made my mother's film projector. I think it was made of cast iron it was so damned heavy. It probably still works if you can find a 500W wiener light for it.
Brand names don't really mean anything to me anymore. I had a Breville countertop oven, but the convection fan bearings are felt sleeve bearings and they get gummed up with grease, And the poorly designed thing had the fan sideways so when the cooking cycle was done all the fat would run to the bottom and set ruining the bearings even more the next time until it fails completely. I removed like 40 screws and still couldn't get the thing open. I threw it out and bought a CalmDo oven from China. Much better design, cooks food better, and it's lasted just as long so far but cost 1/2 the price. (https://www.calmdo.com/collections/toaster-ovens/products/calmdo-hot-air-fryer-25-l)
I have a rack mount DSP based EQ and spectrum display made by DGNOG.
Personally, I find much better quality in Chinese brands I've never heard of than established brand names that either sold the name or just went to crap.
Even knockoffs are better value lol
I bought a phone charger that said "Samsnug" on it and it worked better than the OEM Samsung charger.
The only thing I can remember buying in recent history that was made in the USA was my Motiv bowling ball. It is well made of course but even US bowling companies like Brunswick are starting to make their cheaper balls in China.
RCA meant Renowned Crap Association. Zenith was trash and some of them even caught fire in your living room, and "You can be Sure (it's crap) if it's Westinghouse"...
Bell and Howell made my mother's film projector. I think it was made of cast iron it was so damned heavy. It probably still works if you can find a 500W wiener light for it.
Brand names don't really mean anything to me anymore. I had a Breville countertop oven, but the convection fan bearings are felt sleeve bearings and they get gummed up with grease, And the poorly designed thing had the fan sideways so when the cooking cycle was done all the fat would run to the bottom and set ruining the bearings even more the next time until it fails completely. I removed like 40 screws and still couldn't get the thing open. I threw it out and bought a CalmDo oven from China. Much better design, cooks food better, and it's lasted just as long so far but cost 1/2 the price. (https://www.calmdo.com/collections/toaster-ovens/products/calmdo-hot-air-fryer-25-l)
I have a rack mount DSP based EQ and spectrum display made by DGNOG.
Personally, I find much better quality in Chinese brands I've never heard of than established brand names that either sold the name or just went to crap.
Even knockoffs are better value lol
I bought a phone charger that said "Samsnug" on it and it worked better than the OEM Samsung charger.
The only thing I can remember buying in recent history that was made in the USA was my Motiv bowling ball. It is well made of course but even US bowling companies like Brunswick are starting to make their cheaper balls in China.
Yes JP, if you're at all like me, you've seen, watched the 'changes' in products over time, going on a slow decline - downhill.
The younger ones just don't have the experience that us old techs do, all they know is their current era stuff is marvelous and old stuff is outdated crap.
I did not say that, wot...
An RCA set from the 1960's or 1970's was quite good but by the 1980's RCA TV's were made by Thomson consumer electronics and they were cheap crap that got sold at Wal-mart (where they don't sell Sony).
And you're a tech so you know what I'm saying about Zenith is true - they even issued a recall: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/1973/cpsc-warns-of-possible-fire-hazard
Just saying, all this talking about "Chinese crap" is getting old and bordering on racism IMHO.
An RCA set from the 1960's or 1970's was quite good but by the 1980's RCA TV's were made by Thomson consumer electronics and they were cheap crap that got sold at Wal-mart (where they don't sell Sony).
And you're a tech so you know what I'm saying about Zenith is true - they even issued a recall: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/1973/cpsc-warns-of-possible-fire-hazard
Just saying, all this talking about "Chinese crap" is getting old and bordering on racism IMHO.
It seems that people just got bored with discussing capacitors so this thread is mostly about anything else...which is a good sign.There's barely anything new about making elecyrolitic capacitors in the last 4 decades...I think electrolitic capacitor manufacturing process achieved full maturity around the 90's. What we have now in most industrial processes is more or less the problem described here:
There are some mentions solid proof of 80's caps that outperform new best capacitors of today.
If all smps would be made up to my Power Mac 600 watts resonant smps, I wouldn't care about the use of smps in anything...besides Imacs or Powermac used Ltec and Capxon capacitors too yet the ones I got measure pretty well.
If all smps would be made up to my Power Mac 600 watts resonant smps, I wouldn't care about the use of smps in anything...besides Imacs or Powermac used Ltec and Capxon capacitors too yet the ones I got measure pretty well.
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Well I worked in China and the quality level of many products is bordering on racism indeed. Can’t speak of USA made stuff but European quality was way higher than the average modern quality stuff produced there. The people with larger pockets there buy European produced items. There is a large difference between Chinese made and European made Volkswagen just to mention one specifically.
Except other virusses woke has not been introduced there yet. Sellers ask if you (as a foreigner) want domestic or good quality stuff 🙂
Regardless of opinion, taste or the wish to be policor: the gigantic world wide cap scandal was because of chinese cheap electrolytic caps. Not because us geezers like to diss chinese people.
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VW is a nightmare, at least here in Switzerland.
I've had quite a few, all f them company cars, from new, and I chose them because of the brand "People's Car" which suits my social status.
1st one had an MTFB of... 1 (one) week: paint peeling off the door handle
2nd one was a marked improvement with an MTFB of 5 months, coolant leak
3rd one finally got it right: the MTFB was exactly 2 years and 1 month, 1 month out of warranty, auto transmission blown, cost of replacement 12K. VW graciously took half of the tab.
I finally got it and turn to MB and never look back.
Oh, and to get back on topic: I've totally banned from my line of sight all ERO's, Philips/BC/Vishay's dark blue ones, and RIFA's. They all fail, rather sooner than later.
I've had quite a few, all f them company cars, from new, and I chose them because of the brand "People's Car" which suits my social status.
1st one had an MTFB of... 1 (one) week: paint peeling off the door handle
2nd one was a marked improvement with an MTFB of 5 months, coolant leak
3rd one finally got it right: the MTFB was exactly 2 years and 1 month, 1 month out of warranty, auto transmission blown, cost of replacement 12K. VW graciously took half of the tab.
I finally got it and turn to MB and never look back.
Oh, and to get back on topic: I've totally banned from my line of sight all ERO's, Philips/BC/Vishay's dark blue ones, and RIFA's. They all fail, rather sooner than later.
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