Simple SE aux capacitor

[dh40]

Hello,

I'm curious what others have used for the auxiliary (or supplemental) power supply cap in the Tubelab SimpleSE.

From reading the threads, I see that it needs to handle about 370-375 VAC (525-530 VDC), and be about 90 to 300 uF.

Are most people are using motor-run caps? Would a 100 uF 500 VDC electrolytic work?

Specifically, any part numbers from the major suppliers would be real helpful!

Thanks!

 

[chrish]

I used a 80uF motor RUN cap from ebay. I believe it is the low ESR of the cap that is important.ebay 80uF cap

There was a thread about this just recently. I used the cap above in several projects. From what I gather though, shipping is expensive for one unit and there may be better deals around. (I had a flat rate box full of them shipped, saving cost).

 

[SigloOne]

The voltage rating should be above what you maximum voltage level is. So higher than 530VDC or you will have problems.

 

[chrish]

Motor Run are often listed with an AC voltage rating, so you want better than about 370VAC (x 1.414=523VDC)...

 

[rknize]

As chirish said, the main purpose of the aux cap is the low ESR. This improves the responsiveness of the power supply for HF and other transients. Adding more overall capacitance is not the goal, though it doesn't hurt (some will argue that point that some sag sounds better, but I don't buy into that personally). So if you add another electrolytic, you are adding to the capacity of the supply. However since it will also have relatively high ESR, it still won't improve the supply's response to those transients.

So that's the reason why the size of the cap (60-300uF) is not as important as the type of cap. You want some kind of film/foil cap here. This is another topic that Morgan Jones covers nicely in his book.

 

[dh40]

I used a 80uF motor RUN cap from ebay.

There was a thread about this just recently.

OK, thanks for the info, and the link.

Any idea what the thread subject was? I did some searching, and found a few tidbits of information embedded in other threads, but nothing else jumped out at me.

 

[rknize]

Boing...

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1843641#post1843641

 

[dubdub]

I use Obbligato Film Oil cap rated at 70uf and am very happy with the results, the leadouts make it easy to connect to the pcb as well

http://www.diyhifisupply.com/?q=catalog/35/obbligatofilmoilcaps

Although I havent done an extensive comparison I definitely prefer the cap in, giving a more smooth quality to the sound

 

[whitelabrat]

The Eyuda International 80uF chrish links to on th' bay is the exact one that I use. I've had it for more than a year with no problems. I bypassed that with an even smaller 0.1uF orange drop, just 'cause I had one.