Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

[Chaiyz]

Well, it's not really a square and the m is rounded where the bottoms of the outside legs move inwards. It's inside of a square with rounded corners. I'm trying to find a data sheet on them. Anyone with a clue? They're 1500uf 6.3v and were sold as low ESR 20%

Thanks.

Chaiyz

[i4004]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

that should be matsushita, aka panasonic.

[Toasty]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

Matsushita - a.k.a. Panasonic

The series code is what you need for the datasheets.
Panasonic's FM series are labeled below the negative stripe in this fashion:

+105°C
[M] CE FM

-OR-

+105°C FM
[M]

Panasonic site: http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/...p_leadelec.htm

Careful of fakes. Where did you get them from?

Toast

[c_hegge]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

What shape is the vent? If it is a panasonic (Matsushita) it should have a T-like shape on top.

[Chaiyz]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

Wow, thanks for such a fast responce. Yes, the vent is shaped like a T and after the temp is an FF.

There's also OOPP markings in red horizontally. I needed some 1500uf 6.3v for a Dell poweredge server that became unstable and I found a 1000 of these for $25 NOS.

I hope these are low ESR and I really with I spoke russian so I could buy one of those micro 3.1 ESR meters.

Chaiyz

These are the ones I'm talking about:

[Chaiyz]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

Matsushita - a.k.a. Panasonic

The series code is what you need for the datasheets.
Panasonic's FM series are labeled below the negative stripe in this fashion:

+105°C
[M] CE FM

-OR-

+105°C FM
[M]

Panasonic site: http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/...p_leadelec.htm

Careful of fakes. Where did you get them from?

Toast

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

[tj2]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

... I really with I spoke russian so I could buy one of those micro 3.1 ESR meters.

Chaiyz

You don't have to speak Russian. Give RusMike a PM. He writes English just fine. Mine arrived in New York from Tver in about nine days.

[Chaiyz]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

How can I spot a fake? The caps look exactly as the picture and when they arrived I could tell that they were NOS, dust and all. All still in tape.. Anyway, I'll have a friend with a blue meter check some when he gets back from his Aspen vacation. lol

BTW, not to hijack my own post but I've been wondering how to pick up one of these. I can't seem to find any english info on ordering.

Anyone using one of these?

http://au.babelfish.yahoo.com/transl...rUrl=Translate

Also, sorry but I'm new to this forum. Not caps and recapping. I found this forum and have been very impressed so far. Some really good info here.

Thanks,

Chaiyz

[Toasty]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

c_hegge had a thread going a month ago about some possibly fake Panasonic FJ's. Also do some searching here for 'capacitor fakes'.

[Chaiyz]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

I looked and found this

My caps have the exact same bung and it looks authentic. Still would like to see a data sheet for the FF series though or does anyone have any info about them?

Chaiyz

[i4004]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

mike's email is on the bottom
http://preher-tech.com/esrmicro.aspx
also he's member of this forum, for example
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...3&postcount=71

there is a new version (esr micro 4.0..see attached image)

btw. did you just say you payed 25$ for 1000 pieces?

if it's nos, then you may wanna look at this

http://www.chemi-con.com/guide/pg10_ms.php

Therefore, it is advisable to reform the capacitors by applying voltage through a resistor of approximately 1k(omega) before use. See footnotes.

Footnotes:
1. Voltage Reforming: Apply the full rated voltage to the capacitors through a resistor of approximately 1k(omega) for approximately 30 minutes.

but they're probably ok...though it would be interesting to hear you tell us about date code and esr readings, and also about usual resistance test(not esr) as when dielectric breaks down then you'll have high inrush current that can potentially destroy the cap (ergo chemicon link above)
but i would guess that it happens mostly with much older caps...or younger caps of poor quality...

[Chaiyz]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

Great find. Thank you very much. I was somewhat concerned about these caps when I bought them but couldn't help myself with the price. I'll get the capacitance of some tomarrow and will now verify ESR before installing any. I've never reformed a cap but it's pretty straight forward. Would hate to skip it and do a bunch of work to only have to repeat it. BTW, I really would love some date info but havn't a clue as to where to find it.

Chaiyz

Also, I'm pm'ing mike and ordering a micro-ESR 4.0 immediatly.

[i4004]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

date code, if it has it
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...7&postcount=18

[kc8adu]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

seems i ran into these in a mobo and had no luck finding specs on them.

[linuxguru]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

I've seen and used Panasonic FFs before - there are no specs on them, but they're ok for PSU use. Their ESR is probably not low enough for mobo use, except maybe for general-purpose supply bypass.

[gdement]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

I tried buying those about 6mos-1yr ago, but from a different seller. Probably the exact same stock though. The guy I bought them from identified the size but not the series, so it was really a shot in the dark. I could just tell they looked like Panasonics.
They ended up being FF just like those.

I think I tested ESR and they were reasonably good, but not on the level of FM or MBZ or anything like that. Unfortunately my meter got dropped so until I fix it I can't recheck them.

According to what I wrote on the box, mine have a 00P2 date code. Panasonic only uses a single digit for the year, so it might be 2000, but it could be 1990, considering FF doesn't have a datasheet maybe they're really old.

[Agent24]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

Well I doubt they're from the year 2000, checking this:

http://web.archive.org/web/200010290...ABA0000_E.html

There is no such thing as FF series on that page anyway...

[gdement]

Re: Identifying cap manufacturer. M inside of a square

I tried a google groups search, hoping to find old newsgroup discussions but didn't see anything that references Panasonic FF.
I did find a couple badcaps threads though:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/printthread.php?t=1801
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/printthread.php?t=2701

FF was listed in a Panasonic "country of origin" chart in the first link.
Not much info but apparently yanz found these a few years ago in Asia. His had the date code "33IIITR". Presumably 2003 but again there's no decade in the code.

Might just be an obscure and undocumented series, like the FL.