Originally posted by stj
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Capacitor shelf life or expiry date?
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Re: Capacitor shelf life or expiry date?
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Re: Capacitor shelf life or expiry date?
The rule of thumb I've heard is to not store electrolytic capacitors for more than 5 years, but I'm not sure how true that is
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Re: Capacitor shelf life or expiry date?
the electrolyte is sealed in with a rubber bung - it can harden and degrade too.
there have been attempts to improve this, but i dont know if they helped because i never see the capa i'm about to mention unused.
an american company in the 80's put epoxy over the end of the cap to cover the rubber seal,
the japanese made some with a plastic case and an epoxy seal instead of the rubber,
and the soviets used a plastic bung with a rubber washer and crimped the can over it.
what i can say is none of those ideas stop them aging inside stuff.
so now you know more than you wanted to know
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Re: Capacitor shelf life or expiry date?
good info there to read up on. didnt realize caps could degrade when not used.
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Re: Capacitor shelf life or expiry date?
It may take years or decades, but as stj posted, electrolytics can dry out sitting on a shelf or in something electronic that is not powered on for those years.
Electrolytics that are not used for quite a few months (a year or two?) can also have the aluminum oxide dielectric thin, so that they can no longer withstand their full rated voltage. This thread discusses the process of re-forming the dielectric layer, https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=50530 .
I apologize for being vague about timing, but electrolytic capacitors don't have a "Best If Used By" date.
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Re: Capacitor shelf life or expiry date?
only electrolytics - because they have liquid sealed in them
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Capacitor shelf life or expiry date?
do capacitors have a limited life even if just kept in a box in storage?Tags: None
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