What's the worst brand of capacitor

[Wester547]

Re: What's the worst brand of capacitor

Did they fail in the voltage doubler by any chance? That would be flabbergasting as most crap brands hold up well even there.

[capacitorguy]

Re: What's the worst brand of capacitor

I personally don't mind Teapo they seem to hold up well in power supplies as long as its not a appliance that gets hot, my current system and some spare power supplies I have has got Teapo's in it and this computer is from 2005 still running excellent, Capxon seem to be ok with me although I only got one computer power supply with some Capxon caps.

[mariushm]

Re: What's the worst brand of capacitor

There's no worst brand of capacitor. All brands will produce capacitors which will work just fine under SOME conditions.

The difference between manufacturers is in the quality of the materials use, stability of the electrolyte used,other things...

For example, I could use a Sacon FZ (known bad brand and series) or any low ESR Capxon capacitor in combination with a linear regulator like 7805 (outputs 5v from whatever 7-30v you give it) to power up a digital calculator, or a led flashlight, something that doesn't use a lot of power.
Chances are the capacitor will last decades, because it's "underused", the "stress" on the capacitor will be so small it won't matter. For such application, the capacitor brand and series will be irrelevant.

Things change when you have circuits which have technical demands from capacitors, or when they're installed in a location that will physically affect its life .. for example closed power supply keeping capacitors temperature constantly high, or humidity in the air (the failure rate would be higher if you're closer to a sea or ocean, compared to if you're in some mountains)... and lots of other things.

Also, it's not a good idea to put a label on a brand for ever, for example in general Capxon electrolytic capacitors suck but they also make Polymer capacitors and those don't seem to have any problems (yet).
If I see a power supply with polymer Capxon capacitors, I won't instantly say the manufacturer skimped (cheap'ed out) on capacitors, so far I have no reason to assume they're bad.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: What's the worst brand of capacitor

mariushm you are wrong about Sacon FZ. Those are doomed to fail even it they just sit in storage.

[Rulycat]

Re: What's the worst brand of capacitor

If there's a leak in the can seal or the chemistry is wrong it could die out or short of it's own accord. You can only get it so cheap before it's just not fit for purpose.

[Pentium4]

Re: What's the worst brand of capacitor

^ That's true. But, capacitors were designed to be used. Having them sit is definitely bad for them. So, in my opinion the best thing you can do for a capacitor is give it low power cycles, run it at a voltage much lower than what it's rated for, and keep it cool. I know it's just one example but I've seen an Evercon low ESR used in a position where a GP would have been fine. It was 470uF 16V and only had 5V going through it in a cool environment for ~36,000 hours. I pulled it and it measured 468uF 0.11Ω ESR

[Wester547]

Re: What's the worst brand of capacitor

^ That's true. But, capacitors were designed to be used. Having them sit is definitely bad for them. So, in my opinion the best thing you can do for a capacitor is give it low power cycles, run it at a voltage much lower than what it's rated for, and keep it cool. I know it's just one example but I've seen an Evercon low ESR used in a position where a GP would have been fine. It was 470uF 16V and only had 5V going through it in a cool environment for ~36,000 hours. I pulled it and it measured 468uF 0.11Ω ESR

It's actually the other way around. A higher voltage would rebuild the oxide layer faster and thus result in a thicker oxide layer (and thus would last longer). A lower voltage would make it more difficult to reform (but in saying that I still don't recommend running a capacitor near its maximum voltage as if exceeded it will clearly fail). Sacon capacitors are definitely terrible though. I don't ever recommend them for any application. They are that bad. Another thing about bad, or for that matter failing capacitors, is that usually most of the deterioration occurs when and/or around the time they actually fail and not long before. So that Evercon may measure well now but I wouldn't be surprised if the next day or one day it suddenly reads very high on the ESR meter (if not open) with very low capacitance (or very high capacitance, resulting in leakage and possibly a lower maximum voltage). After all, Evercon = Sacon = GSC.

And yes, it's probably a bad idea to leave capacitors unused for more than a year. The real reason why KZGs for an example fail on the shelf is that the complete lack of a voltage going across their plates probably results in the already catastrophic formula completely falling asunder and the stabilizers/additives failing. I think they would be more likely to last longer if you ran them 24/7 and kept them very cool than if you were to keep them cool and use them every few weeks or months or so.

[c_hegge]

Re: What's the worst brand of capacitor

mariushm you are wrong about Sacon FZ. Those are doomed to fail even it they just sit in storage.

Agreed. you could give those a straight DC with no ripple and keep the temperature down and they would still fail. The fact is, if you don't do something to prevent electrolysis (which is supposedly what caused the cap plague originally), it will occur wherever there is current, regardless of the conditions.

[Wester547]

Re: What's the worst brand of capacitor

Agreed. you could give those a straight DC with no ripple and keep the temperature down and they would still fail. The fact is, if you don't do something to prevent electrolysis (which is supposedly what caused the cap plague originally), it will occur wherever there is current, regardless of the conditions.

Are you making reference to the P50/P51 electrolyte scandal? I believe that was actually a separate problem and left the supply chain quite a while ago, about 10 years ago IIRC. I always thought the problem with the cheapo Chinese/Taiwanese/Malaysian/Korean brands was that the quality of the raw materials (in the aluminum foil) was poor so eventually they'd attack the electrolyte, hydrogen and gas would form, and you know the rest (a study conducted in 2004 figured this out). But I wouldn't be surprised if they cheaped out on the electrolyte's formula as well as they seem to cut corners anywhere they can (the bungs, etc).

[c_hegge]

Re: What's the worst brand of capacitor

For the most part I believe you are correct, but I suspect Sacon still didn't fix the electrolyte. I don't see how else they could be so much worse than the other brands.

[BigTroll]

Re: What's the worst brand of capacitor

There's no worst brand of capacitor. All brands will produce capacitors which will work just fine under SOME conditions.

The difference between manufacturers is in the quality of the materials use, stability of the electrolyte used,other things...

For example, I could use a Sacon FZ (known bad brand and series) or any low ESR Capxon capacitor in combination with a linear regulator like 7805 (outputs 5v from whatever 7-30v you give it) to power up a digital calculator, or a led flashlight, something that doesn't use a lot of power.
Chances are the capacitor will last decades, because it's "underused", the "stress" on the capacitor will be so small it won't matter. For such application, the capacitor brand and series will be irrelevant.

Things change when you have circuits which have technical demands from capacitors, or when they're installed in a location that will physically affect its life .. for example closed power supply keeping capacitors temperature constantly high, or humidity in the air (the failure rate would be higher if you're closer to a sea or ocean, compared to if you're in some mountains)... and lots of other things.

Also, it's not a good idea to put a label on a brand for ever, for example in general Capxon electrolytic capacitors suck but they also make Polymer capacitors and those don't seem to have any problems (yet).
If I see a power supply with polymer Capxon capacitors, I won't instantly say the manufacturer skimped (cheap'ed out) on capacitors, so far I have no reason to assume they're bad.

LOL no wonder my the caps in my ataris seem to last so long, the good ole 7805!

[capacitorguy]

Re: What's the worst brand of capacitor

Does anyone here think I should replace this 2200UF Samsing Capacitor? it is a counterfeit samsung I think and yes that is my recapped VCR and in the background http://postimg.org/image/fmzwsmht1/2b8b8974/