Replacing ceramical with electrol. capacitor

[zeljko]

Little bit of help from my friends !
Old fujitsu -siemens LapTop c-series 1020, blown ceramical capacitor. According to a block diagram ( c31 4.7 uF 25v )

Question : can I replace ceramical ( non polarised ) capacitor with electrolit. or tantalum polarised capacitor with similar values ( for example 6.8uF 50v).

Thanks in advance.

[CapSwapper]

Re: Replacing ceramical with electrol. capacitor

why would you do that. ceramic capacitors don't bulge and die and usually last forever

[Andrew F. Ali]

Re: Replacing ceramical with electrol. capacitor

Yes it can be done...Take two Electrolytics and join the +ve leads together so that the two -ve leads are free for soldering........You can also try a non-polarized cap...the kind used as filter caps in tweeters. The better thing though is to get an original ceramic cap to replace your bad cap.
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[zeljko]

Re: Replacing ceramical with electrol. capacitor

Thanks, for replay CapSwapper. The answer is : I have no time (patience ) to wait for delivery.

[zeljko]

Re: Replacing ceramical with electrol. capacitor

Yes it can be done...Take two Electrolytics and join the +ve leads together so that the two -ve leads are free for soldering........You can also try a non-polarized cap...the kind used as filter caps in tweeters. The better thing though is to get an original ceramic cap to replace your bad cap.
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Thanks Andrew, that is the answer I've expected.

[momaka]

Re: Replacing ceramical with electrol. capacitor

Yes it can be done...Take two Electrolytics and join the +ve leads together so that the two -ve leads are free for soldering........You can also try a non-polarized cap...the kind used as filter caps in tweeters. The better thing though is to get an original ceramic cap to replace your bad cap.
- ++ -

No need to do that if the ceramic capacitor was originally sitting on a DC rail. In that case, you can just use any polarized capacitor just fine.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Replacing ceramical with electrol. capacitor

And almost all circuits in laptops are polarized, so if you respect the polarity it will be just fine. Measure with your multimeter to any screw hole, the side that reads 0 will be the ground/negative.

I would recommend you to use a tantalum cap instead of an electrolytic for ESR and ripple handling reasons.

[zeljko]

Re: Replacing ceramical with electrol. capacitor

Thanks for replies, I'm not a pro, I have basic knowledge of electronics. My dilemma was polarity. On schem. I cannot see polarity, so safest way is to solder non-polarised capacitor ( original or made one ).

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Replacing ceramical with electrol. capacitor

Use your multimeter to check it.

[momaka]

Re: Replacing ceramical with electrol. capacitor

^Yes.
Set your multimeter to the lowerst resistance setting (200 Ohms on a manual meter... if you have auto, then no need to do this). Now touch both of your multimeter leads together and see what resistance the multimeter shows - this is the lowest resistance it can measure and can be assumed as a short for all practical purposes. On most decent multimeters, it should be less than 1 Ohm (0.7 Ohm to 1.5 Ohm is typical for cheap manual multimeters).

Now see which side of the cap lead measure that same low resistance - that would be the one that is connected to ground.

[ki8du1]

Re: Replacing ceramical with electrol. capacitor

Little bit of help from my friends !
Old fujitsu -siemens LapTop c-series 1020, blown ceramical capacitor. According to a block diagram ( c31 4.7 uF 25v )

Question : can I replace ceramical ( non polarised ) capacitor with electrolit. or tantalum polarised capacitor with similar values ( for example 6.8uF 50v).

Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the Post

[zeljko]

Re: Replacing ceramical with electrol. capacitor

You're welcome!