E. Capacitor withstanding high altitude or vacuum environment.

[agtrbt]

I am building a device with some 25V 3300uf that will be used high up the atmosphere (15km+).

Will the seal of the capacitor and electrolyte tend to break off and get sucked out under low atmospheric pressure? Assume a 25 degrees temperature due to device heat and cold surrounding.
(also the batteries which may be off topic for this forum)

[stj]

Re: E. Capacitor withstanding high altitude or vacuum environment.

cold surrounding at night, in the day once your above the clouds the sun is going to bake it.
it would probably be better to use poly's and cover them in a thermal insulating material to slow any heating or cooling effect.
think carefully about the type of battery you use too for the same reason.

you can test it on the ground anyway.

btw, make sure it wont be effected by ionising radiation.
once you get high enough, there is everything still up there from the trinity tests all the way to fukushima!

[agtrbt]

Re: E. Capacitor withstanding high altitude or vacuum environment.

There is hardly any polys for 25V 3300uf

The radiation should not be a big issue since many people can survive a high alt. balloon ride etc.

Also, not equipped to do a really de-pressurised test here.

So I am asking here has anyone put a traditional electrolytic capacitor in a near vacuum?

[SteveNielsen]

Re: E. Capacitor withstanding high altitude or vacuum environment.

See attached.

[mariushm]

Re: E. Capacitor withstanding high altitude or vacuum environment.

Could you explain the need for such high capacitance on a device that's supposed to go 15 Km up in the air?

3300uF 25v capacitors will take up a lot of volume and won't be exactly lightweight. Perhaps you could lower the capacitance by using better ICs or some other methods.. maybe you could share some more info about how you use those capacitors with us?

Cold isn't such a big deal if you have the energy to warm the circuit up in some way... keep in mind that some capacitors (some tantalum in particular) can have as much as -70% capacitance at -55c .. -40c

[stj]

Re: E. Capacitor withstanding high altitude or vacuum environment.

i suspect this is something interesting, and not just the usual "camera on a parachute"

maybe it's a radio repeater or a drone?

[stj]

Re: E. Capacitor withstanding high altitude or vacuum environment.

There is hardly any polys for 25V 3300ufSo I am asking here has anyone put a traditional electrolytic capacitor in a near vacuum?

space is not a vacuum, it's a low pressure mixture of gasses.
when i refered to a ground test, i meant a thermal test using a coldroom or oven.