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    #1

    Capacitor life....

    Just curious as to the life of capacitors.
    I know that is a bit of a 'how long is a bit of string' type question, but for example, in my Corsair 620W it has a Hitachi capacitor (at least the reviews show that) and apart from all the other components, I just wondered what its life expectancy is ?
    The unit does have a 5 year warranty, would it be near the end of its life by then anyway ?
    Thanks...
    Tt Armor+ black case--Corsair HX1050--Intel i7 920 (default)+Noctua U12-Gigabyte GA-58EX-Extreme--6GB tri-ch. Corsair Dominator+ Corsair Dominator memory cooler--2 X Gigabyte 6870OC CF -2 x 300GB WD V-Raptors--1 X 500GB WD Green--1 x WD 250GB--1 X 1TB Samsung F3--8 case fans--Samsung T220 22" + Dell WFP2408 24"--Logitech G15 keyboard-Logitech G500 mouse--Onboard sound--plus other bits.
    OS-Vista-64bit+Win7-64bit+Win 8 64bit.
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    #2
    Re: Capacitor life....

    Noome can tell you how lon a unknown cap will survie. There are caps with 1000h till some with 100 000h of live. You should at least tell the voltage, the series and capacitance. Than someone can give you a rough number. If you give the ambient temperature inside the psu too, there are some exact formulas to calculate the lifespann of the cap. Any way, considering that it is probably the lowest usuable lifspann caps i can immagine from a good brand i think it is at least 2000h 105°c rated. If ambbient temp in PSU is abouth 45°c it should be good beyond 1280000h or abouth 14 years of 24/7 use. So i guess they should surpase the warrantly easily. But remeber, any 10°c higher ambient temp in the psu will half the lifespann.....tus if caps are getting hot, the usuable live can easily drop beyond a year, no mather of good or bad brand.

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      #3
      Re: Capacitor life....

      Many thanks for taking the time to reply and explain things........
      According to the reviews, the primary is a 470uF 400V Hitachi AIC.
      which I gather is a good make and rated at 105C, and the secondary caps are Nippon-Chemicon, so the innards of this PSU appear to be high quality, and I believe its rating is at 50C.
      So, the caps have a good life expectancy, and the unit should/will outlive the 5 year warranty......thanks for cheering me up
      Tt Armor+ black case--Corsair HX1050--Intel i7 920 (default)+Noctua U12-Gigabyte GA-58EX-Extreme--6GB tri-ch. Corsair Dominator+ Corsair Dominator memory cooler--2 X Gigabyte 6870OC CF -2 x 300GB WD V-Raptors--1 X 500GB WD Green--1 x WD 250GB--1 X 1TB Samsung F3--8 case fans--Samsung T220 22" + Dell WFP2408 24"--Logitech G15 keyboard-Logitech G500 mouse--Onboard sound--plus other bits.
      OS-Vista-64bit+Win7-64bit+Win 8 64bit.

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        #4
        Re: Capacitor life....

        I like that outlook. After all, even the Mars Rovers are still going.
        How many caps do you think they have? I'll take a guess and say 1000 caps per rover.
        Make an interesting query for ASK.
        Jim

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          #5
          Re: Capacitor life....

          I just want to add,

          There are life estimation formula of the aluminum electrolytic capacitors. If you care to do the math, this is document that might interest you:



          in quote:

          The life of the aluminum electrolytic capacitor is influenced by an ambient temperature, a ripple current, and an applied voltage. Especially, the ambient temperature and the ripple current are the main factors that causes wear-out failure. Applied voltage does not influence life time too much if an applied voltage to the aluminum electrolytic capacitor is below0.9x the rated voltage.but can be a factor of sudden failure.


          This is applyed to panasonic's high voltage capacitor (from 160V to 550V):



          But remeber, any 10°c higher ambient temp in the psu will half the lifespann.....
          I was expecting a 2x lifespann if temp decrease every 10C, but there is a "multiplier" coeficient.

          Maybe for lower voltage capacitor, there is another different calculation..
          Attached Files
          days are so short when you actually do something..

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            #6
            Re: Capacitor life....

            I think the big primary caps have way lower temp than those small ones on the secondary/output.
            days are so short when you actually do something..

            Comment

              #7
              Re: Capacitor life....

              Originally posted by arneson
              I like that outlook. After all, even the Mars Rovers are still going.
              How many caps do you think they have? I'll take a guess and say 1000 caps per rover.
              Make an interesting query for ASK.
              i really doubt you will find a single lytic in anything space rated.

              Comment

                #8
                Re: Capacitor life....

                I am still wondering why photo flash capacitors have a certain number of charge/discharge cycles, just like rechargable batteries.
                My first choice in quality Japanese electrolytics is Nippon Chemi-Con, which has been in business since 1931... the quality of electronics is dependent on the quality of the electrolytics.

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