Capacitor life

[4est]

3 hours ago, Speedskater said:

I think that those are hand made capacitors, so life span is questionable.

Replace them with capacitors made by a major industrial capacitor manufacture.

Surely you jest?

[4est]

4 hours ago, Racerxnet said:

Whats the life span of capacitors in our equipment. I am asking because it seems that the top end is rolled off on my speakers and they are pushing 24 years old. The caps are REL-CAPS PPT series. What to replace them with?? Suggestions!

 

MAK

 

 

If your speakers are losing highs, it is not likely these. PM Superdad here, and he can give you the low down. These are a film and foil (polypropylene and tin?) capacitor, and they do not age like an electrolytic one. These are also not bad or hand made parts. You would have found these in ARC equipment IIRC. Sure there are better parts available, but they will cost you. It is possibly the problem, but unlikely IMO. To my knowledge these are still made under the AudioCap name.

[4est]

1 minute ago, Ralf11 said:

ARC uses Infini-Caps

They used to these IIRC. I don's own any modern ARC gear.

[4est]

2 minutes ago, Richard Dale said:

They may well do today, but as at 1989 or when the SP9 mkII was being sold (I bought one then and still have it, so I have some personal interest in the lifetime of its caps), it had rel caps. Here is a picture of one:

 

I bet they still work too!

[4est]

9 hours ago, Speedskater said:

About what?

Turns out that I was incorrect about them being handmade.

They are made by a major industrial capacitor manufacture Reliable. The should last a century.

You weren't just a little wrong, but completely off base. If you don't actually know, perhaps you should not guess or speculate- that's spreading FUD. A film and foil cap used in a speaker should last the life of the speaker. Of course it is possible that there is a defective one, but it seem really unlikely both would fail the same.

[4est]

On 1/7/2020 at 3:39 PM, Richard Dale said:

Well I believe ‘REL’ in the name is short for reliable, and so I’m not particularly convinced by that argument.

Correct. Reliable is an OEM manufacturer. These are not some boutique parts.

 

[4est]

8 minutes ago, Racerxnet said:

 

I never said they were hand made and aware of Rel-caps reputation. With the cost of replacement speakers I will only replace parts that are of the same brand/value as original if possible.

 

The speakers were made around 1996 or so from when Arnie Nudell left Infinity, and started the Genesis brand in Colorado. The caps are old and I am updating the crossover with new parts while available. I'm not interested in changing the tonal qualities. The wafer switch was bad and had intermittent contact.

 

The original Culver 600uf 100v 5% cap was no longer available, so I piggybacked 2 x 300uf 100v 5% NP caps as seen. The new wafer switch installed, and new Rel caps as well.

 

The speakers are 25 year old. My cost per side is around $250.00. Cheap enough to do ail of the components on both sides of the crossovers. They will last another 25 years possibly.

 

Mark

 

 

I guess the question is then, did you get your rolled off highs back?