How critical is it that lead spacing matches the board?

z-adamson

Addicted Member
I am replacing some aluminum electrolytic capacitors, filter caps to be exact, and they are the solder-down type.

They measure 82mm tall, 41mm diameter and the lead spacing is 25mm.

I cant find an exact match in lead spacing which means I will have to bend the leads to get them into the board to solder them down and the body of the cap will basically be "floating" and I don't really like the idea of all that weight of the floating cap pushing and pulling on the leads. If would be great if the body of the cap was up against the board and glued down to keep from stressing the leads and solder pads.

Hmmm, what to do.
 
Spot of hot glue on the board between the leads does the trick. Stuff's non conductive, so just press the cap into place before the glue sets.
 
Spot of hot glue on the board between the leads does the trick. Stuff's non conductive, so just press the cap into place before the glue sets.
Due to the lead spacing of the caps not matching the holes in the board, the air space between the caps and the board will be too much for a spot of glue to be effective. I would have to glue a spacer to the board then glue the caps to a spacer.
 
Drilling a pcb is not very difficult, and I’ve done it a few times installing filter caps with different lead spacing. Use the slower speed setting on your drill and let the bit do the work without applying much pressure. You may have to scrape off some mask to create a new solder pad around the new hole, and some flux will help the solder take to the new area.
 
I drill the PCB if the capacitor is large (even used a small flat screw driver). With small caps bending the leads is ok.

Anyway I'd expect such a large cap (40mm diameter) to be "snap in" type, not leads.
 
I drill the PCB if the capacitor is large (even used a small flat screw driver). With small caps bending the leads is ok.

Anyway I'd expect such a large cap (40mm diameter) to be "snap in" type, not leads.
Definitely leads.

They have 5 leads. One for +, one for -, the other three for support. Sadly, I can't find anything like this.
 
You should be able to bend the leads flat to the bottom of the cap, over to the hole(s), then 90° to go thru the PCB. Then a few dabs of hot glue should work nicely.

A reverse layout of the pins might help you determine the bends that will work.
 
What are the values of the caps? Cornell makes some caps in a 5 lead 22.5mm spacing. I just put some 10kuf/100v filters in an SU-V8 and they matched the originals perfectly.
 
What are the values of the caps? Cornell makes some caps in a 5 lead 22.5mm spacing. I just put some 10kuf/100v filters in an SU-V8 and they matched the originals perfectly.
Do you have the part number for that cap?

10,000uf, 80v is what I need.
 
What are the values of the caps? Cornell makes some caps in a 5 lead 22.5mm spacing. I just put some 10kuf/100v filters in an SU-V8 and they matched the originals perfectly.
I just cruised mouser and digikey. A search for everything Cornell makes in a 10kuf cap at 80v and 100v yielded nothing but screw and snap in.

I would be very interested in using what you used. I could use some help finding them though as my search came up empty.
 
I just cruised mouser and digikey. A search for everything Cornell makes in a 10kuf cap at 80v and 100v yielded nothing but screw and snap in.

I would be very interested in using what you used. I could use some help finding them though as my search came up empty.

I am at work but I'll get you the PNs when I get home this afternoon.
 
https://www.mouser.de/ProductDetail...GAEpiMZZMtZ1n0r9vR22RSFeKT/CuZ6%2bTXe5TLUhmE=

United Chemi-Con KMH. 10000µF/80v 105°, 5 pin w 25mm spacing, in stock at Mouser at the moment. What's not to like?

When I can't find something that fits exactly I use 1.5mm solid core wire to make a leg extension and then find a 4 or 5mm thick rubber o-ring of the correct diameter and glue it to the bottom of the cap to act as a spacer.

With small caps the thing is not to bend the leads more than ca 15° at the base of the cap to avoid breaking the base seal. Instead bend the leads a few mm below the cap base, out and then down to fit.

Cheers,
James
 
https://www.mouser.de/ProductDetail/United-Chemi-Con/EKMH800VRT103MB50T?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtZ1n0r9vR22RSFeKT/CuZ6%2bTXe5TLUhmE=

United Chemi-Con KMH. 10000µF/80v 105°, 5 pin w 25mm spacing, in stock at Mouser at the moment. What's not to like?

When I can't find something that fits exactly I use 1.5mm solid core wire to make a leg extension and then find a 4 or 5mm thick rubber o-ring of the correct diameter and glue it to the bottom of the cap to act as a spacer.

With small caps the thing is not to bend the leads more than ca 15° at the base of the cap to avoid breaking the base seal. Instead bend the leads a few mm below the cap base, out and then down to fit.

Cheers,
James
Description.....

Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors - Snap In 10KUF 80V

Data sheet says the same thing....snap in. NOT leaded. How is this a 5pin solder lead capacitor? What am I missing?
 
Description.....

Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors - Snap In 10KUF 80V

Data sheet says the same thing....snap in. NOT leaded. How is this a 5pin solder lead capacitor? What am I missing?

And yet, that's what I ordered...

DSC05501.jpg DSC05502.jpg DSC05503.jpg

...and if you look at Mouser's page for that part it shows 25mm lead spacing, which is what I got. I realize that it looks implausible considering the data sheet but the photos show what I did in fact receive through that link. They also show "snap-in" for all of the 5 lead KMH parts that they sell. Confusing yes, but I did get the 25mm 5-lead parts.

Cheers,
James
 
And yet, that's what I ordered...

View attachment 1212680 View attachment 1212681 View attachment 1212682

...and if you look at Mouser's page for that part it shows 25mm lead spacing, which is what I got. I realize that it looks implausible considering the data sheet but the photos show what I did in fact receive through that link. They also show "snap-in" for all of the 5 lead KMH parts that they sell. Confusing yes, but I did get the 25mm 5-lead parts.

Cheers,
James
I am definitely intrigued. I need to install these caps onto the "component" side of the board and solder down to the "solder" side of the board. I don't know if those snap in leads can be soldered down on this particular fashion. What I had in mind is something like this with 5 leads rather than 3 and 80v rather than 25 (see pic).
 

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I am definitely intrigued. I need to install these caps onto the "component" side of the board and solder down to the "solder" side of the board. I don't know if those snap in leads can be soldered down on this particular fashion. What I had in mind is something like this with 5 leads rather than 3 and 80v rather than 25 (see pic).

OK. One last try before I give up.

The caps that I linked to are suitable for use in power supplies. In spite of what Mouser states they have straight small tab leads and are not snap-in. They are soldered the same way as any other through hole lead cap. They have a 25mm spacing between + and -. I just used a set of dial calipers and measured a through hole lead width of 1.5mm.

If the caps that you are talking about are for a PSU, have 5 leads, and have 25mm lead spacing between + and -, and the pcb holes are the usual 1.6mm then the caps that I linked to will work. The photos show what the caps look like. The tabs/leads shown in the photos are only bent a small amount because that's what it took to reduce the spacing to 22.5mm for my amp. I don't know what else to say.

Cheers,
James
 
OK. One last try before I give up.

The caps that I linked to are suitable for use in power supplies. In spite of what Mouser states they have straight small tab leads and are not snap-in. They are soldered the same way as any other through hole lead cap. They have a 25mm spacing between + and -. I just used a set of dial calipers and measured a through hole lead width of 1.5mm.

If the caps that you are talking about are for a PSU, have 5 leads, and have 25mm lead spacing between + and -, and the pcb holes are the usual 1.6mm then the caps that I linked to will work. The photos show what the caps look like. The tabs/leads shown in the photos are only bent a small amount because that's what it took to reduce the spacing to 22.5mm for my amp. I don't know what else to say.

Cheers,
James
Thanks!
 
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