Fake or not fake, that's the question - Elna Silmic II

Hello everyone,

I've joined this forum for quite some time now, but never had the need or courage to open a thread. Before presenting my problem, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the owners and contributors for making the effort in keeping this forum alive.

I've learned a lot by browsing and reading all the threads and due to the information acquired, I've recently decided to resurrect one of my amps, a Sansui AU-555a. It needs a recap and a balance pot replacement. Regarding the caps I have opted for Elna Silmic II in combination with Mundorf Mlytic AG. So I've ordered the caps but had a very big surprise when they've arrived. Some of the Elnas were a different color then the one specified in the data sheet, namely red gloss sleeve with gold markings (non-ROHS) or brown matt sleeve with silver markings (ROHS). They were black sleeve with gold markings.

So my question is: are they real or fakes? Bellow are some pictures of the capacitors that I have received.


Thank you in advance for any help and I do apologise if I haven't posted my question in the right category.

All the best,

Angel H.
 

Attachments

  • 10561100904_998c24327a_z.jpg
    10561100904_998c24327a_z.jpg
    114.8 KB · Views: 129
  • 10561098964_a3ffccc1a8_z.jpg
    10561098964_a3ffccc1a8_z.jpg
    168.9 KB · Views: 118
  • 10561039455_cf09ca53db_z.jpg
    10561039455_cf09ca53db_z.jpg
    120.9 KB · Views: 102
Last edited:
Well, let me be the first to welcome you to AK! :thmbsp:

FWIW, all the Elna Silmic II's I've ever seen have been brown with white lettering. I've never seen them in the color scheme you show in your photos. Does that mean they're counterfeit? Good question. :dunno:

Where did you get them?
 
Hello and thank you for your warm welcome and prompt response.

I've read some threads on some other forums about counterfeited capacitors, but regarding the ones in question I haven't found much information. Only one thread mentioned this color combination but it had very few answers and the dilemma seemed to remain unsolved.

I'm located in Eastern Europe and had the possibility to order the exact values as the originals from 3 sources:

1) hificollective from UK - received ROHS ones (brown matt sleeve with silver markings)
2) banzai music from DE - haven't received them yet
3) a local dealer - the ones in question (he said he got them from China and he remained surprised when I asked him about the color combination. He said he works for quite some years now with that dealer and never had any complaints. He said he is going to send them an email and ask the same question I asked him)

I've already sent an email to Elna, but I guess it's going to take a while to have an answer from them and that's why I've started this thread, maybe someone confronted with the same problem in the past. Also it could be a good start for a future data base of counterfeited parts, in order to help others avoid this kind of trouble.

All the best,

Angel H.
 
They look like the product photos from distributors I searched. Whether they are a clever counterfeit, no idea. I would assume they are OK, the Mfg.'s do change their case style and that would be reason to accept the assumption that those are authentic.
 
:thmbsp:I'd like to welcome you also. No idea about the caps. The byline made me think celebrity boobs. So I figured I check out the pics. Good luck with your amp build. I'll watch to see if I can learn anything.
 
The ones I get from Digikey are brown with white lettering, the lettering and layout of the printing on yours looks the same just black with gold lettering.

Interesting. :scratch2:
 
I think those are just older stock caps not fakes. If you do a Google search, you will find them in black/gold-brown/gold-and the current brown/white.
 
I think Elna will give you the best answer.

If the are old stock caps, it should be some manufacture date code on them. At least the year should be there. I see a 1010 code and a 1118 code, I guess 2010 and 2011...

Elna can tell you when they changed the case color.
 
Thank you all for your answers and involvement.

Luckily the "mystery" was elucidated by ELNA Japan themselves today, when I have received a blazing fast reply to my question. So here it goes:

"Dear Mr. H***** Angel,

I am H*** I*** working in Japan. Regarding to your question, I have checked with our engineer, and they confirmed
that the products in attached pictures are Elna product.

best regards,
********************
H*** I***
ELNA CO.LTD
TEL: +81 45 470-7***
********************"

So that's it, Elna Silmic II caps with black sleeve and gold markings are original. I'm also waiting for an answer from ELNA America but I think at this point it's useless.

@nj pheonix it was intended in shakespearean way but that works also :), even better. I will open a new thread with the restoration process in the Sansui forums.
 
Back
Top Bottom