Are these capacitors leaking?
- Thread starter Roypercy
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Roypercy
Super Member
Ok, thanks. the search continues. I notice it’s been put on pretty sloppily, any chance this could have become conductive or otherwise messed up the electrical connection?
whoaru99
Epic Member
Some types can become corrosive and over time, which may(?) lead to some form of conductivity. Doesn't look to be in your case though, not yet anyway.
If the gear has a problem and you're thinking recapping may be a quick fix, the answer is probably not. Have to find the problem first. Too many shotgun recaps don't fix the underlying problem, or cause even more with replacement issues like a cap put in backwards. Not meaning to scold, only to advise from what I've seen happen all too often on the forum.
If the gear has a problem and you're thinking recapping may be a quick fix, the answer is probably not. Have to find the problem first. Too many shotgun recaps don't fix the underlying problem, or cause even more with replacement issues like a cap put in backwards. Not meaning to scold, only to advise from what I've seen happen all too often on the forum.
KentTeffeteller
Gimpus Stereophilus!
That glue is also conductive, not good. The top electrolytic does look to be in need of replacement.
Roypercy
Super Member
Thanks very much for all the replies! It was very helpful. I wanted to give a little update. The solution (I hope) was cheaper although it did make me feel like a bit of a dope.
The reason I'd been thinking of recapping the Setton was I was picking up increasingly loud interference on the Phono section. FM reception had declined, as well; the Setton went from having one of the strongest tuners I'd ever heard on a receiver, to struggling to pick up stations. And the tuning meter hardly budged even when I managed to pull a station in.
While I had the Setton opened up - when I posted those pics - mostly what I could tell was I didn't feel confident recapping it myself. But what I did notice on close inspection (after posting the above) was three things: on the underside of the circuit boards in places there was some kind of thin white residue; it could just be years of dust that got caked on due to humidity, but it almost looked to me like someone had once sprayed them down with something like Windex that left a residue behind; there were a few spots of what looked like oxidation on the underside of some circuit boards, that seemed to connect some solder joints that I thought shouldn't be connected; and there was a fair amount of brown capacitor glue that looked like it had seeped through the circuit boards and run where it shouldn't have, or that was dry and flaking off. There was also some white flaky oxidation or something on the fins of the tuner.
Now, this is not my first rodeo with vintage receivers; I had duly blown the dust out of the Setton and sprayed the pots and switches with contact cleaner a couple of times since I owned it, but I had never looked so closely at the circuit boards. So I spent a couple of hours with some isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs cleaning all the gunk off, even taking my old pocket knife and very carefully scraping away stuff where needed.
Not expecting much, I put the Setton back together and hooked it up and, lo and behold, the noise was gone. What I had experienced as a general degradation of sound was gone, too. All of a sudden now the receiver was pulling in stations without an antenna, and when I attached an antenna the signal meter - which had barely moved in this apartment - spiked to 100%.
My current working theory is that between the glue, the white residue, and the oxidation, some caps were shorting each other and either causing crosstalk or making the Setton more prone to RF interference in this area. Does that sound scientifically valid?
Anyway, the Setton is back in my dining room system, sounding great. I will consider replacing the two caps I initially asked about, since this experience makes me feel the old glue had definitely become conductive.
This hobby is a constant learning process. I really appreciate everyone's help!
The reason I'd been thinking of recapping the Setton was I was picking up increasingly loud interference on the Phono section. FM reception had declined, as well; the Setton went from having one of the strongest tuners I'd ever heard on a receiver, to struggling to pick up stations. And the tuning meter hardly budged even when I managed to pull a station in.
While I had the Setton opened up - when I posted those pics - mostly what I could tell was I didn't feel confident recapping it myself. But what I did notice on close inspection (after posting the above) was three things: on the underside of the circuit boards in places there was some kind of thin white residue; it could just be years of dust that got caked on due to humidity, but it almost looked to me like someone had once sprayed them down with something like Windex that left a residue behind; there were a few spots of what looked like oxidation on the underside of some circuit boards, that seemed to connect some solder joints that I thought shouldn't be connected; and there was a fair amount of brown capacitor glue that looked like it had seeped through the circuit boards and run where it shouldn't have, or that was dry and flaking off. There was also some white flaky oxidation or something on the fins of the tuner.
Now, this is not my first rodeo with vintage receivers; I had duly blown the dust out of the Setton and sprayed the pots and switches with contact cleaner a couple of times since I owned it, but I had never looked so closely at the circuit boards. So I spent a couple of hours with some isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs cleaning all the gunk off, even taking my old pocket knife and very carefully scraping away stuff where needed.
Not expecting much, I put the Setton back together and hooked it up and, lo and behold, the noise was gone. What I had experienced as a general degradation of sound was gone, too. All of a sudden now the receiver was pulling in stations without an antenna, and when I attached an antenna the signal meter - which had barely moved in this apartment - spiked to 100%.
My current working theory is that between the glue, the white residue, and the oxidation, some caps were shorting each other and either causing crosstalk or making the Setton more prone to RF interference in this area. Does that sound scientifically valid?
Anyway, the Setton is back in my dining room system, sounding great. I will consider replacing the two caps I initially asked about, since this experience makes me feel the old glue had definitely become conductive.
This hobby is a constant learning process. I really appreciate everyone's help!
