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Best capacitors to use 2021?

Raccoon1400

Raccoon1400

Super Member
What capacitors are other techs using for power supplies these days? I'm having trouble getting a steady supply of the Nichicon PM/PW capacitors, and I'm having trouble finding something else there is a steady stock of. Trying to make parts lists without using several different makes and series of capacitors.

I've mostly been able to keep myself stocked on Nichicon FG and KL caps for signal path.

Hoping to not trigger the big capacitor debate, I just need to figure out what the most reliable parts I can get a steady stock of from mouser or digikey are.
 
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I've found Cornell Dubilier (No affiliation) offers high temp, long life, high ripple capacitors at a good price. (I've suggested the 381LX series several times)
 
elnaldo said:
I've found Cornell Dubilier (No affiliation) offers high temp, long life, high ripple capacitors at a good price. (I've suggested the 381LX series several times)
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For the smaller caps though? I've used CDE for main filter caps. The 381LX series appears to be the larger caps.
Right now I'm trying to find 220uf/50V and 100/50 from the same series from the same supplier and seem to be drawing a blank if I want to use caps advertised as "low impedance".

Is this an issue arising from the current global supply chain issues or are they phasing out the parts we use. Been having more stocking issues than before recently. For years I was able to keep a fairly complete stock of Nichicon PW. (and PM for a few of the larger values)
 
I can get the PM in those values though... Stocks look pretty low though.

The PM are a bit pricier and the shape can be clunkier than the PW.
 
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Raccoon1400 said:
What capacitors are other techs using for power supplies these days? I'm having trouble getting a steady supply of the Nichicon PM/PW capacitors, and I'm having trouble finding something else there is a steady stock of. Trying to make parts lists without using several different makes and series of capacitors.

I've mostly been able to keep myself stocked on Nichicon FG and KL caps for signal path.

Hoping to not trigger the big capacitor debate, I just need to figure out what the most reliable parts I can get a steady stock of from mouser or digikey are.
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Power Supply...I also use Panasonic FR, FS.
 
Right now, the only series mentioned in this thread I can find available in both 220/50 and 100/50 is the Nichicon PM.
Of course I can mix a few different types on a board, but I'd rather find one series I can keep a decent stock of.

For 1uf/50V all I have right now is UKL. I can get some Nichicon PJ.

Anyone else here who does regular restoration work having a hard time stocking parts? Not only finding what is good for the purpose at hand, but what is available consistently.
 
Of course everyone is having problems sourcing electronic parts these days. It is going to take into 2022 for manufactures to restock the shelves at the distributors. All you can do is shop around to try to find stock or sub as you have mentioned
 
I guess I'll stock whatever I can get from this thread. Nichicon, Chemicon,...

How good are the Rubycon caps compared to other ones mentioned in this thread?
 
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Rubycon ZL seem really nice. Some have about half the impedance of the PW. And are cheaper.

I currently have a mix of those, the Nichicon PW/PM, and Chemicon KZE.
 
PM, PS seem to be "more available" than PWs, but probably because people have generally used PWs in the past. You can always look up your cap, say a 1000uF 50V and sort by the ripple current (higher is better). In today's times, sometimes we have to try other series and/or brands.

Lee.
 
leesonic said:
PM, PS seem to be "more available" than PWs, but probably because people have generally used PWs in the past. You can always look up your cap, say a 1000uF 50V and sort by the ripple current (higher is better). In today's times, sometimes we have to try other series and/or brands.

Lee.
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The PM are nice but more expensive and larger. When you go through as many caps as I do, a good price is a nice plus. Though I won't cut corners to get in the name of price. I order smaller caps by the 100 and larger values by the 10-25.

I remember EchoWars saying caps with larger diameter generally had higher ripple current ratings than thinner ones and to try to get shorter fatter caps as opposed to the really tall and skinny ones. So I always try to do that. Besides, the skinny ones look weird.
 
Why not use a film cap for your 1uF/50V? R82 series from Kemet are good. look for the DQ or I believe Z in the part number for long leads.
 
jheu02 said:
Why not use a film cap for your 1uF/50V? R82 series from Kemet are good. look for the DQ or I believe Z in the part number for long leads.
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Sometimes I do, depending on the quality of the gear and the what it is doing in circuit.

But using them everywhere will drive costs through the roof with no real benefit.
 
Except that you don't have to deal with them again. That said, if I don't plan on keeping a piece of gear, or it doesn't have a great value, I will use 'lytics starting at 1uF, especially if it's for something like a meter board.
 
jheu02 said:
Except that you don't have to deal with them again. That said, if I don't plan on keeping a piece of gear, or it doesn't have a great value, I will use 'lytics starting at 1uF, especially if it's for something like a meter board.
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I won't have to deal with them again either way for another 20-30 years and then I'll have to deal with all the caps.

But I'm recapping my own personal Kenwood 600T tuner at the moment and you better believe all the epoxy sealed low leakage caps are being replaced with WIMA film caps :)

I miss the small panasonic film caps that went obsolete a few years ago. I recall them being a lot cheaper than the wima. 100 of the WIMA 1uf would cost me $100.
 
Jameco does have the 1uF/50V Panasonic ECQs, at least they did a couple weeks ago. Had to get me some of those little cubes. They had some other values too but I didn't need them. I've found the Kemet R82 series to be good caps and have recently purchased some Epcos in small values. Newark sometimes has great special starred prices on certain items.
 
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