Voltage ratings for bypass caps

[Redboy]

I picked up some MKP-1837 caps a while back, thinking I'd like to experiment with them. They've been well reviewed as bypass caps in speaker crossovers, but I had tube amp coupling caps in mind.

Anyway, the MKP-1837s are rated for 160VDC, which is generally a little low for use by themselves, but I'm wondering if I still need to adhere to the voltage ratings if they are bypassing a properly rated coupling cap.

For example, let's say I have 230VDC across a 0.22uf coupling cap, which is rated for 400VDC. Can I then bypass that cap with a 0.01uf, 160VDC rated MKP-1837, or would I worry about smoking the bypass cap? I'm not sure how the rules would apply in this example.

:scratch2:
Nate

 

[bharper]

not a good idea, any bypass still needs to have a higher voltage rating than the working voltage it is seeing. does not matter what else it is across, other than the voltage it is seeing.

if it worked at all, it would be a time bomb that would come back to bite you in the azz...

you could however series two of them, and then they would be good for 320v...

probaby not a real good idea as a coupling cap in most tube circuits either. even though operating it may see less voltage difference/swing than 160v, frequently that can be exceeded when you power up the unit with higher voltage appearing before the tubes warm up and start conducting current.