POLL: Panasonic P-Series Caps

[Joe Kramer]

Hi Friends,

I guess many of you know that Panasonic has discontinued its excellent P-Series line of polypropylene capacitors (previously available through DIGIKEY).  I'm researching a few manufacturers that can make a replacement in terms of material, size, voltage rating, and price. The thing is, all these manufacturers require medium-to-large quantity orders to arrive at a decent price point.  My hope is that there are enough users of the P-Series parts (here and on other electronics forums) to help convince a distributor to place an order and make these parts available to us again (as well as profiting the distributor sufficiently).  

If you would be interested in seeing a replacement for the P-Series made available, give a shout out here.

Regards,
Joe

PS: This manufacturer is my top pick for now: http://www.stkelectronics.com/pdfs/KP35D.pdf

[metallo]

Are you talking about Panasonic ECQ-PU ? 

http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/components/pdf/ef058_ecqp_u_dne.pdf

[John Lyons]

Anything in a 5mm spacing in film would be great.
AVX are discontinued as well as one most likely two panasonic types
as smallbear and digikey sell/sold. Me worry? Yes! 

[zombiwoof]

I thought that series was Polyester film?.  Are they really polyprop?.

Al

[zombiwoof]

Never mind, I was thinking of the ECQ-B (which I think was discontinued) and the ECQ-E (which is still being made, I think).

Al

[Joe Kramer]

Hey guys!

Yes, it's mainly the ECQ-P polypropylene films I'm talking about, though Panasonic has discontinued many of their other leaded caps too.  The P-Series caps were just ideal IMHO: huge range of values, small size, low cost, and excellent audio performance.  Honestly, I'm sort of lost without them!  I'm really hoping to build some kind of consensus here so that we can make a case for a distributor to carry this STK line--those look like perfect replacements to me.  Check them out here:

http://www.stkelectronics.com/site/polypropylene-kp35.php

I did get a quote from an STK salesman named Randy Page, for 100 each of ten different values.  The prices were surprisingly good, but of course I'd rather pay a bit more per piece and buy as-needed than cash out such a big chunk all at once.  I really think this would be a great opportunity for a distributor as well as a benefit to us.

Spread the word!

Thanks,
Joe

[John Lyons]

As far as I know the "E" series is bye bye as well.
Or at least they are not being stocked at digikey which
is the main supplier.

[Joe Kramer]

I'm not familiar with the "E" series, but if it's a leaded part I wouldn't be surprised if it's axed too.  Here's the discontinuation notice from Panasonic:

http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/components/pdf/dc187.pdf

The subs that Digikey gives for these leaded parts are all SMT, surface-mount.  Since my eyes are not improving with age, that's a deal-breaker for me.   

[zombiwoof]

I'm not familiar with the "E" series, but if it's a leaded part I wouldn't be surprised if it's axed too.  Here's the discontinuation notice from Panasonic:

http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/components/pdf/dc187.pdf

The subs that Digikey gives for these leaded parts are all SMT, surface-mount.  Since my eyes are not improving with age, that's a deal-breaker for me.   

ECQ-E is not on that list, and is still shown on the Panasonic website.  ECQ-V is also still on the site (stacked metal film cap that many use in pedal mods for replacement of electros, lower noise and relatively compact).  They have a couple of new leaded caps that are higher voltage (I think 450 and 800 volt as I recall).  So their leaded caps are not completely going away at this time.  I think the ECQ-E is a smaller cap than the ECQ-B was, maybe different temperature ratings.  Small Bear has some info on his site about those, he's subbing ECQ-E and TopMay caps for the ECQ-B as he runs out of certain values.  I don't know how the TopMay caps compare to the Panasonics.  It does look like the polypropylene caps are gone, unless I missed something on the site.

Al

[zombiwoof]

Hey guys!

Yes, it's mainly the ECQ-P polypropylene films I'm talking about, though Panasonic has discontinued many of their other leaded caps too.  The P-Series caps were just ideal IMHO: huge range of values, small size, low cost, and excellent audio performance.  Honestly, I'm sort of lost without them!  I'm really hoping to build some kind of consensus here so that we can make a case for a distributor to carry this STK line--those look like perfect replacements to me.  Check them out here:

http://www.stkelectronics.com/site/polypropylene-kp35.php

I did get a quote from an STK salesman named Randy Page, for 100 each of ten different values.  The prices were surprisingly good, but of course I'd rather pay a bit more per piece and buy as-needed than cash out such a big chunk all at once.  I really think this would be a great opportunity for a distributor as well as a benefit to us.

Spread the word!

Thanks,
Joe

What about Cornell-Dublier?  I seem to recall they have some quality small poly caps.  Might be more expensive, though.

I have some STK axial 630 volt polypropylene caps that I've been selling along with Russian PIO caps for guitar tone caps.  I only bring it up because I was told that STK makes very good quality stuff, the ones I've got are 5% tolerance.  Doesn't have anything to do with your needs, but just thought I'd pass it along that they have a great rep from what I've heard from a couple of sources.

Al

[Joe Kramer]

What about Cornell-Dublier?  I seem to recall they have some quality small poly caps.  Might be more expensive, though.

I have some STK axial 630 volt polypropylene caps that I've been selling along with Russian PIO caps for guitar tone caps.  I only bring it up because I was told that STK makes very good quality stuff, the ones I've got are 5% tolerance.  Doesn't have anything to do with your needs, but just thought I'd pass it along that they have a great rep from what I've heard from a couple of sources.

Thanks for the suggestions.  CDE, Sprague, and many others do have decent polypropylenes on offer, though none of them covers all the bases as far as size, range of values, etc.  Also, thanks for the positive info on the STK parts.  That just makes me more determined to see these made available somewhere.

I owe the STK salesman a call today, and I'm going to ask if he won't mind me dropping his name to someone at Digikey. . . .

Joe   

[Eb7+9]

My hope is that there are enough users of the P-Series parts (here and on other electronics forums) to help convince a distributor to place an order and make these parts available to us again (as well as profiting the distributor sufficiently).  
If you would be interested in seeing a replacement for the P-Series made available, give a shout out here.

if you think FTK can come up with something that sounds good to you I'd be into trying some
personally I would be happy with just one value (1.0uF) ... one huge bag of them ... ~

thanks