Do Capacitors need to be "Broken in"

[StephenGiles]

It all depends whether or not there is an R in the month  

[ElectricDruid]

How old would it need to be

I've seen caps go bad in a year or two. Others be fine after 40 years. Not much relation to price; some of the worst early leakers were very expensive.

Wasn't there a story some years ago about a bad batch of electolyte solution that found its way into the production chain? For several years after that, there were basically-new caps popping all over the place. But that was clearly a case of faulty manufacture.

Ah, yes, here it is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

2007, they say, so it's nearly 20 years ago already. Jeez, I must be getting old.

[printer2]

I can not speak for capacitors but my two cents on speaker break in, it depends on the speaker. Some speakers do not need any, some do. I have some 10" Veteran WGS's and they sounded good out of the box. A 12" from WGS (do not remember the model) with a doped surround sounded better after a few hours being fed from a bell transformer.

[Fancy Lime]

You're all wrong! Electrolytic caps need to be broken OUT not IN for that very special vintage sound. Just apply mains voltage straight to the cap and, BOOM, all sound problems solved. The smell means it's working! For caps with voltage ratings greater than 36V, you need to use 220V, obviously. </clumsyforumhumor>

[sinthmart]

How much skepticism and disbelief! O age of moral decline((.
Whereas a well-kneaded capacitor acquires an additional effect on harmonics and will give them warmth and clarity.
Careful and competent palpation, with pressing, will never hurt capacitors.

[Mark Hammer]

How old would it need to be

I've seen caps go bad in a year or two. Others be fine after 40 years. Not much relation to price; some of the worst early leakers were very expensive.

Wasn't there a story some years ago about a bad batch of electolyte solution that found its way into the production chain? For several years after that, there were basically-new caps popping all over the place. But that was clearly a case of faulty manufacture.

Ah, yes, here it is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

2007, they say, so it's nearly 20 years ago already. Jeez, I must be getting old.

Clearly, I'm going to have to subscribe to Passive Component Industry, when my subscription to Vintage Guitar runs out next year.

Of course what the Wiki page refers to is electros that could be easily spotted by visual aspects alone.  My question was really more about caps that - cosmetically - look fine, but have drifted well off-spec over time.

[duck_arse]

the caps used in a burst box always need to be broken in, or the circuit box won't function.

[PRR]

Passive Component Industry

The industry is in the Nile. The Truth Is Out There, in dark alleys and in after-hours cap-clubs.

[R.G.]

Of course what the Wiki page refers to is electros that could be easily spotted by visual aspects alone.  My question was really more about caps that - cosmetically - look fine, but have drifted well off-spec over time.

That's a tough thing to deal with. The "capacitor plague" era left me with a motherboard full of 10uF to 100uF electros that were all going funny a couple of years after it was installed. Exactly one of them had visible leakage or swelling.

I replaced the whole MB, but just to see if I still had the knack with a solder-sucker, I replaced all the electros on that motherboard. The bad time was getting the negative/ground pin to come loose from the ground planes. I filed down a tip from my 200W Weller soldering gun (note to audience - don't try this unless you can bear to throw away whatever you use it on!) to get enough heat into the pin/plane to free the old ones. I guess I did it OK - the board booted after I finished.

I threw it away anyway. My data is worth more than salvaging a motherboard.