is there a difference between greenies and smallbear poly caps?

[junkyjunky]

title says it all. any opinions and or information is appreciated. thanks.

[ildar]

Do yourself a favor and search for cap discussions on the forum.
Then make a pot of coffee. A big pot of coffee. You'll need it.

[jmusser]

Some people can tell the difference in tone of the different types of caps, but I sure can't. To me, a ceramic sounds the same as a poly, and a mylar sounds the same as an electrolytic. I just use what ever type I have that has that value. I have read that electrolytics and I believe paper types, eventually dry out, but I have not seen it in practice yet. I use a great deal of scavenged parts out of VCRs, 8 tracks, etc., that are 20 years old or better sometimes, and I've never had the first one fail of any type. I figure if they're not the big electrolytics or diodes that have been used in power supplies, than they haven't been subjected to a lot of torture, and so far, that has proven to be the case in over 50 circuits I've built. Will they fail down the road? Maybe, but how far down the road were they before I started using them for my purposes?

[aron]

FWIW, I like the greenies. Been using them for years. I just built a pedal tonight using them. 

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

There is scope for confusion (as always!) because, there are a LOT of different 'poly' things that can be in caps, including polyester, polystyrene, polycarbonate etc.!!! but, I think the greenies are polyester (to make it worse, some of those 'greenies' are brown!!).

[hank reynolds 3rd]

I use the greenies/brownies...mylar, or those red ones from rapid electronics...because they look the nicest!! or the blue (resin?) dipped ones for really small values..

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Mylar is a trademark for polyester. Yeah, caps ARE confusing

[wampcat1]

IMO, the tolerance is much more important than the substance the cap is derived from. Electrolytics can be +/- 20%!!!! That means two 1uf capacitors can be 40% different from each other!

I would just try to use metal stack film with as low of a tolerance as possible where it is in the signal path.

[junkyjunky]

i agree caps just seem needlessly confusing.  i didnt know mylar was the trademark for polyester. thats interesting. thanks guys.

[Mark Hammer]

Y'know what kind of caps I like?  I like caps that:
a) fit in the damn space on the board without having to do anything exotic to the leads,
b) are slender enough that they don't conflict with anything,
c) are able to lie down flat if space permits, so I can find enough room under the pots/switches for he actual board,
d) don't "sweat out" weird wet stuff when I solder them a few seconds too long,
e) are the value they say they are,
f) are in my parts bin,
g) are cheap enough that I am motivated to build the circuit.

[soggybag]

Lately I've been using the AVX boxed metal film caps from mouser. These are small and cheap. They are easy to design with since they're all mostly the same size. I'm not sure what the quality is. Though I suspect they are equivelent to the mylar/polyester caps.

[ildar]

Mylar is a trademark for polyester. Yeah, caps ARE confusing

Really? In the 70's the term Mylar was used in the wallpaper trade to categorize foil (i.e. super-thin metal sheet bonded to paper) wallcovering. IIRC it was a Dupont tm.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

In the 70's the term Mylar was used in the wallpaper trade to categorize foil (i.e. super-thin metal sheet bonded to paper) wallcovering. IIRC it was a Dupont tm.

I think that super-thin metal sheet was actually mylar with metal vapor deposited on it!

And Mark, as for those favorite caps of yours.. I think we could all do with a box

[Dave_B]

In the 70's the term Mylar was used in the wallpaper trade to categorize foil (i.e. super-thin metal sheet bonded to paper) wallcovering. IIRC it was a Dupont tm.

Perhaps most importantly, it was used to make hard-to-photograph KISS posters.   

[bluesdevil]

In the 70's the term Mylar was used in the wallpaper trade to categorize foil (i.e. super-thin metal sheet bonded to paper) wallcovering. IIRC it was a Dupont tm.

Perhaps most importantly, it was used to make hard-to-photograph KISS posters.   

Wow, talk about a blast from the past!! Dupont also made the "space age" material for those flimsy KISS jackets.Colorful as all hell, but easily torn. Proud to say I've been a card carrying member of the KISS Army since 1977... well, sometimes not too proud.

[smallbearelec]

The ECQ-B are generally considered to be one grade better than the greenie, I standardized on them (and offer a reasonably-priced assortment) for several reasons:

1. They are inexpensive and pretty compact.
2. They work satisfactorily in pedals.
3. They are available in values from 100 pf. right up through the large values for interstage coupling. This gives you a standard form factor for many values, which helps ease board design.

SD

[junkyjunky]

thanks all for the comments and yes i want a box of marks caps. sign me up.

[Paul Marossy]

I used to draw on Mylar with ink pens about 15 years ago...