Noob capacitor ?'s

[Fuzzy-Train]

I want to build myself a tycobrahe clone using the general guitar gadgets schematic and I don't know shjt about capacitors.

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=88

the caps it needs are:

1 - 150pf    ceramic
1 - 0.001uf  film or cermaic
2 - 0.1uf    film
1 - 22uF     aluminum electrolytic
2 - 33uF     aluminum electrolytic
1 - 220uF    aluminum electrolytic

I can get most of my stuff from smallbear, but when it comes to capacitors, I'm not sure if the ones I think are right, ARE the right ones to use. All of smallbears stock is either "pf" and "mf", and as you can see, I'm dealing mostly with "uf"... I've read on some sites that "mf" and "uf" are the same though, is that true?

Going in order from the list above, I was wondering if some of you could tell me if I picked the right ones.... and obviously I'll be chosing the correct cap. value in each link provided.

1) http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=161
2) http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=162
3) http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=162
4) http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=184
5) http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=184

If some of them are wrong, could some of you be so kind as to give me the correct one? Please, if you can, use smallbear since about 90% of the parts I'm getting will be from them.

Thanks in advance for your time and help.
6) http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=185

[jonathan perez]

uF and mF are the same.

use mouser, and youll find its a bit easier to get specifics.

[Fuzzy-Train]

Sweet, thanks for the tip, I couldn't find the diodes I needed at smallbear, and they have them at mouser, so now I can get my caps and diodes from the same place.

For the ceramic caps, should I use disc, or multilayer? I'm thinking I need multilayer, right?

Thanks for the quick help BTW.

[captntasty]

Just a little tidbit to explain why you see "u" (as in uf) when representing the term microfarads.  The u is actually the lower case greek letter "μ" or mu which in the International System of Units represents the prefix micro-.  Most use u as it is easier to type a u than it is to pull up the character map, copy it, paste it, etc.  Some will use m- to denote micro, more often than not, u is used.

[Fuzzy-Train]

Thanks a lot for the help so far guys.

Anyone know which capacitor would be better: disc or multilayer?

Thanks again for the help.

[Pushtone]

Thanks a lot for the help so far guys.

Anyone know which capacitor would be better: disc or multilayer?

Thanks again for the help.

I've never heard of anyone recommending multilayer over disc when it comes to ceramics.
Disc ceramic caps are very small and that can be a very good thing.
Check the dimensions of the multilayer vs the disc.

I do remember reading that silver mica may sound better than ceramic disc, but they are larger.
Can you post the Mouser link to the multilayer caps your looking at?

[captntasty]

I've never seen or heard discussion concerning multilayer caps although they would work - why wouldn't they?  Is there a price difference?  Size difference and if they are smaller than discs would you benefit from that?  As Pushtone mentioned, size may be a factor...  the common choice is between ceramic disc and silver mica when it comes to relatively small value caps.  As for the sound quality of one over the other I suspect it is minimal.  I use silver mica for small value caps because at one point I probably bought into the sound quality thing and keep using them because of inertia more than anything else.  Silver micas are most definitely more expensive than ceramics, probably tenfold or more.  So, I guess my advice would be try both.  If the price difference between multilayer and ceramic is minimal why not get both and find out for yourself.  If your into this sort of thing compare all the specs on the datasheets - if not, stick with discs as they are tried and true.  I think we all get lost in the pursuit of sound quality but forget that stomp circuits are relatively rough and don't necessarily benifit all that much by using higher quality/close tolerance components.

I certainly haven't seen everything there is to see, so, I'm curious to see what the stomp gurus have to say... 

[MikeH]

That 150pf cap isn't doing anything dramatic, (looks to me like it's fitering noise) so I wouldn't waste money on fancy caps like mica.  My advice would be to find a ceramic cap assortment on the web somewhere.  For maybe about 10 bucks you could get a decent assortment somewhere and have all of the ceramic caps you'd need.  As for the diodes, they should have them at smallbear.  if I'm not mistaken a 1N34A is the same as the "NOS germanium" that they have.  It will work the same.

And nobody explained "pf":

pf is picofarads.  Sometimes you see nf.  nf is nanofarads.

It breaks down like this.  1uf=1000nf.  (So, 100nf = 0.1uf; 10nf=0.01uf 1nf=0.001uf ect.)  and  1nf=1000pf,  so 1uf = 1,000,000 pf.     

[Fuzzy-Train]

^ nice, thanks for the help man.

Also what voltage caps should I be using? Does it really matter?

Thanks again for all the help.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I'm plannin on just using a dc jack instead of using both the battery connection and dc jack. Would I just wire the dc jack the way the battery is wired in this diagram.

[MikeH]

Technically it doesn't matter as long as they're rated higher than your power source (10 volts or so), but the high voltage caps will work fine but they can get VERY big.  They do however, usually have much lower tolerances.  Regaurdless, the most typical caps used for stompboxes are rated 50-100V.

[343 Salty Beans]

I've never used silver mica, I wouldn't know, but I've never had cap-related noise problems. All my noise is usually solved by moving a few wires away from important stuff like ICs and power lines.

The one thing I would definitely advise:

Go to http://www.futurlec.com/ValuePacks.shtml and buy the electrolytic, ceramic, and mylar packs. IC, transistor, and diode packs are alright too, but those 3 packs have lasted me a good long while and they're CHEAP 

PS: Get the 1/4w resistor pack too! Doesn't have many odd values, but there's enough in there to parallel or series them and make them into whatever values you could possibly need.

[ildar]

I've never seen or heard discussion concerning multilayer caps although they would work - why wouldn't they?  Is there a price difference?  Size difference and if they are smaller than discs would you benefit from that?  As Pushtone mentioned, size may be a factor...  the common choice is between ceramic disc and silver mica when it comes to relatively small value caps.  As for the sound quality of one over the other I suspect it is minimal.  I use silver mica for small value caps because at one point I probably bought into the sound quality thing and keep using them because of inertia more than anything else.  Silver micas are most definitely more expensive than ceramics, probably tenfold or more.  So, I guess my advice would be try both.  If the price difference between multilayer and ceramic is minimal why not get both and find out for yourself.  If your into this sort of thing compare all the specs on the datasheets - if not, stick with discs as they are tried and true.  I think we all get lost in the pursuit of sound quality but forget that stomp circuits are relatively rough and don't necessarily benifit all that much by using higher quality/close tolerance components.

I certainly haven't seen everything there is to see, so, I'm curious to see what the stomp gurus have to say... 

Multilayer caps are about the same size as their ceramic counterparts, and should be useable anywhere a standard (i.e. non-polar) cap would be used. I've used them in a number of circuits and had absolutely no issues.

[Fuzzy-Train]

Thanks a lot for the help everyone.... I really appreciate it, especially since answering some of my questions is probably a waste of time for you guys.

Again, thanks a lot everyone.

I'll let you know how everything went when I'm done, and I'l post pics when it's all done in the pic thread.

[Barcode80]

Salty, that site is AWESOME! if you can tolerate the shipping times, those prices are amazing!!!

[343 Salty Beans]

Salty, that site is AWESOME! if you can tolerate the shipping times, those prices are amazing!!!

I know. If they had 3PDT footswitches (actually, any footswitches at all) and some decent enclosures I'd never need to look anywhere else. They just added jacks and plugs to their merchandise (they have size M power jacks now, and for cheap!)

I order a lot of stuff in a row. it seems like they have a policy where the more you order, the faster they ship it. First time I ordered, it took 16 days. Now it takes about 5. 

[Peter Snowberg]

Thanks a lot for the help everyone.... I really appreciate it, especially since answering some of my questions is probably a waste of time for you guys.

Again, thanks a lot everyone.

I'l let you know how everything went when I'm done, and I'l post pics when it's all done in the pic thread.

Not a waste at all.

In fact, this forum is here to ask questions and get them answered. It's always appreciated when people search for answers in the archives, but if you don't find your answer after a search, please post your question. There is a very good chance that there are others with exactly the same question.

Please do post a picture when you're done & best wishes with your build!

[phxbass]

I've never used silver mica, I wouldn't know, but I've never had cap-related noise problems. All my noise is usually solved by moving a few wires away from important stuff like ICs and power lines.

The one thing I would definitely advise:

Go to http://www.futurlec.com/ValuePacks.shtml and buy the electrolytic, ceramic, and mylar packs. IC, transistor, and diode packs are alright too, but those 3 packs have lasted me a good long while and they're CHEAP 

PS: Get the 1/4w resistor pack too! Doesn't have many odd values, but there's enough in there to parallel or series them and make them into whatever values you could possibly need.

I'll have to check this place out.  Just one question though...are the resistors and caps separated by value?  Checking the values of 250 resistors before finding the one 10k I need seems like a big pain.

[Noplasticrobots]

Most use u as it is easier to type a u than it is to pull up the character map, copy it, paste it, etc

Character map? µ is just an option-m to us Mac users! 

[343 Salty Beans]

I've never used silver mica, I wouldn't know, but I've never had cap-related noise problems. All my noise is usually solved by moving a few wires away from important stuff like ICs and power lines.

The one thing I would definitely advise:

Go to http://www.futurlec.com/ValuePacks.shtml and buy the electrolytic, ceramic, and mylar packs. IC, transistor, and diode packs are alright too, but those 3 packs have lasted me a good long while and they're CHEAP 

PS: Get the 1/4w resistor pack too! Doesn't have many odd values, but there's enough in there to parallel or series them and make them into whatever values you could possibly need.

I'll have to check this place out.  Just one question though...are the resistors and caps separated by value?  Checking the values of 250 resistors before finding the one 10k I need seems like a big pain.

Yep, they're seperated into bags and labeled (although sometimes they label them wrong so double-check the color codes just in case).

[Fuzzy-Train]

I just have one more question that didn't get answered previoulsy.

I'm plannin on just using a dc jack instead of using both the battery connection and dc jack. Would I just wire the dc jack the way the battery is wired in this diagram.



Have any of you used the same schematic as this one? How did it turn out?