Huuuuge capacitors !!!!!!!!

[AM]

Hi people,
I just got some delivery from Banzai and I realised that among other things they also sent me those:
http://banzaieffects.com/Xicon-PPL-0-22uF-pr-18662.html
They are huge. Length is a little less than 3 cm (a bit more than an inch). I don't know if I ordered them by accident or if they messed up my order.
I wanted to ask something. Are they good for a fuzz pedal I'm working on? Apart from the size issue with doesn't really bother me since I have space in my enclosure. My question concerns more audio path issues.
Thanks for reading this.

[darron]

oh man. when you said huge i thought you meant mains capacitors designed to start three phase motors or something

3CM? are they electrolytic? are they high rated greenies? you'll have to tell us what value capacitor it is, what it looks like, and where you intend on using it. if the VALUE (ie in farads) is right, then yes you will most likely be able to use it. they make capacitors of really large size for higher voltage tolerances, which are all the better, just not practical. just mind the polarity if they are polarised. you can always use a non-polarised cap in the place of a polarised one too.

[AM]

Ha ha ... no fortunately they are not that big. Thanks for replying Darron.
From the banzai website description:
"Metalized Polypropylene. Made in Japan. Great sound, small size. A very high quality, cost effective range of coupling capacitors."
The value I need is 0.22 uF . If you click at the link in my first message you will be directed to the product page description. Here is a zoom in image:
http://banzaieffects.com/Xicon-PPL-0-22uF-pr-18662.html#tabs

The only difference between the cap in the photo and what I have is that mine reads "F224K R" instead of "F224K P" which is the one in the photo.

[darron]

yeah. you could use those as the input of the fuzz face to replace the 2.2uf polarised cap, or on the output which will give it more bass response. there are heaps of other projects that they will fit also. pretty much anywhere where you need a coupling capacitor that doesn't cut bass.

[AM]

yeah. you could use those as the input of the fuzz face to replace the 2.2uf polarised cap, or on the output which will give it more bass response. there are heaps of other projects that they will fit also. pretty much anywhere where you need a coupling capacitor that doesn't cut bass.

Thanks. This is exactly what I wanna do with it. I want to use it at the output of my fuzz. When you say it wouldn't cut bass, does this have anything to do with the physical size of the cap or is it just the value? In other words, would a smaller size cap of the same value give the same bass response or not?
Thanks again for replying.

[darron]

just the value will make the difference. not the size.

i'd use it at the input too. people prefer using non-polarised caps for audio couplings etc. . in the fuzz face they decided to just put in a much bigger cap as it would in theory pass more audio. the hybrid is to use on of both in parallel. but then again, the fuzz face is so beloved that maybe we shouldn't tinker with it... (:

[brett]

Darron is on the money about using caps such as these as input caps.  In the bad old days, many pedals were made with a big electro cap on the input coz they were cheap and .... well, just coz they they were cheap.  Unfortunately, the 2.2uF cap on a Fuzzface allows frequencies to pass that are lower than a subwoofer can handle (fc is about 4 Hz).  A 0.22uF cap will eliminate inaudible and "woofy" garbage and generally makes much more sense (fc=40Hz - about half the frequency of the low E string).
cheers
PS a "rule of thumb" for full-range bass input is that the input cap (in uF) x the input impedance (in k, and often equal to the base-to-ground resistor value) should = more than 5 and less than 20.  5 uFk s gives fc = 32 Hz, and 20 uFk s gives fc = 8 Hz.  Of course, for "treble boosters", uFk should be small than 5, so as to achieve a bass cut.

For the mathematicians
fc=1/(2.pi.R.C), where pi = 3.14, C = cpacitance in Farads, R is resistance in ohms and fc is the frequency at which the frquencies are "rolled off". 

[earthtonesaudio]

For small size, but large values, check out monolithic multilayer ceramic caps.  I see them in amps all the time, as well as many boutique builds.  They are more advanced/have better linearity than the old style ceramic caps.  Values from picofarads up to 1µF, about the size of a cooked rice grain.

http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=monolithic+ceramic+capacitor&btnG=Search+Images

[miqbal]

Now this is 'huge'!

http://www.rheinmetall.de/index.php?fid=1805&lang=3

[darron]

Now this is 'huge'!

http://www.rheinmetall.de/index.php?fid=1805&lang=3

keep your hands in your pockets at all times....