Output Capacitor Upgrading Questions

[Grainger49]

Yup, the Silver/Gold caps are Silver Gold and oil.  It will be a couple of weeks before I can give any impressions.

In particular Teflon caps start out Ok, but become hard then smooth out.  The increased detail and presence for high and mid frequencies is what I have noticed with burn in.

And, of course, the right quantity of your favorite brown fluid probably makes more difference.  Dan likes Gin.  So everybody is different.

 

[BNAL]

Ok I pulled the trigger on a pair of 100uF oil caps from eBay. I figured that for the price it was worth a shot. Not sure how I'm going to fit them in since I already have 2 Triad chokes in the power supply. It will be a couple of weeks before I get a chance to install them. I want to burn them in first.

 

[earwaxxer]

100uF oilers must be some big ones! Russian? Do you have a link? I tend to like the oils with my Maggies combined with the SS gear. My paper in oils sound real good bypassed with my pricy silver/oils.

 

[galyons]

Ok I pulled the trigger on a pair of 100uF oil caps from eBay. I figured that for the price it was worth a shot. Not sure how I'm going to fit them in since I already have 2 Triad chokes in the power supply. It will be a couple of weeks before I get a chance to install them. I want to burn them in first.

Motor run caps?

Cheers,
Geary

 

[BNAL]

Here is the link. I figured for the price it was worth giving these a shot.

100uF Oil Cap

 

[Laudanum]

Here is the link. I figured for the price it was worth giving these a shot.

100uF Oil Cap

I have a couple.  Big caps and Im not creative enough, or atleast dont feel like being so at the moment   Honestly, I think it would take a taller base or a seperate box for the caps but I didnt measure, just went by a "man these are big, maybe later" assessment.  But if you figure out a way to shoehorn them in there, please do post pictures. 

 

[Grainger49]

Yup, those are motor start caps.  Big a$$ed motors need an angle between the voltage and current wave to get the torque to start from a dead standstill.  This supplies it.  More sophisticated motors have a speed switch that takes the capacitor out of the circuit after a certain speed.

I have a pair of those in my FP 2 PDMPS.  I put heat shrink tube over the lugs after soldering on the wires.

I haven't used these as signal path caps, but I should try the spare pair I have.

 

[galyons]

Here is the link. I figured for the price it was worth giving these a shot.

100uF Oil Cap

Looks to be CSC. Pretty good cap, but I haven't used in the signal path, just PS. I have 2 of these that are going into my 300B mono amp build.

Cheers,
Geary

 

[BNAL]

I have been burning in the big motor run caps for almost a week now. Not sure if it needs more time, but not sure I can wait. Got figureout how to fit them in. I know that I will have to remove the big Russian Teflons. I'm just hoping I can squeeze them in their place. I hope they sound good in the circuit.

 

[earwaxxer]

I think my 56uF M-Cap MKP's cathode bypass caps are finally settled into my Quickie. They sounded good from the get go. Everything is good and agreeable at this stage. I dont feel I need volume to enjoy my music. Great punch, response and transients. I'm overall happy to get rid of the electrolytics even though I believe the Elna's were a good match.

 

[jrebman]

Hey Brad,

Just a tip on those motor run caps used as coupling caps -- bee sure to ground the outer casing to safety ground -- they can be a bit "leaky" and it is possible to get a zap from the case.  This is why you most often see these mounted with clamps to metal surfaces.

-- Jim

 

[BNAL]

Jim,

Thanks for the advance. I'm working on a lift kit so i can fit them under the plate.

 

[BNAL]

Who needs those little girly electrolytic caps, when you can have a real mans cap like these.

Well I was able to fit the 100uF motor run caps in and I still have the Russian Teflon caps as well. The Teflon caps help to keep those big caps from toughing anything. It is making music, but have not had a chance to do any real listening. I had to increase the depth of the base to fit them in as you can see in the picture.

 

[Grainger49]

Brad,

An extended base Crack!  Of course I love the caps.  Big caps are manly!

 

[earwaxxer]

Holy c(r)ap! Thems some cajones! Nice enclosure.

 

[BNAL]

I swear I'm not compensating.

 

[Noskipallwd]

In this case, I think you should say I added the Crack to a couple of Caps, versus I added a couple of caps to the Crack ;D

Cheers,
Shawn

 

[Cryok95]

Hi, been lurking around here for the past week or so. Just wanted to ask, will there be any improvement if I bypass the other 2 stock electrolytic caps in the PS (of course together with a bigger last cap and a bypass on that one too)?

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Hi, been lurking around here for the past week or so. Just wanted to ask, will there be any improvement if I bypass the other 2 stock electrolytic caps in the PS (of course together with a bigger last cap and a bypass on that one too)?

The stakes are pretty low, give it a shot!

 

[adamct]

Hmmm...I'm at work, so I can't see any of the pictures in this thread, but after reading the past 11 pages of posts, it still isn't clear to me what is meant by "bypassing" the caps in the power supply. I gather that I should use a film cap with lower values than the cap I am bypassing, but my questions are:

1. Is there any consensus on (roughly) what the values (uf and voltage) of the bypass cap should be?
2. What should I solder each of the leads on the bypass cap to? (I assume the stock electrolytic cap stays where it is, with no changes.)
3. Paul has mentioned several times that - at least in theory - one should solder in a resistor as well, but the problem is that you don't know what value that resistor should have. Have people generally just been soldering in the bypass cap without a resistor?

Best regards,
Adam