> > > It is generally a good idea to re-form electrolytic capacitors in power > > supplies, and to bench check the power supplies (under some kind of > > load) before actually applying power to the whole unit. > > It is always a good idea to replace electrolytic capacitors in power supplies.
Could you, please, explain why? And how often should this be done? Every week, every month, every year, or what? FWIW, the number PSU elecrtrolytics I have replaced can be counted on the fingers of one hand -- in unary. Well, perhaps both hands. But it's <1% of all the PSU electrolytic capacitors I own. Only 2 cases spring to mind : The PSU in my 11/44 had a high ESR capacitor on the +36V rail (all other caps in the machine were fine) I changed the 2 mains smoothing capacitors in my HP120 not because they were electrically defective (they tested fine) but because one was bulging a little on top and had it exploded it would have hit the neck of the CRT with all the problems that would be likely to cause. I do find this witch-hunt against capacitors to be curious, given how few I've found to have failed. I suspect a lot of it comes from audiophools who think this is the way to fix anything... -tony
