Ah yes. Are you referring to the smoke that powers telecom gear? (ie, the
gear works until you see smoke pouring out of the top.) I had imagined this
to be distributed throughout the NE...
As for trolling, well, ahem. I've NEVER done that before...
-TD
From: Thomas Shaddack <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Tyler Durden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: vacuum-safe laptops ?
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 01:13:13 +0200 (CEST)
On Sat, 17 Jul 2004, Tyler Durden wrote:
> Sorry to need educating once again, but I had assumed can-shaped
capacitors
> were gone from laptops in lieu of surface mount. Anyone know? (I don't
own a
> laptop.)
The can caps can be surface-mounted as well. The leads then look
different, but the inside is still the same: a metal can with etched
aluminum strips and an insulator soaked with electrolyte. The magic smoke
they are filled with also has the same color and smell as their non-SMD
predecessors.
See also http://www.elna.co.jp/en/ct/c_al01.htm for brief description of
liquid-electrolyte aluminum capacitors.
There are also some more modern constructions, where the electrolyte is
solid-state. (The tantalum capacitors, which are more common in SMD form
than the aluminum ones, use MnO2 as electrolyte and Ta2O5 as insulator.
The added advantage here is that during a breakdown, the MnO2 layer
locally overheats and is converted to less conductive Mn2O3, which causes
the breakdown to "heal". Similar mechanism is used in capacitors with
solid-state plastic electrolyte.)
I suppose the solid-state caps could be much more reliable in the
conditions of rapid pressure changes, if they won't have moisture or air
trapped inside their construction.
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