Depending on the application you may be wasting your money. Usually the
POSITIVE lead is LONGER on a Tantalum. Since their loss is lower than an
electrolytic it should be cooler. Getting hot does denote a problem
George, W6GF
--- On Mon, 6/27/11, Steve Berg <wa9jml@tbc.net> wrote:
From: Steve Berg <wa9jml@tbc.net>
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Tantalum Capacitor Pointers?
To: tentec@contesting.com
Date: Monday, June 27, 2011, 8:40 AM
I have been gradually working my way through my first Argonaut II. I
have had troubles with the inverter circuit that drives the display back
light. I replaced the two electrolytics in that circuit with tantalums
of the same ratings, and while it works, the one 30 MFD power line
bypass cap runs hot, and the display back light is dim. Since I have
the topside switch board out to replace the back light switch, I want to
replace the electrolytics on that board, too. It has been some years
since I had the chance to work with tantalum capacitors, and I recall
that the lead by the heavy black line on the package is the negative
lead. That is how I installed them in the inverter circuit. Yet the
one cap runs hot, the other one does not. Do I have a bad capacitor, or
is there some other problem here that I am not aware of? I figured that
tantalums would be much better capacitors than electrolytics, which is
why I have been trying them. Am I missing something here? Can someone
give me some pointers?
Thanks!
Steve WA9JML
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
|