ruckus328
Well-known member
I've been talking with a bunch of Engineers at my plant about this. They all keep pointing out that if using a polarized Electrolytic in the AC audio path with a split rail supply it will kill the cap, as when the AC swings negative it is reverse biasing the electrolytic, which yea, is true.
But obviously, this is done all the time, for decades in countless designs I keep pointing out, so trying to understand why the caps survive? It's common to see 25V polarized caps on +/-18V supplies, which means approx 32V peak to peak can potentially go through the cap.
Only explanation I have is the impedance after the cap is the only saving grace, as with say a 10K impedance the cap barely sees any of the voltage if I'm understanding correctly. If that is true though with lower impedances the cap will be stressed and potential failure mode could ensue if value/voltage rating are too low. Is this correct?
But obviously, this is done all the time, for decades in countless designs I keep pointing out, so trying to understand why the caps survive? It's common to see 25V polarized caps on +/-18V supplies, which means approx 32V peak to peak can potentially go through the cap.
Only explanation I have is the impedance after the cap is the only saving grace, as with say a 10K impedance the cap barely sees any of the voltage if I'm understanding correctly. If that is true though with lower impedances the cap will be stressed and potential failure mode could ensue if value/voltage rating are too low. Is this correct?