Siemens Console Recap / Axial Capacitors

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kswan

Active member
Joined
Jul 26, 2009
Messages
42
Hi,

I'm about to replace 350+ axial electrolytic capacitors in a 1964 Siemens console, and was wondering what people are recommending for axial signal caps these days. Took a quick look at Mouser and Digikey and didn't see too much available in the values I need.  I did find Vishnay (Sprague) `little-lytic` electrolytics which look suitable for this job, but are kind of expensive.

http://www.vishay.com/docs/42042/te.pdf

Thanks,
Kyle
 
radardoug said:
Have you actually tried pulling out some caps and measuring them?
Click to expand...

Measured a few, and some were not too far off.  However,  since they are apt to fail at any time and cause damage, these 50+ year old electrolytic caps have all got to go.
 
When caps fail they dont generally cause any damage unless they leak, or in the case of mains Frakos, let the smoke out.
So why change them? They were probably very high quality when new, and if they measure above their value, they will be fine.
 
Axial caps are probably pretty scarce now.

I recall last century being told by a major US cap company that we (Peavey) were their largest domestic customer still using axial caps, and we were replacing them with radial caps. Because they were cheaper and had smaller PCB footprint. 

Those look like decent quality caps, I would add another vote to not replace them wholesale. For products with multiple identical channels, I  advocate measuring audio path performance to establish performance baselines and identify outliers that need closer inspection.

The common fault from tired, old, capacitors is low capacitance from loss of electrolyte.  This will often express in an audio path as loss of very low frequency audio response.  I would also measure linearity (THD) and S/N looking for all problems, not just old tired capacitors.

JR
 
kswan said:
... Took a quick look at Mouser and Digikey and didn't see too much available in the values I need.  I did find Vishnay (Sprague) `little-lytic` electrolytics which look suitable for this job, but are kind of expensive...
Click to expand...

Where are you located? Which values do you need?
 
Most of these Siemens should be ok.
Big plus for MKL foil caps - these are really great.
 
a quick search at Mouser yielded 1,085 matches of axial lead electrolytic capacitors,
6 manufacturers, in stock, from 3 VDC to 600 VDC.
finding axial lead capacitors in appropriate values is a non issue.
 
gridcurrent said:
a quick search at Mouser yielded 1,085 matches of axial lead electrolytic capacitors,
6 manufacturers, in stock, from 3 VDC to 600 VDC.
finding axial lead capacitors in appropriate values is a non issue.
Click to expand...
.

Yes, there's a good selection at Mouser and Farnel. Although the prices are higher than Radial caps with higher specs.

When doing a recap I always use Radial caps instead of Axial, with the exception when Radial won't fit.
I like Radial Panasonic caps, great quality, specs and price
 
I usually go with Vishay 021 ASM series if a project needs lots of caps, like recapping an entire mixer.
They seem to be the modern equivalent to the old BC components/Philips caps (the metallic blue ones), They're pretty much my "go-to" option for replacing old axials if budget or volume is an issue.

I use Vishay TVA "Atom" Series for tube stuff or anything that wants "vintage" capacitance values and/or aesthetics.

The Vishay TE "Little-Lytic" series are nice caps, but expensive (as you noted) and aren't exactly "little" by modern standards.
I've got a couple that I bought by accident in a large mouser order, But haven't got around to using them yet.
Build quality seems a bit nicer on the TE series than most other modern caps, they have very good "aesthetic appeal" and the 105ºC rating should mean that they last longer too, Which might make up for their extra cost over the long term.

Good luck!
 
Brian Roth said:
Cool pix!

I'm curious...what brand and model are the slidewire faders?

Bri
Click to expand...
Judging from the knob and size I would assume that they are 75mm "Preh"-sliders:

k-cimg0718.jpg


http://tube-audiodesign.npage.de/studiotechnik-studiotechnology/verstaerker-mischpulte-mikrofone-decoder.html

 
Lee_M said:
I usually go with Vishay 021 ASM series if a project needs lots of caps, like recapping an entire mixer.
They seem to be the modern equivalent to the old BC components/Philips caps (the metallic blue ones), They're pretty much my "go-to" option for replacing old axials if budget or volume is an issue.

I use Vishay TVA "Atom" Series for tube stuff or anything that wants "vintage" capacitance values and/or aesthetics.

The Vishay TE "Little-Lytic" series are nice caps, but expensive (as you noted) and aren't exactly "little" by modern standards.
I've got a couple that I bought by accident in a large mouser order, But haven't got around to using them yet.
Build quality seems a bit nicer on the TE series than most other modern caps, they have very good "aesthetic appeal" and the 105ºC rating should mean that they last longer too, Which might make up for their extra cost over the long term.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

This is exactly the info I was looking for. Thanks!
 
analogguru said:
Judging from the knob and size I would assume that they are 75mm "Preh"-sliders:

k-cimg0718.jpg


http://tube-audiodesign.npage.de/studiotechnik-studiotechnology/verstaerker-mischpulte-mikrofone-decoder.html
Click to expand...

Good find. These are indeed the faders in this desk.
 
kswan said:
This is exactly the info I was looking for. Thanks!
Click to expand...
No worries, Glad the info is of use  ;)

Have you got any pics of the full desk?
I'd be very interested to see it as a whole, These old mixers are things of rare beauty.
 
Any tips for dealing with these types of delicate old PCB traces? I'll of course be using a pace vacuum desoldering station to remove the old electrolytic caps.
 
I like to use a low wattage soldering iron for that job,
Normally I use a JBC 14ST Soldering iron, that is an 11 watts soldering iron.
http://www.jbctools.com/2192040-14st-soldering-iron-product-457-category-8-menu-1.html

I manualy remove solder with a good air pump and use also solder wick. A combination of the 2 depending on the task. Normally Air Pump to clean up holes , and solder wick for traces.

https://www.banzaimusic.com/Desoldering-Pump-PRO-601.html
https://www.banzaimusic.com/ERSA-VACX.html
https://www.banzaimusic.com/Stannol-DS-220-NCW.html

I used desoldering stations, but I never liked most of them making the work worse than doing it manually,
I like the Hakko 808 desoldering gun, and can recommend that one though.

 

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