Leaky cap-or not?

[rockon1]

Heres a pic of one of the smaller caps in my V32 Palomino. The amp works fine but I noticed this poking around inside. Just wondering if its cause for concern. The dry brown gunk is going against gravity as the board sits vertically. Down is toward resistor R57. Theres a couple others with the same thing too. Thanks Bob

[txstrat]

Looks a bit like some sort of glue to keep the radial cap from rattling on the PCB.

[rockon1]

Im kind of hoping so-otherwise Ive got a bunch of leaky caps. Bob

[52 Bill]

Im kind of hoping so-otherwise Ive got a bunch of leaky caps. Bob

I think that the term "leaky cap" is misleading you. There really isn't a lot of liquid inside of a cap.

When people refer to leaky caps, they generally are refering to a cap that "leaks" dc voltage (acts like a resistor in circuit).

The brown goo that you see is dried contact cement that is used to secure the larger caps down to the board, instead of using hot melt or silicon goo.

Or maybe that's the magic mojo that has leaked out causing the amp to sound bad.

[rockon1]

I think that the term "leaky cap" is misleading you. There really isn't a lot of liquid inside of a cap.

When people refer to leaky caps, they generally are refering to a cap that "leaks" dc voltage (acts like a resistor in circuit).

The brown goo that you see is dried contact cement that is used to secure the larger caps down to the board, instead of using hot melt or silicon goo.

Or maybe that's the magic mojo that has leaked out causing the amp to sound bad.

Ive heard they make a mess when they explode so I figured perhaps if they got hot or something whatever was inside might liquify and leak out. Thanks for the clarification -it set my mind a ease. I really dig this Palomino! Yeah,built cheap but it sounds great. Thanks Bob

[stokes]

Electrolytics (which that is) can spew their guts when they go south,and sometimes begin to "leak" some electrolyte just before,that pic is a bit out of focus,so it is hard to tell for sure,but if you have a bunch that look like that and the amp doesnt sound bad,it is a good bet that it is glue as Bill said.That also appears to be a lower voltage cap,if so they rarely explode or spill their innards.

[Enzo]

That is indeed just contact cement, gluing the cap to the board so it doesn;t rattle around and crack its own solder.

If a tiny cap like that faces a serious overvoltage or reverse voltage, it can boil the innards, and then will explode, but that results in shooting the aluminum can across the room leaving the two wire leads sticking up. There would also be an amount of what looks like shredded paper strewn about. Doesn;t happen often. And that is not leaking, as was explained above.

LArge filter caps that have aged away can actually leak some white gunk out their vent hole. That is a sign they need changing.. And again that is not leaking. leakage means electrically.

[rockon1]

Again thanks! I really dig this amp. Glad its just glue! Bob