Filter Caps Replacement

[soundmasterg]

Yeah, the light bulb thing probably does work, but I worry about it holding the leakage current down low enough for forming current on a cap that really needs the limitation. It's sure a great way to keep little curls of smoke from coming out!

Being an obsessive-compulsive sort where electronics are concerned, I like to get right down to what needs controlling, so personally I always just go put the resistor right in series with the caps. But there are other ways. There's always another way.

and as far as

I can't take the credit for this one. I read it in some musty, dusty old Golden Era service literature. It was the preferred way for that author at least back in the day when your TV repairman brought tubes to your house - back when there were tube TVs, and back when there were visiting TV repairmen.

I know you didn't invent the method RG, I was just saying it was yours because you brought it up here. I actually heard about it from an engineer friend about 10 years ago, but just recently got around to using it. I added a resistor off the Tel-Ohmike to limit the current, and it worked fine. Then after I did all that, I read that the Tel-Ohmike limits the current anyway with it's circuitry, but I guess you ca't ever be too safe right?

I have a 5 amp variac hooked up to a voltmeter and ampmeter, and also to a light bulb limiter, depending on where I plug the device under test in. It works really well and I use it anytime I bring up a piece of equipment for the first time. It worked well enough that a Sunn 200S I worked on recently that I added series connected caps with parallel resistors did not explode the caps even though a couple of the 220k resistors were defective, and the bulb lit up more than it should have. Like a dummy I hooked it up outside of the limiter to see if the problem could manifest itself, thinking I could catch it before anything exploded.......ya right. Couple caps blew.....Lesson learned!

Greg