Restoring the 20/10/10 Mallory Can Cap on old Valco amps....

[cluster]

I just saw this web page were an old Mallory can cap was restored by opening it up and replacing the old caps with new radial caps. Check it out.

Crawls Backward (When Alarmed): Rebuilding/Restuffing Filter Cap Can on Supro 1616T

Any thought on this from the experts?? Is this a good or bad idea??

Joseph

[Chuck H]

This gets done all the time. I've done it. Once. New caps are often small enough to make this possible. Sometimes not. And, of course, the operation needs to be reinvented for each individual case. It's a good idea if you can find caps that will fit and the interior visual is all important.

Much more common would be to simply locate individual new caps under the hood and leave the old cap, unused, in place for appearances.

If you're going to do it I'd recommend looking into the various Nichicon products. They make very good caps and their products cover a range of criteria for fit and/or performance. They have tall thin caps, short fat caps, extra small sized caps, etc. So the possibility of finding caps that will "fit under the hood" and still be top performers for the job is probably greatest with this brand.

JM2C

[soundmasterg]

Another brand that has excellent caps that would fit would be Panasonic. You can find them at Mouser for great prices. I also vote for leaving the can cap in place but disconnecting it electrically and wiring up discrete caps inside the chassis. Make sure if you do this however that you securely mount the new caps. You may have to drill some holes in the chassis to utilize terminal strips to mount the caps but this is far superior to connecting the caps in willy nilly.

Greg

[cluster]

thanks you. the discrete cap method seems to be the preferred method around here

[Chuck H]

It has two advantages. It's a damn site easier and, if desired it allows grounding improvements.

[cluster]

i'll try it. much cheaper too

[EFK]

Hey! Sorry I forgot to write back to you! CE Dist does make a 20/10/10 cap can that is just like the old Valcos. Exact same size, fits the same wafer and hole size etc. However, on the site, they have the wrong picture posted and the picture shows a 4 tab can. The only difference between the CE can and the originals is that the CE cans use the PCB type grounding tabs, but that's easy to work with as everything else is exactly the same. The can is here:

Capacitor - Electrolytic, 20/10/10 µF @ 450 VDC | CE Distribution

The picture is completely wrong. The cap CE sells here is exactly like the old Mallory 20/10/10, except for the grounding tabs.

[cluster]

Thanks so much. Does that mean that's it's a drop in replacement??

[The Dude]

See this thread first!

http://music-electronics-forum.com/t35537/

Sure it could have been a one time thing, but it makes me a little leery of CE caps. You may want to investigate and read some reviews first.

[EFK]

It's a direct drop in replacement. The only thing different is that instead of twist-lock tabs as ground lugs, the tabs are the PCB spear point shape, so it's best to just bend them over once through the wafer to secure the can. Just make sure to wrap the ground wire around one a few times before bending it over and soldering it.

In regard to the quality of the CE cans, I've used probably 25 to 30 of them just this year alone, and have not had a single problem. I'm not saying there can't be a problem with one, but I've never encountered any myself and I use a LOT of them as I like the convenience. I suppose someone may find a factory f-up now and then, but that's probably something that can happen with any manufacturer. JMHO.

[cluster]

Wow, thanks so much for that info Eric. Given my oversupply of vintage valcos, I'll have to pickup a couple of those cans to try out. Hate to replace vintage cans but what I hate the most is amps that don't sound right

[The Dude]

In regard to the quality of the CE cans, I've used probably 25 to 30 of them just this year alone, and have not had a single problem. I'm not saying there can't be a problem with one, but I've never encountered any myself and I use a LOT of them as I like the convenience. I suppose someone may find a factory f-up now and then, but that's probably something that can happen with any manufacturer. JMHO.

Thanks for the report. I had wondered about the reliability of these since I read the thread I linked. It's nice to have more real world experience posted rather than just a single sample.

[cluster]

have anybody here used a blue esr meter to check their electrolytic caps?? check this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nat1YYNMW5A

[chuckfalcon]

Hey! Sorry I forgot to write back to you! CE Dist does make a 20/10/10 cap can that is just like the old Valcos. Exact same size, fits the same wafer and hole size etc. However, on the site, they have the wrong picture posted and the picture shows a 4 tab can. The only difference between the CE can and the originals is that the CE cans use the PCB type grounding tabs, but that's easy to work with as everything else is exactly the same. The can is here:

Capacitor - Electrolytic, 20/10/10 µF @ 450 VDC | CE Distribution

The picture is completely wrong. The cap CE sells here is exactly like the old Mallory 20/10/10, except for the grounding tabs.

I just picked up a Supro S6650 "Royal Reverb" with (3) 10/10/20 mallory can caps. These cans look pretty skinny. Are the 10/10/20 cans that CE Distribution offers the same size? Their site says they are 1.5 inches wide but I think that my current stock Mallory caps are a lil skinnier. Before I got and buy 3 of them I just wanted to double check and make sure that they would fit.

[Chuck H]

I just picked up a Supro S6650 "Royal Reverb" with (3) 10/10/20 mallory can caps.

Hello and welcome to the forum. I know it's often different at other forums where piggybacking is common, but around here we really appreciate when a new thread is started for a new project. Sometimes the threads can run long and have a lot of information specific to a question. Having old threads pop back up and many posts of potentially unrelated information can sometimes further complicate things. New threads usually get more attention too. I would suggest that you start a new thread for your specific amp.

These cans look pretty skinny. Are the 10/10/20 cans that CE Distribution offers the same size? Their site says they are 1.5 inches wide but I think that my current stock Mallory caps are a lil skinnier. Before I got and buy 3 of them I just wanted to double check and make sure that they would fit.

I don't have experience with that amp. At least not such that I've measured and remember the diameter of the filter capacitors. But since you have a real live one you could measure them for a perfectly accurate answer.

Alternately you could measure the chassis hole for the caps and see if the new CE caps will fit even if they are a little different. This is often the case. As mentioned above you also have the option of using discrete replacement caps inside the chassis (and leaving the original can/s in place if their appearance is important to you). There would be one smaller capacitor for each can "section" you have now. Sometimes can sections are wired in parallel and you can replace two sections with one cap that equals their total value. Usually it's helpful to mount them on a small board or at least install a terminal strip or two.