When did Electrolytic Capacitors get so darn expensive???

[Slobrain]

I just had to order from Peavey 2 of the 4700uf @ 63VDC caps for the power supply on a peavey amp I was working on and when I called Peavey they said $12.50 a cap? Thats $25.00 for two stinkin caps what the hell??? At least Peavey Co. is kind enough to pay the shipping to me.

It seems I seen a thread a while back about this same subject, did aluminum become gold over night? I never thought copper would become so expensive but it has? why all of a sudden is regular metals going so expensive?

Who is minipulating the market??? This is nutz?




SLO

[dai h.]

I thought it was because of high Chinese demand (hot economy). There are people and gangs stealing power cables, steel sheets from construction sites, bells, metal posts onthe road, etc. etc. here in Japan which I guess is going to China.

[bob p]

i don't think everything has gotten expensive. i was online at allied electronic placing an order the other day, and the caps that i wanted to buy ended up being 40% cheaper than the price listed in the new 2007 catalog.

back to your PV question -- $25.00 might not be such a bad deal. most companies have a small order processing fee on anything less than $50 to $100 because a person has to spend time at their end processing your order. add in the cost of shipping, and $25 may not seem so painful. of course, nothing compares to walking down to the local electronics store and buying something off the shelf.

the only problem with that is that the local electronics store ain't what it used to be. i recently went to Rat Shack to buy a cathode bypass cap for a little tube hifi amp. i bought the highest voltage rating i could get. the cap lasted only a couple of weeks, as it had probably been on that shelf for a LONG time and had had a head start in drying out.

personally, i'd rather repair the amp only once with a good part. maybe the PV deal isn't such a bad deal if you're getting good parts and helpful service from the factory.

[Satamax]

I thought it was because of high Chinese demand (hot economy). There are people and gangs stealing power cables, steel sheets from construction sites, bells, metal posts onthe road, etc. etc. here in Japan which I guess is going to China.

Even in Japan? Well, it's the same over here, they're even stealing overhead lines on the rail tracks! Or lift doors!

[dai h.]

hi Max,

yeah, I think in the States also (I read some news reports). Besides the native home grown thieves, some of them are apparently Chinese and Vietnamese. Some guy (Japanese dude) apparently fell while trying to steal some cable and died, and one his accomplices hid his body (or something like that). Transformers are also more expensive too, I think (iron, copper). Common low voltage alu electrolytics don't seem any more expensive though. I think it's more the higher and high voltage stuff which is not used as much any more which is expensive.

[Enzo]

Peavey is not a parts company. They sell you parts as a courtesy and a convenience. Try calling Fender, or Marshall for a part. You are apparently not a dealer, we get 45% off PV retail prices. Other than things like controls, knobs, and transformers, the parts are generic. You could have purchased 4700/63 snap in caps from Mouser for $3-5 each, then tack on $7-8 for shipping. SO you would have been out $15-18 for two.

If you call PV and ask for the part, you will KNOW it will be what you need, and that it will fit in place, etc. You can always buy it for less elsewhere, but then YOU must determine which part you need and assure yourself it will fit. This is like buying groceries at the 7/11 store. They cost more, but you can get them in a few seconds and late at night.

[Slobrain]

Peavey is not a parts company. They sell you parts as a courtesy and a convenience. Try calling Fender, or Marshall for a part. You are apparently not a dealer, we get 45% off PV retail prices. Other than things like controls, knobs, and transformers, the parts are generic. You could have purchased 4700/63 snap in caps from Mouser for $3-5 each, then tack on $7-8 for shipping. SO you would have been out $15-18 for two.

If you call PV and ask for the part, you will KNOW it will be what you need, and that it will fit in place, etc. You can always buy it for less elsewhere, but then YOU must determine which part you need and assure yourself it will fit. This is like buying groceries at the 7/11 store. They cost more, but you can get them in a few seconds and late at night.

Hey Enzo,
I hear ya on the parts deal. I did go to the local electronics parts store today and they were out of the 4700uf axials. Had it been radials I would have been able to get them for around 8.00 each. Reason I called Peavey was that maybe they had a better quality cap replacement from the old IC's that were in the amp. The local electronics shop has these odd brand caps like Tech-cap.

Luckily the lower voltage caps for the +15/-15 supply I was able to get the 1000uf @35VDC for .25 cents each from the NOS in this electronics store.

Peavey uses some pretty good parts so I figured all call them but got the price shock...ouch. The one thing I can say about peavey is they are a good company to deal with, never had any problems from them over the years of getting parts.

I probably could have gottem them cheaper from mouser or some other parts outlet. I did buy some caps from new sensor two weeks ago and the prices went up a bit there but then again I get repair shop prices from them luckily.

SLO....

[Le Basseur]

There are people and gangs stealing power cables, steel sheets from construction sites, bells, metal posts onthe road, etc. etc. here in Japan which I guess is going to China.

Even in Japan? Well, it's the same over here, they're even stealing overhead lines on the rail tracks! Or lift doors!

Gee....I thought that gross stealing is a proprietary Balkanic aspect...now I see that the Balkan countries had lost one of the most characteristic socio-economical components...really,in this world NOBODY can't keep any more it's originality???

[Slobrain]

Man, people stealing metal stuff all over the globe? That's pathetic, but then I guess if there isn't enough jobs to go around then people have to feed their families somehow? Or their drug habit too

SLO....

[dai h.]

I think it happened in Iraq also. Copper. Remember reading that.

[hasserl]

Man, people stealing metal stuff all over the globe? That's pathetic, but then I guess if there isn't enough jobs to go around then people have to feed their families somehow? Or their drug habit too

SLO....

In case you hadn't noticed, unemployment is at very low rates, most companies can't find enough qualified workers to fill open positions.

[Mark Black]

It's definitely going on here in the USA too.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/9612095/detail.html
http://www.kirotv.com/news/10965280/detail.html

A friend who is an architect told me they have had instances of thieves stealing wire from building jobsites and not bothering to steal power tools left there...

[Enzo]

Stealing from home construction is a large problem these days. You better put a guard on that load of copper pipes, or they won't be there in the morning.

It isn't unemployment, it is people wanting to make a fast buck and not caring how they do it.

[Satamax]

Yep there isn't enough qualified people, and companies don't want to pay for them! That's another aspect. Over here a qualified bricklayer earns 1300 dols net maximum, for a month of 156 hours! Waiters or hairdressers get even less than this! When you think, small flat, food and electricity/heating get you in the range of 1000 euros (about thoses 1300 dols!) I'd rather do a fast buck or two And think about the real unqualified people! Every year they seem to say that there 160000 kids getting out of french schools completely unqualified for anything.

[Le Basseur]

You better put a guard on that load of copper pipes, or they won't be there in the morning.It isn't unemployment, it is people wanting to make a fast buck and not caring how they do it.

That's why a friend of mine (who completely repaired his house and roof,including those copper pipes) got two new friends:the twin brothers Heckler & Koch (both being married,they just took their wives' names ...but they're twins,as my buddy claims ).
Back to the original topic (sort of...):
Isn't a good idea for us to give away by mutual agreement our loads of dry electrolytics to those "fast hands",instead of being robbed?

Regards,