I am all set to replace the capacitors in an old TV, and the large quantity made me look beyond the yellow illinois film caps i usually buy for radios at antique electronics supply. Looking at Mouser or Digikey brings up an almost bewildering number of choices, and a pretty steep shipping minimum to Canada. I am curious what some of the experienced collectors do on this issue

You have two options - one, try to obtain parts as close as possible to original numbers and brands (very difficult) or, two, just put in anything with similar ratings.

I vote for the latter. Brand, type, and so on are usually unimportant. Some circuits are critical, but not too many in a TV receiver other than the rf and if circuits. If minimum orders are the problem, go with companies that don't require it. I think All Electronics may be a good source. Shipping will kill you on ones and twos but if you are buying several, it will average out.

Most all of my caps come from Mouser. Recently, I recapped a '56 RCA 17" B&W TV that had around 40 paper caps and 6 electrolytic caps in it. The total cost was around $45 for all the needed caps.

The exact values are out there; but, cost more. If the old cap is a 40uf, it is perfectly OK to use a 47 uf or it's usually OK to use a .015uf cap in place of a .01uf. And, I try to stick with brands such as Nichicon, Cornell-Dublier, Mallory, Panasonic, and Vishay/Sprague. I find the the Sprague caps are much more expensive (especially the electrolytic caps) and I rarely use them for that reason. I'm generally on a budget and don't mind using the other brands that I mentioned because they all seem to hold up OK. Unfortunately, most of these caps are made overseas (often in China); but, I guess that's the way it goes. At least we can still set the correct high voltage caps and they appear to still be of good quality.

Thanks for the input... for the sake of keeping it American I was going to use orange drops until I looked at the price! For an audio amp which used 6 capacitors, orange drops don't cost any serious $$, but for my little RCA 8PT TV it's going to add up and maybe not make a difference.

Have you guys tried the Xicon caps at Mouser? I have used the brown ones in audio equipment without any trouble - it bugs me too the idea of loading a nice vintage TV with a bunch of "made in china" stuff, but I suppose it's the way of the world right now. I do want to stick to 105C rated electrolytics, that thing is pretty tlghtly packed as is.

I like to use orange drops when I can too, but sometimes they just don't fit. I generally use Nichicon's line of "PZ" 105C "skinny" electrolytic caps. They are much smaller in diameter than other brands which makes restuffing cans easier.

For small value (sub 1 microfarad) I use Orange Drops (SBE or Sprague) or Mallory (Now CDE) PVC series caps. I get them from either Allied or locally. Their 400 Volt caps are easier to get. I had way too many Chinese axials go bad, so I avoid them - YMMV. For electrolytics, I ain't picky - Nichicon VZ/VR or Panasonic FC/HG for rebuilding cans, or original Mallory FP cans from a local place, if they have them. I typically buy in bulk, 200-300 or so caps in an order. Allied's excess inventory sometimes has Illinois Capacitors in the clearance, and I can say they are just as good as the Nichicon/Panasonic, just less expensive. My opinion is based solely on 32 years in electronics repair, certainly not audiophile or videophile enthusiasm....after all, I wear hearing aids for hearing loss/tinnitus and wear glasses for myopia......:D

Cheers,

Hint: If you're going with Digi-Key, Look at the fine print/TOS. Last I checked, you could get free shipping if you paid by money order or check in the mail.

Their prices are generally good, and the staff are really helpful if you have an existing part you need a replacement for. I order all my non-vintage stuff there and they have a warehouse somewhere in Manitoba, if I'm not mistaken.

Edit: Seems they got rid of that... still, $8.00 flat is not too bad... especially if you plan ahead or save a list and only order once in a while.

Hint: If you're going with Digi-Key, Look at the fine print/TOS. Last I checked, you could get free shipping if you paid by money order or check in the mail.

Their prices are generally good, and the staff are really helpful if you have an existing part you need a replacement for. I order all my non-vintage stuff there and they have a warehouse somewhere in Manitoba, if I'm not mistaken.

Edit: Seems they got rid of that... still, $8.00 flat is not too bad... especially if you plan ahead or save a list and only order once in a while.

My experience lately with Digi-Key went extremely well - I placed an order that had some back ordered Panasonic capacitors. They shipped it all Fedex Ground in three shipments for the small, one-time sum of 8 dollars. Their stuff is fresh too - got some caps in 2009 with 0926 date codes - just 70 days from the factory! I wish they had an easier matrix for searching like Mouser.

My one bad experience came with Arrow Electronics. Paid with a CC, got shorted on the order, and then got billed :scratch2: for payment. Had to go through hoops to show them their error.

I highly recommend Allied (ASC HV caps and 150 series axials), Digi-Key (Panasonic Caps) and Mouser (Everything else, except Xicon stuff, as it varies too much in quality and the dimensions often change.) Shogyo made some of the Xicon stuff early on, but it's now all "COO:CHINA" so I avoid it.

Cheers,

I've been ordering the panasonics from there for motherboard repair whenever I come across a board with dead caps. Just a few bucks and the board is good as new!

Their customer service is really good too. Had two issues, once I got sent a switch instead of a resistor, and another time a dud part arrived. Called 'em, replacements were on the way in a matter of minutes.

I am all set to replace the capacitors in an old TV, and the large quantity made me look beyond the yellow illinois film caps i usually buy for radios at antique electronics supply. Looking at Mouser or Digikey brings up an almost bewildering number of choices, and a pretty steep shipping minimum to Canada. I am curious what some of the experienced collectors do on this issue

If you're in Canada, why not order from justradios (http://justradios.com)? They'll even put together a kit for you if you tell them the model of the set.

John

is there a difference between the so called paper capacitors and the electrolytics, i thought they were one and the same long as the values are close or the same.

is there a difference between the so called paper capacitors and the electrolytics, i thought they were one and the same long as the values are close or the same.

Sure, a big difference. Electrolytics are polarized - i.e. there's a plus ("+") lead and a minus ("-") lead. Paper caps are non-polarized - i.e. you can connect them either way.

Also, electrolytics tend to be much larger in capacity. 4.7 mfd - 100 mfd iin the TVS I've been working on lately. Whereas paper caps are more like 0.001 - 0.47 mfd. There are also some performance differences.