Adapt-a-Cap product review

[@vtjmproductionsusa2390]

Thank you so much! I repair a lot of tube amplified record players. This item is a great idea. I am ordering some now. Great video, Great content 👍

[@bigaudioal]

Great product! I will be using for sure.

[@kodyjbosch1]

Very cool! I'll probably try these at some point. Thanks for the awesome review you probably saved me a lot of time and grief ☺️

[@mp-ov9dh]

great product from where im sitting!

[@hestheMaster]

To ground the adapter to the chassis you can add a lug (shortened to the large mounting hole as to not short out your work) instead of using a wire soldered from the common to the chassis. Then after drilling two holes in the chassis to mount the adapter connect it using a screw and nut (or do what Bob cleverly did) . The caps at each end will be then soldered to the negative side and the end of each lug. This will give you two locations to ground .

[@bandersentv]

No need to do anything special. If you install the jumper wire, the mounting holes are connected to the negative side of all the caps.

[@RadioNJ1948]

Just ordered 10 of these based on this review. I really like this idea.

[@randyab9go188]

I bought some and use them and it worked out well. I install mine a little differently than yours. I mount the adapta cap to the chassis insert the wires and solder. Then I come back on the top side and cut the wires to length. After that I insert the capacitors and trim the leads. I'm concerned about inserting the wires after the caps are inserted as one of the wires could contact the insulating sleeve on the capacitor and melt a hole through. Possibility of some arcing and sparking.

[@bandersentv]

Ah, yes that makes a lot of sense. I'll give it a try

[@zulumax1]

Good feedback to improve the future product perhaps. We call those opportunities for improvement.

[@shango066]

Chinese companies are very good at using influencers to promote their products, I tried reaching out to them a few years ago and was going to do something similar but there was very limited support not even a contact I could find. Sadly I never get contacted to feature relevant products I actually support

[@willthecat3861]

I dunno for sure... so I have to say allegedly... but IMO... these are inked, etched, plated, panelized, and routed out in good old China.... and as such all that glitters, might not be gold.

[@bandersentv]

The PCBs may be produced in China, but it's an American company as far as I know.

[@shango066]

@@bandersentv I get emails weekly from those Chinese circuit board companies that want me to feature their custom board in a video. I should sent them one of these to copy for me. Good troll??

[@willthecat3861]

@@bandersentv Hey... more power to them... but you couldn't afford to cut those designer PCBs in America... unless, one of Putin's pals is your daddy. Anyway, my daddy was poor, like me... but, we made do.

[@bzuidgeest]

I'm confused. PCBWay, JLpcb and about a dozen others, all available online. Make nice enough boards. You can contact any of them to make a similar board.

[@BrendaEM]

When I first saw the isolation slots, I was thinking lugs, too. Perhaps spade lugs could be soldering in them. They are already plated.

[@bandersentv]

They are not plated and you should not put anything conductive in those slots. That would short out the cap.

[@zulumax1]

When one section fails in the future with an adapt-a-cap, you don't have to unwire and rewire a whole can, just unsolder two connections on the radial cap and solder in a new one.

[@bandersentv]

Oh yes, excellent point.

[@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648]

Only thing nicer than these adapters that I could imagine might be a ready-to-stuff can, which doesn't allow anything electrically hot on top of the chassis. But potting the topside in a wad of silicone seal would solve that problem.

[@EngineeringVignettes]

The ability to crimp & solder some Keystone turrets on the bottom would be nice for wire connections, a bit more like how the lugs are used on the aluminum cans. I agree that some type of twist lock solderable metal tab would work when mounting the PCB in a chassis expecting a twist-lock mechanical coupling, maybe something could be adapted from Keystone or some other hardware manufacturer... Cheers,

[@zulumax1]

That is a great idea! I was not crazy about stuffing tinned wire ends into a hole. Sounds like the solder could fatigue and fail in repeated thermal cyclings. Better mechanical connection is always better.

[@mikefinn2101]

Good information to know. again what is the website for the adaptors

[@bandersentv]

Link is in the description. adapt-a-cap.com

[@anrque]

The website seems to be gone. When I navigate to the URL, I just see a blank page with the word, "reset." If I try without the https and just http, my company's IT flags it.

[@bandersentv]

All I can say is it works for me. Can you try a different browser?

[@anrque]

@@bandersentv Weird, choice of browser didn't make a difference, but switching from my corporate network to an unfiltered (no proxy, etc) network resolved the issue. Very strange. Thanks for the encouragement to try again. :) Loved your video, keep it up.

[@FearlessAmateur]

@@bandersentv My Norton allowed it to come up but when I clicked through to the purchase page, it blocked it as a known dangerous webpage. Perhaps the proprietor should look into it or file a dispute.

[@LanceHall]

Good product.

[@bbishoppcm]

When you did my Philco 37-640, I love how you gutted the multisectionals and stuffed them with modern electrolytics!

[@jimhall9360]

Really enjoyed your video. Liked & subscribed! Curious where you sourced the "skinny caps"? What description do you use for them in a search?

[@bandersentv]

Digi-key, Mouser, Allied. diameter 10mm or 12mm - lead spacing 5mm ideally. Nichicon, United Chemicon, Panansonic, etc.

[@jimhall9360]

@@bandersentv Thank you! I had tried Digi-key and Mouser, but forgot about Allied. Still out of stock everywhere

[@bandersentv]

@@jimhall9360 What's out of stock? I haven't had any issues getting parts.

[@jimhall9360]

@@bandersentv Appreciate you trying to help! 10, 20, 30 & 40uF 450V "skinny caps"

[@bandersentv]

@@jimhall9360 They have many 1,000s in stock but those values are old fashioned. Use 22, 33 and 47

[@rewalton46]

I just attempted to use the link to Adapt-a-Cap and my protection software threw up a big red flag saying the webpage is know to be dangerous. What's up?

[@bandersentv]

I have no idea. No one else has mentioned any problems.

[@dfc99nyc]

Same problem here.

[@bzuidgeest]

Works fine here. maybe get better software.

[@hestheMaster]

I have an EICO 147A signal tracer that has a 4 section electrolytic cap that needs replacing. This modern phenolic will be perfect to mount the new caps right in place where the old one was. I bought a 5 pack of them some time ago and this will be a much easier job than trying to mount the 4 caps on a terminal strip. This is much better idea using one.

[@zulumax1]

I ordered a capacitor kit from Hayseed Hamfest for a Fisher 500C and paid $129 for it, but they are all the correct values and premade for that receiver. That comes to $32.25 for each capacitor, not an economical way to go for sure. I did look to see if it was even possible to use these for the Fisher, but only one is mounted on a phenolic mount with rivets, and the others seem impractical to drill holes for. On the other hand, I have to replace the can capacitors in my Heathkit W-5M amplifiers for the second go round after doing it 10 years ago with CE Manufacturing cans. Those use phenolic mounting hardware even though the grounds are all common to the chassis. I am considering these adapt-a-cap options for doing those amplifiers again. Leaving the capacitors out in the air may give it more time to live. Good honest review, thanks. (edit: changed CC to CE Manufacturing)

[@jamesmdeluca]

What about those free samples they sent you? Anything worth mentioning?

[@bandersentv]

Yes. Thanks for asking. I believe the smaller 3 section ones will fit the smaller cap on the Predicta 9L37 chassis. Another is the standard size, only has provisions for one cap, but has more and larger holes for hooking up leads. Good for heavy duty caps. You'll be seeing more on them in upcoming projects.

[@markpirateuk]

Certainly a good solution in some situations, but as you mentioned, not suitable for twist lock caps. I am currently restoring a 1935 British Philco 267, this uses a threaded base cap that fits through a single mounting hole on the chassis, several other manufacturers use the same type. These are a real pain to re-stuff, maybe this type could be made? I will probably leave the original in place for looks, and add a tag strip for the new caps under the chassis.

[@bzuidgeest]

Unless I missed it, you didn't show the engineering samples. It's a nice board, but importing it from the US is likely going to cost me. I also think they are a little over-engineered, with the gold-plating and all, that just adds expense. If they where local to the EU I might order them, to save me the hassle of designing something like that myself and just ordering it from pcbway or something as a 5 dollar proto-pack (that would get me 20 pieces I estimate).

[@bandersentv]

They are just variations of the ones I showed. Slightly different hole spacing and different number of caps. They are not currently for sale

[@bzuidgeest]

@@bandersentv I understood that they where not for sale. But it's interesting to know that they might start adding more variations and what kind of variations they are already working on and maybe even why. Maybe come up with a solution for the twistlock thing and such.

[@bob9483]

Looks like that works, the ground ring trace might look a bit thin ? But probably not an issue

[@bandersentv]

The solder mask makes it look thinner than it is. Also, the board is doubled sided and ring is on both sides.

[@allisonbarnhardt3647]

I've used adapt-a-cap for a few years, it's a great product. I got a set of custom reproduction can capacitors made for the first electrostatic television I restored (Motorola 7VT2) by Hayseed Hamfest. I think they cost around $40 each.

[@laurdy]

Over here we generally used clamp mounting capacitors with no cardboard cover, my solution is to cut it with a tubing cutter where the clamp will hide it, remove the innards, replace each connecting pin with a pair of solder tags riveted together through the insulator and then soldering new capacitors to the inner solder tags. once the clamp is reinstalled you'd never realize anything has been done.

[@f.k.burnham8491]

Quite nice innovation. Beats the heck our of the old WBR- Kit which are a hens tooth to find. If you are careful in removing the can, simply open the crimp at the bottom and remove the mounting ring and re-use it. And for the "young 'uns" out there, yes they do make a tool to both untwist and twist the lugs. I have a couple. GE made them and another company. Hard to find, but real easy to make with brass tubing and a vice to flatten one end down. I hope they will make them for the smaller 'lytics with 3 ground lugs. One nice benefit is it allows air circulation around the caps. If you are worried about insulating the caps, some heat shrink over the caps will insulate them. I f one was to use the mounting screws to ground the caps to the chassis, I would use toothed lock washers. One great benefit is if one cap goes bad it is a snap to replace. Thanks for introducing their product.

[@bandersentv]

I've uncrimped and restuffed enough cans to never want to do it again :) Especially, since I have about 200 TVs and radios lined up to restore! Yes, I am using washers with teeth. Also, not a bad idea to add a piece of bus wire from the cap ground to the chassis in case the connection comes loose or corrosion develops. I've seen that a lot with twist-locs.

[@bzuidgeest]

@@bandersentv Then again I like the creativity of finding better ways to restuff caps. Early cardbox box types are not always easy, but I can make them sturdy by 3d printing an insert (recent experiment) to hold the caps. Next I want to make a round foot that fits into a cut-off hollowed out can. Maybe I could design a ring to hold a can based on that board. Yes, it might not be heat efficient. But I like to make them work, not actually use them, so it matters little.

[@JCWise-sf9ww]

I am impressed, what a nice easier solution to replacing multi section can capacitors. I will look into buying some, for my restoration work. Maybe Adapt-a-Cap could have a machine metal stamping shop make the twist locks for a new version of the adapter.

[@8000Time]

Super!

[@ObsessionoftheMonth]

interesting those are kind like something I designed using easyeda (2 or 3 years ago) but never implemented. I thought about having them made and selling them on the antique radio forum. I never did it because I did not need the money and aggravation.

[@cookingwithjesus]

These look great

[@ThejasonJaw5442]

Adapta Cap very cool like it