Do you really need to replace electrolytic capacitors in vintage electronics ?

[@justinrayguitars6024]

I am a believer in changing out the old caps. I test the ones that I remove as well as the new ones.

[@pulsarcb]

Many issues can be resolved just by recapping

[@ku4uv]

I almost ALWAYS replace electrolytic caps in any electronic device that I own that is more is than 35 years old. The electrolytic capacitors of today are a helluva lot better quality than the ones that were manufactured 35-40 years ago. I always buy Nichicon or Panasonic, and don't have to worry about the quality. Are some of the old capacitors probably still good? Maybe, but I figure that good quality electrolytic capacitors are cheap enough, might as well replace them and not have to worry about them going bad.(which eventually they will). It also saves someone the headache of having to replace them on down the line, should I die at a young age and someone purchase some of my old C.B.'s and shortwave radios at an estate sale that were manufactured back in the 70's, 80's and 90's.

[@pulsarcb]

I agree. I use Nichicon 99% of the time. I like Illinois Capacitor and NTE as well. What's also great about today's caps is that they have a smaller form factor compared to the old caps of the same value. Meaning many of the voltages can be upgraded, which will help cap life. 73s

[@OnboardingInformation]

Caps I am assuming they are capacitors

[@pulsarcb]

Yes

[@Wheel-1]

Thanks for the video, Can Caps be tested with a cheap Multi meter or does it have to be specific cap tester meter ?

[@pulsarcb]

Some multimeters will have the CAP setting like mine. There's specific cap testers and general component testers as well. 73s

[@davewood4604]

Bad capacitors especially electrolytics leak, and their ESR goes up. On a tester like that it would appear that their value has changed. You can't verify a capacitor is bad just by measuring its value especially low value ones with a multimeter. If you can't test leakage ESR is a better indicator of a failing capacitor. Also apart from tuned circuits an exact value is not as important as the capacitors leakage current and it's ESR

[@pulsarcb]

Like I stated in the video, ESR is also important and showed the component tester to use to measure both. The CAP setting on this multimeter most definitely will show if a cap is bad, even low value ones. Then why have a CAP setting on the multimeter if it doesn't properly test capacitors ?