Electrolytic Capacitor Markings: how to interpret them & what they mean

[@Ressy66]

excellent breakdown, easy to understand for newbies, well done.

[@ElectronicsNotes]

Thank you. I’m glad the video was useful.

[@k.oldewurtel4261]

Hi Ian, I love your channel and the content. One question regarding the tolerance markings in 3:31. Are you sure, the "M" is the tolerance? In my opinion this is the brand sign for Matsushita capacitors... I'm looking forward to your answer. Regards Kassen

[@josonbelliard1986]

I am trying to find that information as well. No satisfying results on the net so far… as many other specific infos on electronic components. But I think maybe that little mistake in this video was made on purpose. It is giving a clue. That letter M has the meaning of 20% tolerance and is the most common value for alu-elec-capacitors. That same letter is found elsewhere on the casing between 2 other symbols Imo.

[@michaczarnecki2143]

Very professional tone and voice! Thank you for the information :)

[@ElectronicsNotes]

Thanks for your comment. I’m glad you found the video useful.

[@sadunnakipoglu9471]

Thanks

[@ElectronicsNotes]

I’m glad you found the video useful.

[@jamesharder3753]

At 1:37 you show this type of capacitor, I've been looking for quite a while now on the one you're showing it's a 7K MVY. I have a couple of these on boards I'm trying to identify the difference between and the only difference is one says CS and says VT and one 82185, other than these the number 47 and 35 V are on all of them except the 82185 is 25 V. What does this labelling mean

[@richg.2579]

Very good I have an axial cap in an old rf amp that looks different than the others. It is black, axial leaded, looks like hot glue or plastic seals the ends where the leads come out. Not sure how to identify it to replace it. It's on a small board next to a transistor that I believe may key the relay in this old tube type amp. I was surprised to see a transistor in a tube amp as I thought if it had tubes it would have no transistors ? Any help appreciated.

[@ElectronicsNotes]

Glad you liked the video. It’s difficult to understand exactly what the capacitor is. The main thing is the value - I assume it us nit possible to see it. It was also not uncommon to use transistors in tube amps because they didn’t need such high voltage supplies and for functions that needed lower voltages the supply could often be drawn from the heaters and then rectified. If you can trace the circuit and see what it does this might give you an idea of the value and required working voltage. You can then select what you think might be the right value, substitute and see if it works ok. Hope this is some help.

[@khomo12]

Very nice!👍👍👍

[@ElectronicsNotes]

Thanks for your comment - I’m very pleased you found it useful.

[@j7ndominica051]

When testing capacitors with a multimeter, do I need to observe the polarity?

[@ElectronicsNotes]

Multimeters do not normally supply much current when measuring on the resistance range, so most capacitors are absolutely fine.

[@kwacz]

I have a large electrolytic capacitor marked 60-10 dc. What does this mean?? its a metal can and its stamped.

[@ElectronicsNotes]

That is an unusual marking!

[@kwacz]

@@ElectronicsNotes i know. I assume ass-u-me it is capacitance - voltage. It is actually stamped on a can that contains three caps in one can. There are three lines like this 1-150 60-10 and 50-100

[@yuxizheng8781]

Does the bar mean the negative terminal? I am a newbies.

[@ElectronicsNotes]

Yes it normally does.

[@BatsiraiMusuka]

Stumbling into this world. I want to learn on my dead monitor (l opened it and all the capacitors were “melted”) I looked and found equivalent ones online. But I’m stuck on two which l can’t match (both are Jamicon 148c2(m) and 208c2(m)) l can’t seem to find those two… which led me to think maybe those numbers mean something else I’m not getting 😅

[@ElectronicsNotes]

It is not obvious to me - it could be a manufacturers code.

[@BatsiraiMusuka]

@@ElectronicsNotes they doing a number on this newbie😅 Thank you for replying still 🙏🏾