Save Your Electronics Before Your Precious Gear Blows Up! Replace Your Old Electrolytic Capacitors.

[@ms-hl4vg]

You my friend, are keeping the spirit of vintage equipment alive. Good to know this hobby has people like you.

[@toddkelsey2794]

Outstanding video. I recently recapped my SA7500 and TX 6500. Never sounded better. You are right the information on equipment has never been more available. I am lucky to have a HiFi shop in town. They have a minimum of six months back log and quoted me over several hundred dollars. Did it myself for a buck fifty and a weekend in time.

[@TheMagicStar80]

Thanks for the information! I totally agree with you, for instance when I was a kid I was surrounded by late 70's and mid 80's receivers, car stereos, boomboxes, audio cassette decks, even older 8 tracks , reel to reel decks, etc. , therefore as I kid I was curios to understand how these devices worked, so even though they were practically new at that time I had opened them up in pieces and messed around with them and things simply started to make sense as I had put them back together again. I started to understand how they work mechanically, electronically, and what does the functionality of every button within a device do and again I was about 9 or 10 at that time. Well, today I am definitely glad that I did that as I am able to look into these now considered vintage items and repair them of course have learned a lot more about other things in life but somehow became a trade of all jacks by watching others and doing it myself whenever there was a need to either rebuild, fix, or repair something rather it was a vintage receiver, an analog cassette deck, a washer, a dryer, a stove, a smart phone, computer, etc. or even replace a receptacle or add a three way switch and or run electrical wires in my house and or build a shelf. I guess what i am trying to say is that we all have skills in life but sometimes need to realize it and things are not that hard to repair and or rebuild if one understand how it is suppose to work and how it was made. For instance recently a friend had a problem with an electric guitar and again never in my life had even opened a guitar nor new how to fix it but said come on over let's look at it together and it turn out to be a real simple thing that needed replacement. So, do not think you cannot do something in life as one limits himself or herself but thinking I cannot do this nor do that! We are all smart and skilled and practice makes the difference at everything in life!

[@sydviscous7006]

Lots of common sense here. I have loads of gear I'd like redone /recapped. I could probably do it, but just don't have the time or motivation. Love this old gear, and guys like you are a treasure. Thank you for your interesting and informative videos.

[@clydebaker3484]

We have that problem n Cincinnati and No,Ky area.we have several electronic shops but none that speak with the confidence and knowledge like you.thanks for taking your time because i do listen.thankyou!

[@jeremiahchamberlin4499]

I really enjoy your videos, lots of pictures, a little talk, on topic. You’re really sharing your passion for great vintage gear. I especially enjoyed the history of the brand, the origin of the company logo, and the story of its founder. But you didn’t tell us whatever became of him, if he had heirs, the current ownership of the company and/or brand. You’ve got some really great specimens in your collection. Keep up the good work. 👍

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Glad you like them! I responded to your comments under the Pioneer SPEC-1/SPEC-2 video. Thanks for watching!

[@johnnytoobad7785]

I've re-capped three vintage pieces of equipment in the last 10 years. Always replaced the main PS filters first then worked my way down to the smaller ones. Today you can replace low voltage low value (10uf or less) with film caps.

[@tharkthax3960]

Great video! I fix older amps all the time. Almost always the problem is with caps and dry solder joints! Fixed 5 sherwood amps over last week. Famous hum and crackling. All now working sweet. Enjoyed your video 😊

[@richardmorrow6251]

I love and appreciate all of your videos! You've helped me already. Thank you.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Your welcome and thank you for watching.

[@geirendre]

Great video. Now I'm a subscriptor to. I restore vintage audio, 60 and 70's stuff, and I replace all electrolytics on this units. Call it a MLU, Mid-Life-Upgrade. Capacitors are much like batteries, they dry out over time. New Capacitors may have lower ESR, and be better in other ways to. More linear maby.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thank you for the kind words and your comments. I'm with you! Get those old electrolytic capacitors out if your unit is 20+ years old!

[@daldrich9553]

Hello. Is there a way reach you ? I have a photo I would like to share with you of a very old electrolytic capacitor that I found buried with other items. I'm trying to pin it down to a date or at least a specific decade. It came from Japan.

[@davo2404]

You're providing a great service, much appreciated. Do you ever get into a restoration and find something that stops you from finishing it?

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thank you very much. Well not to often as most of the parts to repair these units are still available. I'm not trying to make money so I will sometimes spend a lot of time getting a piece of gear going that would not make any financial sense.

[@davo2404]

@@vintageaudioaddict That's reassuring as I'm only just becoming very interested in restoring hi-fi equipment for pleasure, starting with my Technics system that I bought in Malaysia in 1981 while serving with the Royal Australian Air Force. It seems we're of the same vintage LOL.

[@factorylad5071]

Capacitors in tube amps are a separate subject. You are absolutely right in that you will not find a qualified repairman who can deal with both , let me tell you. Fortunately with valve radios/amplifiers it will be a resistor that is the cause of malfunction.

[@9KznfiS87f7]

I like to relate the story of the oldest piece of equipment I ever worked on, a Rickenbacher guitar amp made in the 1940s that still had perfectly good original electrolytic caps (and I use an ESR tester). If it's not bad you can't fix it.

[@jordan390a]

After buying an ESR 70+ to speed up testing electrolytic caps of all types, I ended up going back to my vintage Sprague TO-6 Cap tester which I have restored and calibrated. I just finished going over and restoring a Marconi TF-2331 Audio Distortion tester which was packed with lytics from the mid 60's. What I found was surprising and for that reason, I decided to pull all of the 'lytic caps and test them with a digital cap meter, my ESR 70+ and the Sprague TO-6, the results of which tell me that the ESR-70+ is almost useless, because while the cap measurements were fine, even the caps with a low measured ESR on the ESR-70+ such as .32 ohms, all but a very few showed unacceptable leakage when then tested at working voltage with the TO-6...I think that weakness is that the 100khz square wave used by the ESR-70+ and similar units isn't at a sufficient level to properly test 'lytic caps. Generally, my rule of thumb is that if I am working on a circuit which has been or required calibrated, or is relevant to the calibration process and the overall specs of what I'm working on, I'll pull the caps and check the value and replace a bad cap with the measured value, rather than the nominal value found in the schematic or parts list. As an example, in the Marconi I'm just finishing, some of the coupling and bypass lytics measured far in excess of their nominal value. The 500uF filter caps all measured well over 700uF but were leaky, however, since these were filter caps, I just replaced them all with 470uF caps. Bypass and/or coupling, and/or tuning section electrolytic caps can read high due to tolerances, so when I measured 25uF caps to be 45uF, which was common in this unit, I replaced those caps with 47uF caps because that was the actual original value when the unit was calibrated and tested at the factory...As another example, a 100uF coupling cap measured 240uF, so I replaced it with a 220uF cap at the rated voltage...To be clear, many of the original caps were rated +100/-20 % so I took that into account where necessary.... YMMV, but I've been doing this kind of work for over 40 years now, and it always seems like any post repair calibration has required only very minor tweaks, which is even more important for scientific instruments...

[@anibalalmodovar6372]

You give very advice, it could get costly.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thanks for watching.

[@dirtydon8661]

Thanks for clearing up the manufactures hours/cap life and temperature.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thank you for your comment. I really appreciate hearing that the video helped you out.

[@buzzcrushtrendkill]

It comes to a personal choice. Don't fix it if it ain't broke vs. Preventative maintenance (with a small chance of screwing something up in the process). I use a 1987 Onkyo M504 as my 2 channel amp. The electrolytics are all original. It has been in for maintenance, power transistors, power supply components, rail voltage adjustments. The retired engineer who performed the maintenance did not advise to change all electrolytic caps for the sake of age. Quality caps will last.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Yup, as you said it's personal choice. Thanks for watching.

[@cat-lw6kq]

I agree with you. I do have some old stuff a Scope from the 1970's that works just fine. I wonder if the older parts were better quality ?

[@jefffoster3557]

Have you ever done a before and after hearing session with a full recap? I have 4 Sansui G 9000s that are interested. I will share the story on them at your db 9000 recap vid. Thanks for sharing your time and insight here!

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Your welcome and thank you for watching.

[@justinsmith3904]

Where did you learn how to work on this stuff I find it really cool I love old vintage audio and want to learn myself where’s a good place to start

[@robertdavis5714]

Yes, finding a person who knows what he his doing, and not to be taken advantage of is the problem. Center Voltage, Idle current and meter amplifier, as the saying goes, if you want it done right do it yourself. Changing out Caps, this I will need to find someone for fear of doing more damage than correcting.

[@stephenlawson6009]

What would cause a no rewind function on a Craig 4 head , model # 2402 reel to reel, fast fwd works good ?

[@DavidBerquist334]

I see lots of high end stereos 70s 80s receiver amps and cassette decks come in waste no body is allowed to have they have to be sent out and shredded I saw a pioneer sx3700

[@zhrob1]

Question: What if you vintage receiver is in mint condition and was rarely used? Does the Electrolytic capacitors still dry up without being used?

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Yes, time will kill the capacitors even if they are not used.

[@dwaynepiper3261]

@@vintageaudioaddict This is where I am not sure I agree because my logic would be that heat & time are the equation. In your video you even state that less heat will greatly increase the life expectancy. So equipment sitting not being used should have a very long life expectancy. What am I missing?

[@treadmillrepair754]

Hi everybody, I have the same ESR, Peak Atlas products are the best. Cheers.

[@dednside5229]

I didn't change the caps in my 94' P7000 Halfler diablos . First I blew up CF-3 Klipsch , Then I blew up a set of JBL 580 Studio with the other 7000 which caught a mosfet on fire . Too bad i didn't know before hand about bias and Changing electrolytics .

[@vintageaudioaddict]

I'm sorry about the loss of your speakers but we learn from the things that happen in life. You are much more knowledgeable now and you won't stub your toe again.

[@deadshepherd666]

After moving my transistor amp from one house to another, it suddenly has reduced volume and pops. A friend insists I should replace the capacitors. Do bad capacitors tend to cause those audible problems I'm talking about?

[@Jason-wc3fh]

I wouldn't call the manufacturer's "experts" on their product because they happen to publish a rough estimate of when their caps should be replaced due to age. It could be perfectly valid, but with them being a business, it's also a very simple statement to keep the money rolling in to keep consumers buying their pockets to fill their pocket books.

[@gime3steps]

Good video. thanks for your insight

[@jimmycake7143]

very correct, thanks KC2-AGT

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thanks for watching!

[@polocash11]

I have a Sony 2 channel amp that is about 50 years old. It was given to me so I don't know history except the person who owned it from new, takes care of his things. He collects old cars and model trains. 1st issue is when I plug it in, it comes on and will not turn off at switch. So I hope this is just a bad switch. I am also pretty sure it needs to be recapped. I know you can't help, but I heard you say parts are usually under $200 to fix these. What would be the most it could be?

[@dwoodog]

Excellent video, thanks for confirming the hey if you want to go for it. I think the only thing I also wanted to see is say your facing some piece of equipment with like 100 or maybe more caps. Do I just dig in and replace them all, or is it again up to me?

[@PhuckHue2]

if it has that many caps it depends on the brand and if you want to put in the time to do it. Those old PCB boards don't age well and you'll have to deal with a lot of solder pads breaking off with the slightest heat

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thank you for your kind words. Well....That's a tough question. If your experience always then yes. If not then no. Your thinking.....Well that's a great answer, LOL. You need to to understand your own capabilities. I had my timing belt in my car replaced by a mechanic because I didn't think I could do it. Same for vintage audio equipment.

[@gravitystorm61158]

I’ve got to replace the caps or maybe the entire crossovers on my Sansui SP-X-9000?

[@graxjpg]

I have noise in a pioneer vsx ds1, the Internet says it’s their most powerful receiver. I’m thinking it’s the filter capacitors. Not sure where to go to buy the new ones yet

[@jeffcooke9905]

I have a pioneer sg9500 equalizer that I want to re-cap. I can't get a 4.7 10v electrolytic capacator as they are an obsolete part. What should I use in its place?

[@randallfawc7501]

Sir. I have a Sony SQD 2020 quadrasonic decoder I bought new in the mid 70s. When running, after varying short periods of time, the left front channel output drops out. Could this be a capacitor issue?

[@geterdone]

I am repairing the computer and a 1993 Ford pick up truck which has 47 µF 50 V capacitors rated at 105°C. Over the last 10 years on three different occasions with two different computers the capacitors have leak and from the research I’ve done people say the computers have an issue of overheating causing this problem. Am I correct in assuming I could substitute for a 47 µF 100 V capacitor and be OK? They are electrolytic capacitors.

[@bobbyy8711]

Thanks, very informative..

[@303otto]

Thx for all the infos, man! 👍 😎

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Your welcome and thank you for watching.

[@scialyticsteve]

You really sound like Brian Williams from NBC News!

[@JakeTheCrow]

I thought the same thing!! Haha

[@houseofbrokendobbsthings5537]

Well done 👍

[@frostwise87]

great vid and information. thanks :)

[@hardac7943]

I got a gsp 5 rackmount pedal for free due to leaking caps. It started Smoking in the thrift store they said you want it you can have it get it out of here lol. Three replaced caps the same farrad rating electrolytic ones good as new lol.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Good Job!

[@centaurojz]

Have a question for you, I know you have re-caped a couple of your Marantz here, have you run into a model like the 2285B in which its main capacitors (6800uf, 63v) are actually two capacitors inside a single capacitor can, how do you replace those, since they don't manufacture them anymore?

[@vintageaudioaddict]

It varies but one way is to cut open the original can capacitor, take out the old internals and then re-stuff the original can capacitor with a modern one of the appropriate value or in your case two. The moderns capacitors are generally smaller and usually you will have the room to re-stuff. A dremel works well to open up the can capacitor and you can keep the original look of the unit if that's important to you.

[@ELSSAUDIOELECTRONICS]

do you have a vintage qsc amp?

[@vcp93]

LOL!!! "...and the other half are arguing if Marantz is better than Sansui...." So are you saying you're not into all the bickering and fighting that goes on in "anti-social media"? A club I've been a member of for quite a while too. Cheers! 👽🖖"Na-nu"

[@vintageaudioaddict]

I have a problem....Which came first the chicken or the egg? Let's discuss it, LOL. Thanks for commenting.

[@daldrich9553]

Hello. Is there a way reach you ? I have a photo I would like to share with you of a very old electrolytic capacitor that I found buried with other items. I'm trying to pin it down to a date or at least a specific decade. It came from Japan.

[@chrishale5608]

Where are you located? Do you have people mail items in the mail, from Oklahoma. Thank you

[@domdraper3221]

So you can up the voltage of capacitors?

[@commonsense5105]

Voltage rating spec of a replacement, yes!

[@keithmaclachlan3053]

Thanks for your videos! These are great and very informative. I tried your email but I got a bounce back. Do you have a current email address? Thank you.

[@louf7178]

Um...subscribed!

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thank you!

[@factorylad5071]

You just won't find many caps in a DC coupled amplifier.

[@scialyticsteve]

There are still filter caps in the power supply and in the tone controls.

[@factorylad5071]

@@scialyticsteve but only one capacitor in the power amplifier which would be rather unwise to try and replace because you would need another near identical one for the other channel.

[@linandy1]

Just change the bad ones.

[@factorylad5071]

Recapping old amps seems to be becoming a wide aspiration nowadays. I can understand the replacement of PSU caps , no difficulty , but changing caps in the signal path is a no no because they will be special close tolerance caps which should not be removed without knowing what you are doing. And by that , I mean engineering degree. If you have an amp full of messy caps , throw it away because the rest of it won't be much good either. I would also take note of the fact , that the ad hoc replacement of the power amplifier's feedback caps will alter the Nyquist stability criterion and that does not sound like a good thing to do.

[@commonsense5105]

I know this is over a year since this comment was posted, but I strongly disagree with your comment about being an engineer and recapping the rest of your amp. I am an engineer and think if you have reasonable soldering skills, can identify capacitor values and understand what makes a good replacement, can follow a schematic, you have a very good chance of saving or bringing back a cherished piece of electronics. There are/were many electronic technicians that were not degreed engineers that had experience working on electronics, that many times knew way more than some engineers because of that experience. If you think you have the possible skills, try it! The most you'll be out is the time spent trying and the money spent on the parts. There are creative solutions to finding parts no longer made. In some cases you might be able to install a slightly larger valued cap and/or one with a higher voltage, especially in the first stage of the power supply. There is actually a company that can make the larger electrolytic used in a power supply. Capacitors are additive in parallel, so you can resort to using multiple capacitors to replace the value of one for that hard to find component. There is a vast amount of information and knowledge out on the internet. Educate yourself, assuming you really want to get that cherished electronic audio component running again, and you can be successful.