Capacitor Checker

[Tubejunke]

Originally Posted by NoPegs

Well, sometimes it gives you 10µF and the WV of whichever cap out of the two in series isn't dead-shorted.


Generally though yes, two caps in series works like two resistors in parallell, if they're the same value you get half the capacity, if they're mismatched values you reach for the nomogram and/or slide-rule.

Hey thanks! Lots of good information. I still don't like the taste of that 10mfd in series with one of the other two. With old repairs you never know what someone was thinking. Someone may have heard that if you have a bad capacitor just tack another one in and all will be great. Would that be in series? Of course not, but they may have just tacked another in without that thought in mind. I myself used to parallel in caps leaving the old cap in place, but I no longer believe that to be a good practice at all for a number of reasons.

These schematic links posted here will be tremendously useful! I think the thing to do is look at the tech data and check the existing components for clues as to what may have been going on. Oh, and my box lid does have shellac looking stuff around it, but the interior bottom looks more dirty, oily, waxy......