Electrolytic capacitor replacement

Careful drilling holes if the board is double sided etc…! Also, sometimes a ground plane is located close to the solder pads. You could cause a short.  Soundcoat is sold at Parts Connextion and Sonic Craft I think. Sonic Craft used to sell it. I use the stuff all the time in my mods/upgrades.

If the caps are snap in, then…..


Simple. Solder leads to the cap that are long enough for you to mount it at whatever angle etc… you need. Be sure to keep these lead outs as short as possible and place heat shrink over the lead outs between the cap and the board to prevent any possibility of a short.

The lead outs should be the proper gauge, solid core copper, to fit inside the solder pads. Usually 18 gauge is fine, but be sure. You can thin the lead outs before applying the heat shrink to prevent oxidation. Or use tinned copper, solid core conductors as used on most film caps.

If the cap fits over the solder pads with no need to angle, the lead outs will not allow you to seat the cap perfectly flush on the board. That’s ok, just use a product like Soundcoat vibration damping sheets, with adhesive on one side, cut a small piece or two to fit between the cap and board. It’s not conductive and adds that next level of OCD attention to the details 😊

Just saw this comment by you….

”I’m considering using a spacer between the pc board and the cap giving enough room for the leads to bend enough to fit the board. I have space on the board to fit a larger cap, but not enough to mount the caps on their side. The caps new will need to sit “upright”

This is fine. Use the suggested Soundcoat between the cap and board if you like.

Are you using the Audio Note KAISEI caps? Great caps! 

No need. If you solder the leads properly from under the board, then you can tension the leads strong enough so the cap rests securely on top of the precisely cut Soundcoat pads. This is all you need.

If you don’t want to do that, then hot glue always works and comes off fairly easily without damaging the board should you need to remove the cap. I don’t like using any kind of goop for this sort of thing, but that’s me.

You could also use double sided tape pads in place of the Soundcoat material.

This is for an amplifier. I have replaced those Solen caps before. I have never liked Solen caps however. They are OK in a power supply, but they are slow and dull sounding. Why not Clarity CSA?

If needing to stick with Electrolytics, then I use these! These may fit….

Mundorf HV Mlytic - use these all the time

Audio Note Kaisei - these will most likely fit.They can get pricy. Very good. 

Please confirm the cap value needed and the voltage realized in your power supply. 
Here are my two favorite film caps for power supplies,

- Clarity TC 600v. They have a 50uf Kelvin style and 55uf regular dual lead. Many other values.  No bypass cap needed. 

- Mundorf Tubecap - many values.  Smaller and good. No bypass cap needed 

Let me clarify something I should have said earlier. The Solen caps, or any film cap, will sound better than 95% of the electrolytics out there in a power supply. I gave you other film choices better than Solen. I thought the Mundorf tube caps were no bigger than Solen? 
If the Solens fit better than the Mundorf Tubecap,  then you can use them. Both the Mundorf MLytic HV and Solen film caps are good choices for your power supply. You can decide based on price and space. If you use the Mundorf  Mlytic HV or HV+, then add a film bypass cap. 

You can measure what’s in there and see what value they really are. Electrolytics can vary up to 20% depending on spec.  You can ask Sonic Craft to match the caps as close to 55uf as possible. 
Yes, use bypass caps for sure. You can use a cap like Audience Auricap XO, Clarity CSA, and Jantzen Superior Z. Make sure they are high enough voltage for your circuit. 1-3 uf or so is fine.