Short Life of Oil CAP only 250 Hours??


Here is what I have got from one of the oil cap website:

"Lifetime test: 250 hours at the maximum category temperature and 2 x Un, according to IEC 80 § 21."

Does it mean that you have to replace them so often? 250 hours is nothing in audio. I know it could be longer if it 's running lower than the spec., but not sure by how much.

Any comment on this?

Ake
ake

Showing 1 response by ake

Aside the topic, does anyone know the sonic benefit of silver foil over copper foil? I am using copper foil, but wonder if it's worth $$ to replace it with silverfoil.

Regarding my question, Han at Jensen was kind enough to response my email so I will post it here just FYI.

"The lifetime test has nothing to do with the actual life time of the capacitor.
In many standards for electrical components you find type tests, which are accelerated life tests to show if the component has a certain expected life time. Then you measure electrical parameters before and after the test, and then the values must only change within a certain range.

Such a lifetime test indicates whether the component is OK or not.

The expected lifetime for our paper capacitors is minimum 5 years for aluminium foil capacitors, and 10 - 15 years is very common. For copper foil and silver foil it can be shorter (5 - 8 years) due to the properties of the
metals.

Best regards
Hans J. Jensen