UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post

GMB · 25th Aug 2008, 5:41 pm

Regular use will keep the electrolytics in working order. Paper capacitors will probably be leaky but what I do is to look at the circuit and see what effect that has. It is surprising how few capacitors are in a situation where a little leakage actually matters.

In most radios it is often just the AF coupling capacitor to the output stage where leakage has dire consequences. The rest will often get away with being sub-optimal.

You may well find that your signal generator just doesn't contain any capacitors of the type that usually fail. My old Advance SG62 is unmodified and works as well as the day it was made.

25th Aug 2008, 5:41 pm	#5
GMB Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: near Reading (and sometimes Torquay) Posts: 3,095	Re: "Change all capacitors...." Regular use will keep the electrolytics in working order. Paper capacitors will probably be leaky but what I do is to look at the circuit and see what effect that has. It is surprising how few capacitors are in a situation where a little leakage actually matters. In most radios it is often just the AF coupling capacitor to the output stage where leakage has dire consequences. The rest will often get away with being sub-optimal. You may well find that your signal generator just doesn't contain any capacitors of the type that usually fail. My old Advance SG62 is unmodified and works as well as the day it was made.