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Is that because the sets you restore are of the age when the mouldseal capacitors were the main type used?
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Hi Frank, I restore mainly sets from the mid 30's through to 1970's, and although I agree that any paper cap is a change on sight component, Hunts Mouldseals are the worst type, the plastic casing degrades so badly that many crumble away at the lightest touch. No wonder they absorb moisture!
I guess the degradation is due to the heating & cooling of the set over time, causing the casing to crack, thus exposing the innards to the elements.
Sometimes, just out of interest, I will test all the old caps from a set I have just restored. Although it is rare to find any that are not leaky when tested at their working voltage, the Mouldseals are leaking like a sieve at a fraction of their rating, most have morphed into resistors or are shorted.
Far worse than most wax caps I have tested.
The best type are the Sprague metal clad type used in the 1940's.
I recapped a Pye D18T a while ago & removed several of these, I was amazed that most were still up to spec when tested!
All of the wax type failed...
Mark