Question capacitors storage

It depends on the size of the brand, model number, capacitance, current, applied voltage, charge rate (internal resistance of the cap) and whether you're applying line voltage right away or slowly charging them with a variance.

There is no right answer. Old stuff breaks. Newer capacitors technology is better than old. Aqueous electrolyte ages differently than ionic liquid electrolytes. Even if you answer all of the above questions, there is no single right answer that provides optimized results every time. Many recommendations are wive's tales or based on a single point of data that is meaningless.

Small electrolytic handling small voltage changes last longer than large caps that get hot from rapid charge/discharge cycles. The bigger caps are easier to change so, I'd rather just replace the big ones when needed than worry about optimizing - it's too much work for me - but that's my life, not yours so, play the game as you like.

The brands are varied and I can't describe them, but the devices are SNES Fat and Jr consoles, PS2 Slim, 29" Philco and Toshiba CRT TVs, T95 Max Plus TVbox, 5V or 12V power supplies for these devices, LG SATA DVD drives and other devices. I apply the voltage of the device, in this case 220V, opening all the devices, unsoldering all the capacitors, testing and re-soldering. It's very complex.

There are devices manufactured in the early 90s, early 2000s and more recent. The storage temperature I mentioned above is 33-35C 57-67%RH. I don't have air conditioning or a climate-controlled room.

This is yet another silly pointless thread from you with no answer, stop worrying about vague possibilities, and get on with your life.

I have stored here electronic devices with aluminum electrolytic capacitors used and manufactured in the early 90s. Here the temperature varies between 33-36C RH: 57-67% without rain in my home. These electronic devices need to be energized what maximum interval time for energize all electronics in 220v to prevent failures in these aluminum electrolytic capacitors caused by disuse?

and77man said:

I have stored here electronic devices with aluminum electrolytic capacitors used and manufactured in the early 90s. Here the temperature varies between 33-36C RH: 57-67% without rain in my home. These electronic devices need to be energized what maximum interval time for energize all electronics in 220v to prevent failures in these aluminum electrolytic capacitors caused by disuse?

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Once per month

and77man said:

I have stored here electronic devices with aluminum electrolytic capacitors used and manufactured in the early 90s. Here the temperature varies between 33-36C RH: 57-67% without rain in my home. These electronic devices need to be energized what maximum interval time for energize all electronics in 220v to prevent failures in these aluminum electrolytic capacitors caused by disuse?

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Once a year, capacitor reforming is required if stored for more than a year. the process is to slowly increase the voltage and bring it to rated voltage. the ramp up is 2 hours and more. this is how we store and handle devices with large capacitors. examples, VFD, VFD power cells, inverters etc.

and77man said:

where I live, the temperature varies between 33-35C and humidity ranges from 57-67% without rain, and I have electronic devices manufactured in the early 90s. What is the maximum possible interval for me to energize these all devices and for at least how many minutes to prevent failures in the aluminum electrolytic capacitors caused due to disuse??

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Hi,

I have to agree with post #2. These things are hard to predict without operating conditions and even then it's not that accurate. There are a few things we can observe though.

For one, the higher the ripple current, the faster the cap will 'age'. It would correlate to the ratio of the maximum rated ripple current vs the dominant ripple current in use. If you have a cap rated for say 1 amp and you use it at say 100ma, it should last long, longer than if you use it at say 0.9 amps.
Temperature extremes will also get into the picture. Higher temps means faster aging.
Voltage rating plays a part also, where the operating voltage should be lower than the specified voltage of the cap. The higher the rating of the cap is, the better. A cap that is rated for 16v running at 15v will fail faster than the same cap running at 12v, although you may want to go with a 20v cap if you can get away with it. You also have to compare the ESR of the two though also.
Also, how it was soldered onto the PC board. If the cap got very hot during the installation on the board that would affect the life of the cap also. In fact, with SMD parts there is actually a set temperature profile you are 'supposed' to follow although not many hobby people follow it, and that includes myself. Caps with wire leads will suffer less but a little caution is advised anyway as heat is always a damaging factor.

This is just a sampling of what you might need to predict the life of the capacitor.

Also, if you power it up monthly or annually and don't actually use it to power a load, then there will be virtually no ripple in the power supply caps and those can go any time without you knowing it. So, you may be spending a lot of effort to take care of your equipment but it may not work for you when needed in a real application.

ZipZapOuch said:

Also, if you power it up monthly or annually and don't actually use it to power a load, then there will be virtually no ripple in the power supply caps and those can go any time without you knowing it. So, you may be spending a lot of effort to take care of your equipment but it may not work for you when needed in a real application.

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Are you referring to turning on a video game and starting a game?

When I turn on my consoles, do I insert a cartridge or DVD disc or a game in flash memory?

i have consoles snes, ps2 slim, tv crt, tvbox t95 max plus, dvd drive sata, power supply 5v or 12v
PS2 Slim and TV box have their operating systems from PS2 system firmware and Android or emuelec in TVbox, with these open systems running is it enough to generate charge load in the electrolytic capacitors of the power supply?

Just turn power on & leave them on for an hour or two, every couple of years.

For most low voltage stuff it's not at all necessary though. Keeping them cool, dry and out of sunlight is far more important.

rjenkinsgb said:

Just turn power on & leave them on for an hour or two, every couple of years.

For most low voltage stuff it's not at all necessary though. Keeping them cool, dry and out of sunlight is far more important.

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Is this tip only for new aluminum electrolytic capacitors manufactured recently and not mounted in an electronic circuit and stored at a temperature of 25C, humidity 50% or is this tip also useful for my case electronic devices that use aluminum electrolytic capacitors and manufactured in the early 90s and early 2000s and at a temperature of 33-36C, humidity 57-67% and energized devices at 220v AC 60hz?

i have CRT TVs 29" Philco and Toshiba, consoles Snes JR, Snes Fat, PS2 Slim 90000, power supply 5v and 12v, tvbox T95 Max Plus, DVD Drive Sata internal

and77man said:

Is this tip only for new aluminum electrolytic capacitors manufactured recently and not mounted in an electronic circuit and stored at a temperature of 25C, humidity 50% or is this tip also useful for my case electronic devices that use aluminum electrolytic capacitors and manufactured in the early 90s and early 2000s and at a temperature of 33-36C, humidity 57-67% and energized devices at 220v AC 60hz?

i have CRT TVs 29" Philco and Toshiba, consoles Snes JR, Snes Fat, PS2 Slim 90000, power supply 5v and 12v, tvbox T95 Max Plus, DVD Drive Sata internal

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Don't get too carried away, there's a lot of paranoia in the previous answers - the main issue (slight as it is) is mostly antique (particularly valve based) equipment that's been sat unused for many years. The older, and the longer it's been sat, the higher the risk.

Aluminum electrolytic capacitors mounted in electronic circuits (my case) present what types of failures after long periods of non-use and without being energized?

In my case, in my conditions of temperature, humidity and age of electronic devices, interval turning on the devices what recomendation for to prevent failures caused by disuse?

and77man said:

Aluminum electrolytic capacitors mounted in electronic circuits (my case) present what types of failures after long periods of non-use and without being energized?

In my case, in my conditions of temperature, humidity and age of electronic devices, interval turning on the devices what recomendation for to prevent failures caused by disuse?

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There is no recommendation - if done at all, it's just down to personal choice.

How to prevent deformation of the dielectric layers in aluminum electrolytic capacitors from stored electronic devices that were manufactured in the early 90s and early 2000s and store my home at a temperature of 33-36C, humidity 57-67% and energized devices at 220v AC 60hz?

Once per month:

On for 5 minutes.
Off for 10 minutes
On for 10 minutes
Off for the rest of the month.

ak

and77man said:

How to prevent deformation of the dielectric layers in aluminum electrolytic capacitors from stored electronic devices that were manufactured in the early 90s and early 2000s and store my home at a temperature of 33-36C, humidity 57-67% and energized devices at 220v AC 60hz?

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I've been collecting electronics for ~50 years and I have only ever taken any precautions with one device, an incredibly rare 1940s? audio recorder that had not been plugged in for several decades.

1990s is modern by comparison & I've never consider lack of use a problem. I'd just use it when I wanted, regardless of how long it had been stored.


Belt & braces for your own satisfaction, power them for a couple of hours every year or two. You cannot totally prevent some degradation simply with age, but that gives the best overall lifetime, at paranoid levels.


This is Capacitor storage & repolarising info from Siemens, for some heavy equipment industrial costing tens of thousands of pounds & taking more power than a dozen average homes, with caps that run at around 600 - 700V.

Note even for that, it's just one hour minimum, every two years, to avoid the need for any special treatment before powering on.

rjenkinsgb said:

I've been collecting electronics for ~50 years and I have only ever taken any precautions with one device, an incredibly rare 1940s? audio recorder that had not been plugged in for several decades.

1990s is modern by comparison & I've never consider lack of use a problem. I'd just use it when I wanted, regardless of how long it had been stored.


Belt & braces for your own satisfaction, power them for a couple of hours every year or two. You cannot totally prevent some degradation simply with age, but that gives the best overall lifetime, at paranoid levels.


This is Capacitor storage & repolarising info from Siemens, for some heavy equipment industrial costing tens of thousands of pounds & taking more power than a dozen average homes, with caps that run at around 600 - 700V.

Note even for that, it's just one hour minimum, every two years, to avoid the need for any special treatment before powering on.

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What are the storage conditions (temperature, humidity, age) of electronic devices? is similar my conditions 33-36C 57-67% electronic devices 90 e 2000s Do these conditions affect the interval (days or months or years) to repeat the procedure of energizing stored devices without risk of deformation of the dielectric layers in aluminum electrolytic capacitors and causing permanent damage from disuse in these capacitors?

According to your household temp and humidity, using ASTM Standard 41979-b, the equation in Part 8a (consumer grade video game consoles), and Part 8b (consumer grade video game power supplies), you need to apply power every 67 days for the consoles, and every 36 days for the power supplies - assuming all devices have the original capacitors.

There is a meeting at the Consumer Electronics Show next week to update the standard "calculations to determine the how often one should apply power to old electronic devices to rejuvenate electrolytic capacitors". Call me if you want to attend.