Replacement capacitors

[oldgearguy]

OK, this has been beaten to death on many forums, but unfortunately the information keeps changing....

It has been the past consensus that for general electrolytic capacitor upgrades, the Panasonic HFQ/HFS series was a sensible choice that provided a good range of values at a reasonable price.

Since they have been discontinued, finding a suitable replacement that is available over a wide range at a reasonable price is becoming difficult. Since we're talking older gear here, the form factor is radial throughhole.

After spending a frustrating morning combing over the catalog offerings from Digi-Key, Mouser, Newark, and a few others, I can't seem to find anything that isn't a special order/long lead time item.

Any recommendations for vendors of caps that have good caps in stock? At this point, I'd be happy with anything from Panasonic (FA series), ELNA (RJB), Nichicon (any recommendations?), or ??? if it was in stock.

The application is recapping the Aux module in my Trident Series 70. All the other boards were done by a tech a few years ago with Panasonic HFQ/HFS caps.
This is actually a second Aux board since the first one had so many lifted traces, jumper wires, resolder jobs, and problems that it was easier to start fresh with the old parts board and get that working.
Since part of the problem in the (working) aux module sounds like a cap issue, I don't just want to pull the HFQ's from the first module; I want to gradually do the upgrade and see if/where the problems manifest themselves.

thanks

[hutch]

My old test was string about 10 together then put them in a sealed bag and boil them for an hour - then listen through the chain. Compare as many types as practical, using ears. The differences were subtle, but the key specs seemed to be impedance @ 100kHz and '105 degree long life' and the Panasonic HFQ won. Guess it caught on.

Today i might try Panasonic FC & FK on my short list. More likely, i might try my hand at replacing them or paralleling them with new multilayer ceramics even though they are surface mount. You can get 22u@16V or 10u@25V today in 1812 package size. Very low Z, very long life, & temperature stable.

Having replaced 10s of thousands, i avoid putting signal thru them now.

hutch

[Tim Farrant]

Component supply companies like RS Components and Farnell Components sell a large range of electro's from their catalogues and generally the minimum order quantity is 5 pcs. I do not think Farnell or RS have US warehouses, but I'm pretty sure you can buy online. Do a Google search.

Another good brand to consider is Philips Components, now trading under BC Components I think.

Hope this helps
Tim.

PS - good to see you chirping in here Hutch !!