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I have been servicing radios, TV sets, and hi-fi/theatre/jukebox amps for 50+ years now; the problems with electrolytic capacitors were well known, even back then. Today, that stuff is 50-90 years old, and those old caps are like a time bomb. The survival of a "dry" electrolytic capacitor is largely due to the integrity of the rubber seals on the case. Once the electrolyte dries up and corrosion sets in, it's dead.
When servicing for a customer or commercial account, reliability is of the utmost importance, to avoid the dreaded "callback". Hobby work is different, of course, but when a reformed capacitor fails anyway and has to be replaced, it's time wasted.
Except for commercial theatre-sound and jukebox amplifiers, most consumer equipment back then did not have an AC fuse, and a shorted capacitor can take out the power transformer. New capacitors are cheap insurance, and I add a fuse in the AC line for more protection.
Last edited by Tim Tress; 07-04-2020 at 08:42 PM.
Reason: More information.
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