Anybody who works with older digital gear will earlier than lengthy be taught to identify Rifa capacitors, a particular yellow-translucent element typically utilized in mains filters, that’s infamous for failures. It’s generally considered resulting from their absorbing water, however primarily based upon [Jerry Walker]’s lengthy expertise, he’s not so positive about that. Thus he’s taken a big inventory of the elements and subjected them to checks with a view to resolve the Rifa query as soon as and for all.

What he was in a position to collect each from the elements he faraway from older gear and by making use of AC and DC voltages to  check capacitors, was that these which had been utilized in DC purposes had a a lot decrease chance of exhibiting precursors to failure, and in addition a for much longer time earlier than failure when related to AC mains.

Certainly, it’s solely on the finish of the video that he reveals one of many elements in entrance of him is an ex-DC half that’s been hooked as much as the mains on a regular basis with out blowing up. It’s seemingly then that these capacitors didn’t carry out tot inheritor spec solely when utilized in AC purposes. He nonetheless recommends changing them wherever they’re discovered and we’d utterly agree with him, nevertheless it’s fascinating to have some mild shed on these infamous elements.

Thanks [Ian Somers] for the tip.

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