I know Radio Shack has a few things, but is there any local electronics store that sells capacitors of various sizes, capacitance and voltage (as well as decent ripple current, low impedance and low ESR)? Among other things need specialized inductors in a small casing to fix a few electronic devices. Most places I check online would cost me an insane amount of money for just a few items since shipping ups the price. Don't want to buy 10 capacitors and 2 inductors then pay 2x the cost for shipping them.

Looking at Rubycon, Chemicon, Sanyo, Panasonic and Nichion capacitors.

2/14/2012 6:40:49 PM

I know you said local store, but remember there's McMaster-Carr online...or digikey (discounts on quantity ranges, etc)

2/14/2012 6:47:46 PM

yeah, i've been looking at digikey (which is just a fucking awesome site to browse, love their interactive catalog). But some of their prices for the higher end solid caps are pretty expensive compared to other places online. I'll have to check out McMaster-Carr, but everyplace seems to charge $$$ on shipping a few pieces.

I'm looking at buying broken parts on ebay to either fix or harvest for the same cost.

2/14/2012 6:56:59 PM

How many and what size/voltage.

2/14/2012 7:36:44 PM

Found out my board had fake Rubycon's that burst, actually made by Sacon of what I'm told. Doh.

These are the ones I really need to replace:
1x 1000uF 6.3v, 8mm diameter, 12mm length, 1150mA Ripple Current, 36mOhm
3x 1500uF 6.3v, 10mm diameter, 12.5mm length, 1800mA RC, 22mOhm
3x 470uF 16v, 8mm diameter, 12mm length, 1150mA RC, 36mOhm

They need to be radial can's with through hole mounts.

Does Leakage Current matter that much? Also, my understanding is that I need at least or better Ripple Current than what the specs are above. I'm also assuming a lower ESR/impedance is better or will that mess with things? And is a higher % tolerance better in this case? Seems like all the good brands have 20%; would have thought you'd want a lower % for power distro applications... but I guess that's only if your power isn't very stable.


I mainly looked at Chemicon PSx series since that's what the rest of the caps are on the board, but they seem quite expensive. The 16v caps are 2 bucks each.

2/14/2012 7:58:24 PM

^^ should be able to take care of you. Quinn, you still doing power supply design type work?

2/14/2012 9:38:45 PM

Capital Electronics on Glenwood used to be the spot...outside of that and Radio Shack I've never heard of anywhere else.

2/15/2012 8:50:10 AM

^I fondly remember Capitol Electronics. Right before they closed the owner told me that "the electronics hobbyist is a dying breed".

Nowadays online is really your only option, though things are slowly changing. Arduino has reinvigorated the hobby market, and even Radio Shack is trying to get back to their roots and carry a wider line of parts. But you will NEVER find quality low-ESR capacitors or precision inductors in the values you want outside of online ordering. I suggest Digikey and Newark as good sources with reasonable shipping charges.

2/16/2012 12:51:31 AM

At work I order a lot of this type stuff from Newark.

2/16/2012 8:38:42 AM

Question about inductors, I need a 1R0 in a 3x3mm package that has a 1uH inductance, but I can't find any other info about what I need. There's like 200 different types that are marked with the same code that vary from SRF, DCR and current rating.

The closest thing that I can find that looks similar is a Bourns SRN3015-1R0Y

http://www.newark.com/bourns/srn3015-1r0/inductor-1uh-2-35a-30-145mhz/dp/61T9870

[Edited on February 16, 2012 at 12:09 PM. Reason : ]

2/16/2012 12:09:16 PM

Damn... so many caps on the market. Finally sat down and went through the catalogs on both digikey and newark and went with all Nichicon caps. Didn't set me back as much as I thought, although shipping was still 2x the price of the cost of the caps. Haven't played with electronics on the component level in years, fun little project and learning a lot. Seems probably trivial to a few of you guys on here who know this stuff.

Through this, I find it really hard to believe quality solid polymer caps are really this expensive. How in the hell do mobo makers make money when the cost per cap is close to a buck or even more (even in bulk)? That's like $40-50 worth of caps on a decent board, mid-range board...

2/21/2012 8:44:49 PM

What is this application for? And, are you capable of soldering surface mount components?

2/22/2012 5:58:36 PM

I typically use allied electronics, newark, digikey, or mouser but those are all online.

2/22/2012 6:13:15 PM

Recapping an old gpu. And no, I don't have the capabilities of doing surface mount soldering. I'm pretty sure I'll need a heat gun for surface mount stuff, but I'm not exactly sure. I'm actually going to buy a decent solder station maybe after this project.

2/23/2012 7:06:07 AM

Quote :

"Recapping an old gpu. And no, I don't have the capabilities of doing surface mount soldering. I'm pretty sure I'll need a heat gun for surface mount stuff, but I'm not exactly sure. I'm actually going to buy a decent solder station maybe after this project."

I'm confused. You're saying "after this project". Is all your stuff through hole for this one? The inductor you linnked to above is certainly a surface mount model (I dunno about you caps, I didn't look at those).

And a "heat gun"? You mean, like a big fucking heat gun you'd get at radio shack?

I'm asking this because jumping on surface mount stuff for a first foray into this type of thing isn't exactly something you want to bite off if you don't have patience and the right tools to do the job (of which a heat gun isn't that tool).

2/23/2012 5:32:38 PM

nope, didn't get the inductor, just the caps.

I got the caps in today, pretty damn fast shipping I might say for ground. And yes, I have found out that I do in fact need to update my crappy solder for this project. lol so... lets talk shop.

I'm looking at the Weller WLC100 40w soldering station for 40 bucks. Seems like it would be perfect for someone like me. I'm also looking at getting AT 60/40 rosin core solder and a cheap solder sucker by parts express (worth it? or shit?) with a weller ST7 tip.

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/?t=slicinc-20&tag=slicinc-20

Then someone suggested the SMD station, but a bit wary of such a product... for that price range, I might stick with weller's analog WES51 welding station.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SMD-Rework-Soldering-LCD-Digital-Station-Hot-Air-Gun-Solder-Iron-Welder-11-Tips-/370586123326?afepn=5335869999&campid=5335869999&PID=1225267&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5648a77c3e#ht_2343wt_1139

Any other suggestions? I really don't want to spend too much since I'm a complete novice at this.

2/23/2012 7:44:35 PM