How to ID SMD tants etc.?
 

For a while now I've been checking everything electronic before I throw it
out, mainly for SMD tantalum capacitors (or solid ali can electros) and have
now collected quite a few. What I need to know now though is how to work out
their ratings?

My elementary Googling skills hasn't found 'the magic page' that will show
most brands made and explain how to de-cipher the markings. I've been sold
on SMD tants ever since I replaced a couple of ali cans with some and the
device has continued to work flawlessly... Also the fact that they're used
in circuits where they're expected to outlast the life of the device is very
attractive to someone who's lost a lot of money to ali can 'capacitor rot'.

Any help would be very gratefully recieved.

Cheers,
--
Shaun.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a
monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also
into you." Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Re: How to ID SMD tants etc.?
 

Somewhere on teh intarwebs EMB wrote:
> On 15/05/2011 10:49 a.m., ~misfit~ wrote:
>> For a while now I've been checking everything electronic before I
>> throw it out, mainly for SMD tantalum capacitors (or solid ali can
>> electros) and have now collected quite a few. What I need to know
>> now though is how to work out their ratings?
>>
>> My elementary Googling skills hasn't found 'the magic page' that
>> will show most brands made and explain how to de-cipher the
>> markings. I've been sold on SMD tants ever since I replaced a couple
>> of ali cans with some and the device has continued to work
>> flawlessly... Also the fact that they're used in circuits where
>> they're expected to outlast the life of the device is very
>> attractive to someone who's lost a lot of money to ali can
>> 'capacitor rot'. Any help would be very gratefully recieved.
>
> EIA markings are most common but by no means universal. Simple table
> here: http://www.gfaelectronics.com/electr...citormarks.htm

Thanks mate, bookmarked for future reference. :-)
--
Shaun.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a
monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also
into you." Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Re: How to ID SMD tants etc.?
 

On 15/05/2011 10:49 a.m., ~misfit~ wrote:
> For a while now I've been checking everything electronic before I throw it
> out, mainly for SMD tantalum capacitors (or solid ali can electros) and have
> now collected quite a few. What I need to know now though is how to work out
> their ratings?
>
> My elementary Googling skills hasn't found 'the magic page' that will show
> most brands made and explain how to de-cipher the markings. I've been sold
> on SMD tants ever since I replaced a couple of ali cans with some and the
> device has continued to work flawlessly... Also the fact that they're used
> in circuits where they're expected to outlast the life of the device is very
> attractive to someone who's lost a lot of money to ali can 'capacitor rot'.
>
> Any help would be very gratefully recieved.
>
> Cheers,

Any to be found in old screens?

R

Re: How to ID SMD tants etc.?
 

Somewhere on teh intarwebs Roger Dewhurst wrote:
> On 15/05/2011 10:49 a.m., ~misfit~ wrote:
>> For a while now I've been checking everything electronic before I
>> throw it out, mainly for SMD tantalum capacitors (or solid ali can
>> electros) and have now collected quite a few. What I need to know
>> now though is how to work out their ratings?
>>
>> My elementary Googling skills hasn't found 'the magic page' that
>> will show most brands made and explain how to de-cipher the
>> markings. I've been sold on SMD tants ever since I replaced a couple
>> of ali cans with some and the device has continued to work
>> flawlessly... Also the fact that they're used in circuits where
>> they're expected to outlast the life of the device is very
>> attractive to someone who's lost a lot of money to ali can
>> 'capacitor rot'. Any help would be very gratefully recieved.
>>
>> Cheers,
>
> Any to be found in old screens?
>
> R

I've not pulled many old screens apart truth be told. However I doubt it,
usually there I see ali cans. SMD tantalum capacitors are very expensive and
are usually used in situations where space is a problem and/or reliability
is very important.

When I'm scavenging old electronics components before dumping them I mainly
find tants in (good quality) laptops and places like HDD circuitboards.
Sometimes they can be found on expansion cards but only on expensive ones
like server-quality stuff IME. I did pull an old circa 1998 Compaq desktop
computer to bits and the motherboard only had two ali caps, the rest were
all SMD tants. It was still working flawlessly before I 'decommissioned' it.

I read that they're the electrolytic capacitor of choice for the aerospace
industry (such as in satelites) and also often used in medical equipment.
--
Shaun.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a
monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also
into you." Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche