Capacitor Advice

[mightymouse68]

Since I'm having trouble finding someone in the area to upgrade my
alternator I have been looking at caps on eBay as a temporary band-aid.
I've noticed some inexpensive caps with high farad claims and was
wondering if anyone here has had experience with some of the lower cost
options. Is a $50.00 1-farad cap generally as good as a $100.00 1-farad
cap? Please share your experiences with various brands.

[MZ]

> Since I'm having trouble finding someone in the area to upgrade my
> alternator I have been looking at caps on eBay as a temporary band-aid.
> I've noticed some inexpensive caps with high farad claims and was
> wondering if anyone here has had experience with some of the lower cost
> options. Is a $50.00 1-farad cap generally as good as a $100.00 1-farad
> cap? Please share your experiences with various brands.

Pretty much, yeah. There are minor differences, but for the most part
they're the same (with that kind of price discrepancy!). Just make sure
that the voltage rating on it is at least 16v...

[MOSFET]

> Pretty much, yeah. There are minor differences, but for the most part
> they're the same (with that kind of price discrepancy!). Just make sure
> that the voltage rating on it is at least 16v...
>
I would add that although the electrical propertise of cheap vs, expensive
caps are virtually the same (there may be some differences in ESR but
generally this is going to be unnoticable), I have found that the
construction of cheaper caps can be a problem. The holes on top where the
two posts screw in became stripped, seemed to disintigrate and were
difficult to use with a cheap set of Lightening Bolt .5 farrad caps I own.
I also own a 1 farrad Lightening Strike cap (a higher-end model) that is
built much better and does not suffer from this problem. I also have used
in the past (10 years ago) Monster Caps (designed by Richard Clark and David
Navone) and these suffered from the same problem as the Bolt's. I heard
once that most caps are manufactured by only a handful of companies who
then put on their own labels. If possible try to look inside the holes on
top where the posts screw in and see if it looks solid.

MOSFET