Help identifing some caps

[slashandburn]

I've got quite a few of these fellas taking up space in a my "misc" drawer. Can't work out what value they are as the marking are unfamiliar to me.



The text on the caps in question reads:

Yellow Axial - 
100k
KT630

Clear axial (seeming polarised?) -
1000k

Small Green Wima -
2400
63-U
U21

Large Green Wima -
63 1826
0303

Blueish green (polyester?) -
KP1835
3300/5/63V

I think it's the 100,   1000,  2400 and 3300 I should be looking at but the large green wima 1826 throws me completely. How do I translate this to farads?

Cheers in advance.

[EBK]

My first question is, are you positive that those are all caps?

[Rob Strand]

Best (educated) guesses:

Yellow Axial -
100k
KT630

100pF 10% 630V polystyrene

Clear axial (seeming polarised?) -
1000k

1000pF = 1nF 10% polystyrene         (I'm actually not 100% sure about the value)

Small Green Wima -
2400
63-U
U21

2400pF = 2.4nF 63V  (polyester)

Large Green Wima -
63 1826
0303

63V polyester
Value is missing.
Normally the value is written on the top.

Blueish green (polyester?) -
KP1835
3300/5/63V

3300pF = 3.3nF   5% 63V  polyester

[a2music]

When I clean out my junk bin I rely on my multimeter to identify The many, random parts. A good digital multimeter isn't too expensive and is an indispensable tool for building pedals.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[slashandburn]

My first question is, are you positive that those are all caps?

I'm fairly certain they all came from a small stack of capacitor "lucky bags"  I acquired a while ago.

Cheers Rob! That's helps, and makes sense that the logical looking series of numbers would be pF. and you're right the large green Wimas do infact have a number on the top:   1, k

The space and comma are not typos on my part. I'll assume this to also be 1000pF.

Cool. Think that's sorted!

Did they throw in the letter U on those small green guys just to be dicks and mess with our heads or something?

Ah I have a meter, it just doesn't have a function to measure capacitance as far as I'm aware.  It also lacks a continuity "beep" test mode which is a massive pain in the arse sometime, so upgrading might be a good shout for somewhere down there line!

[EBK]

Ah I have a meter, it just doesn't have a function to measure capacitance as far as I'm aware.

Does your meter measure frequency, and do you have a 555 timer chip laying around?

[waltk]

The wima with "1, k" is likely to be a 1 microfarad 63 volt cap with 10% tolerance.

I have a bunch of clear polystyrene caps, and many of them have what looks like polarity indicator line - but they're not polarized.

[slashandburn]

Ah I have a meter, it just doesn't have a function to measure capacitance as far as I'm aware.

Does your meter measure frequency, and do you have a 555 timer chip laying around?

Yes it does, and I think I do.

Can I rig my own capacitance meter? I'm interested!

The wima with "1, k" is likely to be a 1 microfarad 63 volt cap with 10% tolerance.

I have a bunch of clear polystyrene caps, and many of them have what looks like polarity indicator line - but they're not polarized.

Cheers Walt!   Is there a chance the other 1k (clear fella) could be 1uf aswell? Or would the comma on the green wima designate the extra l decimal place?

[Rob Strand]

The space and comma are not typos on my part. I'll assume this to also be 1000pF.

I second the 1uF value.

Did they throw in the letter U on those small green guys just to be dicks and mess with our heads or something?

In Europe, especially Germany they often use U as a symbol for volts.

Does your meter measure frequency, and do you have a 555 timer chip laying around?

You beat me to it. 
Yes you can build a simple cap meter which adapts to your multimeter.
You can do it with frequency but it's much nicer to build something which converts to volts as it gives a direct measurement like these:
http://tehnikservice.net/2007/12/24/capacitance-meter-schematic/
http://www.dzsc.com/dzbbs/uppic/200706141745264254.gif
(Note the UP311A component could be swapped for a TL431 or even a few diodes in series.)

If you simple want to identify components you can simplify the second somewhat. 
http://8085projects.info/simple-capacitance-test-meter-using-555.html

I would recommend scaling the output voltage to 2.000V  to measure 2.0F, 2.0uF, and maybe 2.0mF (2000uF).  This way the decimal point is in the right position.

This one has an output stage more suited to a DMM:
http://electro2.webs.com/Capacitance%20meter%205.GIF

(I have built cap meters with a 555's they work fine.  A few DMMs use them.)

[slashandburn]

Thank you, you beautiful people!

You mean the answer to all this has been in my parts drawer in under the guise of the simple 555 timer the whole time?  ALL THESE YEARS? Again!??
   


This song, from the coincientally (?) named obscure double album "555%" seems somewhat relevant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWsSTBgfYmU

[EBK]

Do I detect tears of joy? 

[Rob Strand]

For a parts identifier with only two ranges I have a slight preference in going with the the 74HC132 design because it will do narrower pulse widths which might help the extreme range.   It also has a scheme for zeroing.  You can do stray capacitance zeroing easy enough with the 555 as well; by connecting the DMM -ve terminal to a small positive offsert formed using a divider.  The 555 circuits work best if you use a CMOS 555 (like the ICM7555 or cheaper TLC555) for the monostable part (the astable part is not so important).   The normal NE555's have BJT outputs which have a small offset which needs to be nulled in addition to the stray capacitance.   The 74HC132 is by nature CMOS so it already avoids this.

[duck_arse]

I'm late, but chipping in anyway.

"popular search engine" "ERO KP1835". check those ebay prices!

I'll second the 1, being 1uF, and I'll raise with "they are ERO [possibly Roederstein], not wima".

the wound clear will be polystyrene (or polysomething) and marked in pF.

I think all wima types have a part # somewhere on, you can search that to get the tech details, even the moulding colour indicates something. or look for a wima cattledog.

and, if there's any in that photo you don't want, send 'em to me.

[edit :] what's in a name?

[amptramp]

The wima with "1, k" is likely to be a 1 microfarad 63 volt cap with 10% tolerance.

I have a bunch of clear polystyrene caps, and many of them have what looks like polarity indicator line - but they're not polarized.

Almost all paper caps and many polystyrene caps had a line around one end for outside foil.  The capacitor is made of two sheets of metal with dielectric material between them and also outside of one of the metal foils so when they are rolled up, they have dielectric on both sides.  One of the foils will be on the outside of this cylindrical winding and is generally the side that goes to ground for a bypass capacitor or to the lowest impedance side for a coupling capacitor.  That way, stray fields do not get coupled into the circuit to as great an extent.

[slashandburn]

check those ebay prices!

The gambler in me is says "sell them and buy another lucky bag, bigger prizes await".  The hoarder is wondering what they'll be worth post-apocalypse.

There's also some marked ERO KP1830, but they're loose and I'm not sure theres even half a dozen. But it confirms your assertions that the those ones speifically are ERO rather than WIMA caps.

Thanks for all the help identifying them. I learned a few things there!  You'll all need to bear while I catch up with the Cap meter.  Loads of options, I'm not the best decision maker and even at the best of times it takes me a fortnight to sort out a parts order.

if there's any in that photo you don't want, send 'em to me.

I wouldn't say I don't want any of them, but I don't have any direct need for any of them. If there's any you see that you need a couple of for something I'm happy to help a brother out. Shoot me a message. It's all just odd bits, there's other some other values not shown in the photo. I've just been mildly annoyed I couldn't "read" them. It's pretty strange why there are so many systems for labelling such common components. And just when I think I've got a grasp of it, I'm looking at some and think "why the hell does this one say 150H? What the hell does an H mean?"

As always. I've asked a question with the intention of tidying up and clearing space, and came away with ANOTHER PROJECT.

My to do list just gets longer. Actually thats a lie. It's not even a list anymore, just a heavily fractured thought process fighting against the demands of day to day responsibility. So in a sense you could say my list is the shortest it's ever been!

[vigilante397]

Educated guesses:

Yellow Axial - 100nF polyester (100pF wouldn't make sense in that package) rated at 630V

Clear Axial - 1uF, probably polarized

Small Green Wima - 2.4nF rated at 63V

Large Green Wima - 30nF rated at 63V

Bluish-Green - 3.3nF rated at 63V

[slashandburn]

I think thats spot on besides large green, which it turns out are ERO not WIMA, and the 1, k marking on top makes it a 1u 63V.

I'm not sure what the 0303 marking is all about. 

And the clear axial are not polarised.

I think thats the general concencus, at least? I'm happy to go along with that.

[Rob Strand]

I'm not sure what the 0303 marking is all about.

Normally it is a date code 3rd week of 2003.   However I see codes these days that
are not readable by humans. The companies seem to have there own numbering schemes.
Sometimes the number refers to the production plant where it was made.  If the number
clearly isn't  a date best not to think about it too much!.    There's also more
obvious explanations like the series/model, which is the case with you ERO 1826 cap.

And the clear axial are not polarised.

I am absolutely sure these are polystyrene caps, which are non-polarized.   Years ago this package was very popular.
They are very stable caps with temperature so you might see them in filters and test instruments (eg. oscilloscope time base caps).  However they do not like being subject to chemicals.

Usually they are small values say less than 1nF but larger values were readily available.  I actually have some 470nF 1% polystyrenes they are enormous, the body is 40mm long and 20mm diameter.  They also have the black ring.


**** None of your caps are polarized   ****
**** I am 100% sure of that!                ****
     

[Rob Strand]

Here's the typical old style polystyrene caps like yours:
http://www.partsconnexion.com/capacitor_film_styrene_125-250.html

Then there the yellow ones, which sometimes has the black ring:
http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00GMFaZLEcnhbJ/Metallized-Polyester-Film-Capacitor.jpg
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/251840791563-0-1/s-l1000.jpg

This package is common for large values:
http://www.keith-snook.info/capacitor-soakage-stuff/RIFA-Extended-Foil.jpg

Here's a blurb on polystyrene caps:
http://www.keith-snook.info/capacitor-soakage.html

[duck_arse]

some companies include the date code marking de-code in their product datasheets. but only some.