1uf Electrolytic Cap?

[liveloveshare]

I'm building a magnus modulus and have only 1uf electrolytic and it seems as though the schematic really calls for non-polar ones.

Two questions I guess...

Is it adviseable to put an electrolytic in if it isn't neccessary?
How would I tell which way to put it in?

Sorry for the dumb questions.. 
Thanks.

[Kearns892]

Electrolytic caps are not as stable long term as other types of caps, you should be able to use it though, I think at least. To determine which direction though we would need to look at the schematic.

[R.G.]

Is it adviseable to put an electrolytic in if it isn't neccessary?

No. Electrolytic caps are second class capacitors in all ways but one: they have a huge capacitance for their size. That's been enough to keep them in business.

How would I tell which way to put it in?

You measure the DC voltage across the pads with NO capacitor in place. The voltage will be either positive one way, positive the other, or zero.

You install it the way the electro cap + marking is more positive. Electro caps die more or less slowly depending on how hard they're pushed the wrong way at any instant. So the sum of DC voltage plus signal must not make them go backwards at any time for long life. In practice, if you have less than 3Vdc or so, an electrolytic is exposed to signals reversing it and damaging it eventually.

If the DC voltage is zero, you really can't use an electro. The signal, even very small, is reversing it half the time.

Another thing electros are bad at is precision. If the cap is used as a frequency selective network, the accuracy will be terrible. Normal caps have tolerances of +/-10%, +/-5% or better. Electros are +/-20% if they're good, and may be as bad as +80%/-20%.

Sorry for the dumb questions.

They aren't dumb questions - they're uninformed questions. You're getting informed. That's good. There's no way to learn but to experiment and ask.

[Kearns892]

Thanks for clearing up my sloppy response RG 

[liveloveshare]

Thank you for the freakishly fast response and additional information!
Mk.. I'll probably just pick up a pack of 1uf that aren't EA as they seem like a pretty common component..


So here's my next question.. heh.. this one's a duesy..

I'm following this



and I just have about the whole thing populated... but now what?
I know most use the cliped leads to connect components together from the backside, but how do I know what to connect with what? =S

What do those little boxes with a slash through it mean--I assume some sort of disconnect?



Thanks in advance. :]

[liveloveshare]

Also, in the diagram the caps have a marking on the end the--does this denote the negative or positive?  The markings on all my AE caps seem to have that same stripe on the negative side but I just wanted to double check.

[peps1]

This layout is for strip board/Veroboard ,


See how all the holes are connected to each other on one long strip of copper on the horizontal, and boxes with a slash through would be where you cut the tracks with a special tool/drill bit.

are you using strip board/Veroboard or Solderable Perf-Board?



EtA
marking on the caps denotes the negative 

[frequencycentral]

There was a thread over at BYOC forum where Nathan went through how 1uF electro caps could be used in the MM instead of NP's. I'll see if I can find it.......



EDIT: Here ya go.......

http://www.buildyourownclone.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=19327&p=145653&hilit=magnus+modulus#p145653

[liveloveshare]

This layout is for strip board/Veroboard ,


See how all the holes are connected to each other on one long strip of copper on the horizontal, and boxes with a slash through would be where you cut the tracks with a special tool/drill bit.

are you using strip board/Veroboard or Solderable Perf-Board?



EtA
marking on the caps denotes the negative 

excellent information.

I'm using solderable perf-board I believe.  On one side it's just holes and on the other side there's conductive material lining the holes but not touching one another.  Now that square with a line in makes much more sense...

So is there anyway to convert this so that I don't have to yank all the components out of the perf-board--I haven't begun soldering yet but they are all in the right place with the leads bent to hold em in.

[liveloveshare]

There was a thread over at BYOC forum where Nathan went through how 1uF electro caps could be used in the MM instead of NP's. I'll see if I can find it.......



EDIT: Here ya go.......

http://www.buildyourownclone.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=19327&p=145653&hilit=magnus+modulus#p145653

So I'm actually supposed to be using 1uf electro caps? o.O

[frequencycentral]

There was a thread over at BYOC forum where Nathan went through how 1uF electro caps could be used in the MM instead of NP's. I'll see if I can find it.......



EDIT: Here ya go.......

http://www.buildyourownclone.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=19327&p=145653&hilit=magnus+modulus#p145653

So I'm actually supposed to be using 1uf electro caps? o.O

No, the prototype MM was built using 1uF multi-layered ceramics just because Nathan had them available I assume. I built mine using similar, again cos I had them available. The thread I linked to shows the schematics modified for electro caps in the 1uF positions. So you can use either, as long as you orient the electro correctly if you use them. Electronics sometimes isn't the exact science we think it is - take the Big Muff for example, EH threw whatever they had about at the time into the various different models.

[liveloveshare]

Is there anyway to make this perfboard work or should I go for vero? =S

[frequencycentral]

Is there anyway to make this perfboard work or should I go for vero? =S

You could just 'copy' the PCB layout onto perf, using component legs or solid core wire to 'make' the traces. Pretty straight forward.