Re: Warning Desasterous MMC failures, Rotton caps from Mouser.

["Jim Lux" <jimlux-at-xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-xxxxxxxxxx>)]

The only tricky thing with encapsulation (whether with silicone, polyester
resin, or wax) is that you've encased it in a thermal insulator, and
getting the heat out will be a problem.   

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: Mddeming-at-aol-dot-com
> 
> Hi All!
>        This is my first letter to the List. I am an "Oldphart" returning to
> Coiling after a 33-year absence in which I pretended to be an engineer
> instead of a physicist. Being retired with 4 lightning-loving grandchildren
> and a modest pension, I too, lack a lot of financial resources to waste on
> disasters. I have had some modest results in improving capacitor performance
> by the following:
> 1. In my "hippie days" I moonlighted as an assistant candlemaker, and found
> that many old caps, wires, etc., could be given improved life by
> dipping/soaking in 4 to 6 coats of wax, allowing an hour between coats. I
> could dip an entire capacitor-bank board IF I remembered to solder everything
> FIRST!
> 2. Submerging an entire board in a fish tank of mineral or transformer oil
> works well too. Again, IF I remember to solder everything FIRST! Wax and oil
> seem to be able to get into some of the tightest twisted joints and between
> threads of bolts, etc., but of course, only when you don't want them to.
> 3. I am starting to play around with casting stuff in clear acrylic. I looks
> great, but it's a little too pricey for me to do anything large scale. It
> also makes replacement very difficult if several components are cast in the
> same block (e.g., an entire MMC board). (They do make interesting paper
> weights though.)
> 
> Lux et Pax,
> Matt Deming