Re: Fwd: Cost comparison of Geeks to Maxs

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Jim Lux" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net> 




 > Original poster: Yurtle Turtle <yurtle_t-at-yahoo-dot-com>
 >
 > Actually, these caps can be purchased for under $60.
 > $125 is an insane price. If you want to compare used
 > Maxwells with new CD's, at least get a realistic
 > price.
 >
 > owner of 10 37667's
 > Adam
 >
 >  > >Here is a better comparison:
 >  > >
 >  > >EBay: Used Max 37667 0.03uf -at-35kV
 >  > >2.25" x 4.25" x 6"
 >  > >"Buy now" price $125 say $140 with shipping


Well now.. any time you're buying "used" as opposed to "surplus" (the latter
is new, but was excess to requirements, or is past some expiration date, or
may have been improperly stored), there could be a huge variation in price
depending on just what that "use" was.  Anyone who's buying expensive vacuum
tubes will recognize the difference between used, and pulled after 1 year as
a result of a scheduled maintenance, and used until the envelope sucked in a
bit from overheating.

"used" or "surplus" lead acid batteries from UPS pull outs are another
example of a life limited device where the history is important.

There are lots of places on the way to work that advertise "Llantas Usadas,
solo $10".. clearly these tires are "barely legal for sale", a very
different thing from a racer selling tires that have been used in a couple
races, and now he's changing wheel sizes or changing to a different
"stickyness".

On the other hand, if someone advertises a "used HP8640B signal generator"..
it's different.  They don't really wear out.  If it works at all, it's
probably ok.  Used waveguide or a used antenna might be an even better
example of a non-life limited used part.  Unless it's physically damaged, it
will probably perform as good as new (and unfortunately, the prices reflect
this).

Unlike tires or batteries, though, there's no easy way to tell how much life
is "left" in a capacitor, and I suspect that most sellers of used caps buy
them without much knowledge of their use history.