Q: Trying to find Rifa Capacitor Supplier

[Donald Holman]

Hi all. Was wondering if anyone knew of a supplier that has a Rifa 0.1uF,
630Vdc metallized paper capacitor for sale. I've been unable to track down
this component. From the cover of the capactior that I could salvage, it
looks to have the following ID on it "ME 2616 MC 610". The other side "MP
40/100/56". Any help in finding this is really appreciated. Thank you.

-=>Donald

 

[Tim Wescott]

Do you _really_ want to replace it with another of the same? In general
those paper caps don't even survive storage, much less service. If this is
for an older piece of vacuum tube equipment the current state of the art is
for metallized film capacitors.

For radios anything with the correct voltage rating is OK, do a search on
+tube +capacitor for companies that sell 'em. I'd check Digi-Key and Mouser
as well. I personally like Antique Radio Supply (www.tubesandmore.com) --
most of their stuff is good.

If you're the kind of audiophile who wants his speaker wires dipped in
liquid nitrogen then you need to cruise the web pages of similarly afflicted
individuals for the latest on silver foil/oil-impregnated paper caps and
other permutations -- search Altavista for +tube +audio +capacitor and
you'll be in heaven.

And if you don't believe me about people dipping their expensive audio gear
in liquid nitrogen? Do an Altavista search on +cryogenic +audio. Just
don't blame me if you find yourself trading your new beemer for a speaker or
two.

 

[Donald Holman]

Tim: Thank you very much for the response. I originally thought it
would be best to simply replace with what was already there, but had the
same concerns you mention below. I decided to go with a .1uF metal film
630Vdc tubular cap that should work just as well; probably better. It's
for a photographic strobe (studio) power circuit. Looking at the
condition of the other caps on the board, I'm really considering just
replacing all of the caps while I have it open with metal film caps.

On another unit, I need to replace a Modulohm 330-ohm 9-watt resistor.
Tracked down the company in Denmark and will simply order from them.
It's a vertically oriented power wirewound resistor that fits in a very
tight space. Sigh, I just had to buy some old European strobes. Ah
well, as I find the parts that match what's in them, gonna stock up on
them just in case.

I also know about the obsessions of our fellow "philes". I have a
friend who sent his saxaphone to some company on the East Coast that
uses a system that does the same thing (except the computers control the
decreasing and increasing temperature curves). When guys are talking
about the re-alignment of the crystalline structure in their sax I think
we all have just a little bit too much time on our hands. haha

Thanks again for your message.

-=>Donald