Electrolytic lifespans

spi

Well-known member
I was looking at the datasheets of electrolytic caps, and noticed that the life is 2000 hours. That's 83 days, which isn't very much. I've pretty much kept the power to the pedalboard in my office on 24/7 for all the pandemic. Does this mean the power filter caps are going or gone? How would I even know if they didn't work?
 
That is 2000 hours AT the rated temperature. Which is probably something like 100c. For every 10c less in operating temperature you can double the lifespan. Room temp is about 20c, so you are easily over half a million hours of life on a pedal electro with no internal heat.
 
They physically age as well as operationally age. I wouldn't use "NOS" electros. And the older the capacitor, the more primitive its design and thus lower the performance. They also suffer from disuse as much as overuse.
 
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