Capacitor Ratings on Build PDF's

[Phase36]

Hi everyone. This question may have been asked before but I couldn't find anything when I searched for it. It may sound dumb so please go easy.

On the Pedal PCB build specs PDF's, why do some capacitors have different versions of the same prefix? Like 10u and 10uF. Is there a difference? Am I missing something. I am very new to this so sorry if this is very obvious.

 

[Popnfreshbass]

No difference. 10u and 10uf are the same. 4u7 just means 4.7uf.

just make sure to check the layout and get the correct type of capacitor. 1uf seems to be the biggest culprit. It can be film(big rectangle), MLCC(thin rectangle) or Electrolytic(circle, polarity sensitive).

 

[Phase36]

No difference. 10u and 10uf are the same. 4u7 just means 4.7uf.

just make sure to check the layout and get the correct type of capacitor. 1uf seems to be the biggest culprit. It can be film(big rectangle), MLCC(thin rectangle) or Electrolytic(circle, polarity sensitive).

Thanks heaps for that. Yeah Im ok with know which type of capacitors to go for, just wasn't sure why there would be 2 different ways of writing the same value. Confusing to noobs such as myself.

 

[Phase36]

No difference. 10u and 10uf are the same. 4u7 just means 4.7uf.

just make sure to check the layout and get the correct type of capacitor. 1uf seems to be the biggest culprit. It can be film(big rectangle), MLCC(thin rectangle) or Electrolytic(circle, polarity sensitive).

Im just a bit stumped on the 25uF Caps (C3 & C11) for the Powersound Overdrive. Looks like they should be Electrolytic but can't seem to find any on the sites I normally get them from in Australia. Only seem to get results for non polarised ceramics.

 

[Feral Feline]

I much prefer "4µ7" to "4.7µF", as the decimal place is easily missed (which is why it's often written as 4µ7, or other decimal-value caps alike).


If you can't find 25µ, you can get as close as possible by adding two caps together in PARALLEL (not in series).
For example, take a 22µ electrolytic and a 3µ3 electrolytic, solder the smaller cap's leads to the matching leads (neg-to-neg/pos-to-pos) of the larger cap's (higher up to allow room for) solder the larger cap in to where the 25µ was to go. You now have a 25µ3 cap in place.


This is an example (from Phil's Old Radios) that's axial, but the concept is the same for radial caps:

Parallel vs Series
Voice-over isn't in English, but you'll catch the drift and can pause the (short) vid whenever need be:

To reiterate what the vid showed (more or less):

https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/direct-current/chpt-13/series-and-parallel-capacitors/

Alternatively, in place of the 25µ you could just try and see if you like 22µ or 33µ.

 

[Phase36]

I much prefer "4µ7" to "4.7µF", as the decimal place is easily missed (which is why it's often written as 4µ7, or other decimal-value caps alike).


If you can't find 25µ, you can get as close as possible by adding two caps together in PARALLEL (not in series).
For example, take a 22µ electrolytic and a 3µ3 electrolytic, solder the smaller cap's leads to the matching leads (neg-to-neg/pos-to-pos) of the larger cap's (higher up to allow room for) solder the larger cap in to where the 25µ was to go. You now have a 25µ3 cap in place.


This is an example (from Phil's Old Radios) that's axial, but the concept is the same for radial caps:

Parallel vs Series
Voice-over isn't in English, but you'll catch the drift and can pause the (short) vid whenever need be:

To reiterate what the vid showed (more or less):

https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/direct-current/chpt-13/series-and-parallel-capacitors/

Alternatively, in place of the 25µ you could just try and see if you like 22µ or 33µ.

Amazing advice. Would be a last resort for me as i'm still learning but might be a good exercise to gain more experience. Thanks Feral Feline.

 

[DAJE]

If you have a component tester you can check capacitors that are in the general ballpark - ie common 22uF as opposed to rarer 25uF - and you'll probably be able to find something that's close enough. Capacitors are made then sorted, because it's difficult to predict exactly how they'll turn out, and Electrolytic caps often have a +/- 10% (or 20%) range, which means that a "22 uF" cap could easily be closer to 25 uF, or less than 20 uF.

Cheap testers from eBay are good enough for capacitor testing. They're less trustworthy for transistors, but caps are simple devices. I use my LCRT7 tester all the time.

 

[Phase36]

If you have a component tester you can check capacitors that are in the general ballpark - ie common 22uF as opposed to rarer 25uF - and you'll probably be able to find something that's close enough. Capacitors are made then sorted, because it's difficult to predict exactly how they'll turn out, and Electrolytic caps often have a +/- 10% (or 20%) range, which means that a "22 uF" cap could easily be closer to 25 uF, or less than 20 uF.

Cheap testers from eBay are good enough for capacitor testing. They're less trustworthy for transistors, but caps are simple devices. I use my LCRT7 tester all the time.

That makes a whole lot of sense. Didn't think to use their tolerances to my advantage. Thanks DAJE.