[Boatanchors] GREAT deal on eBay!!!

[Robert Nickels]

Alex Whitaker wrote:
> It would be interesting to see that stats.  However, I will predict 99-100% bad.
>   
Maybe so Alex, but "badness" is kinda relative.  I've started replacing 
the black beauties and such just out of an abundance of caution (and a 
desire to not have to go back and re-fix something I've already 
"fixed"), but I run quite a few across my Sprague TO-6 and find that 
probably 70% check "good enough", i.e. they're in the ballpark for 
capacitance and have leakage of less than 2ma or so (my rule of thumb) 
at rated voltage.  But based on my anecdotal data, they *all* leak, and 
it's just a question of whether the process will continue to the point 
where it adversely affects circuit performance or causes component 
failure.  Obviously a leaky paper cap  used for, say, audio coupling 
will have a much greater impact on performance than one used as a 
cathode bypass.

Still, I'm tossing the cut-outs into a container in hopes of some day 
making myself rich selling them to some audiophoole on eBay ;-)

73, Bob W9RAN