Has anyone measured behavior of chep electrolytic condensers at the edge of rated voltage?
Does the leakage current increase just after the rated voltage, or the insulation breaks a bit further? I mean at normal temperature of cca 25-40°C, not at the maximal temp.
Thanks

 

A "rule of thumb" for electrolytics is to use one with a voltage rating double of what you would expect to see in that portion of the circuit.

Electrolytics have a fair amount of leakage anyway, even if you're running them well within limits. If you're running them with lots of leakage current, they're going to get hot due to the internal power dissipation, and burst.

I really haven't bothered to "push the edge" on them, as I like my environment to be rather quiet

 

Years ago, we had a 750,00uF filter cap blow up in a 50 volt supply. It did as much damage as an old M-80 firecracker. When the electrolyte flashes to steam, bad things happen. I think that when they start to break down, things happen very suddenly.