Old stock of opamps, do they degrade ?

Thread Starter

Circuitfreak101

Joined Apr 13, 2016
15
Clearing through some old parts bins at work I came across a load of old SIL opamps, Mitsubishi M5218 ... quite a few of them

The date of the packet reads 1986, will they have degraded in any way over time ? how are they in comparison against something like an NE5532 for general use ?
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,846
The date of the packet reads 1986, will they have degraded in any way over time ?
Unless they were stored in an abusive environment (like high temperature and humidity), they should be okay.

I have hundreds of opamps and other IC's from the 70's and other than some tarnish on silver plated leads or gunk from deteriorated antistatic foam, none have failed.
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,979
A lot depends on how they were stored and how you intend to use them. Unless they were stored very improperly, they will probably work just fine for hobby or prototyping purposes. I would not recommend using them for any kind of automated assembly processes because those processes tend to be much more sensitive to the physical quality of the parts, though this is more an issue for today's fine-pitch surface mount components than the through hole stock you are probably dealing with.
 

absf

Joined Dec 29, 2010
1,968
M5218 in SIL-9 packages were used largely in Technics Electronic Organs & digital piano built during the 80s. While the Yamaha Electones used RC4558 in Dip-8 packages of the same period. I have savaged some of them for my own use. But they are very cheap and are still available in my local electronic shops today.

Yes, even they were from the 80s, they are still very useable for making pre-amps though a bit nosier than the modern op-amps like NE5532.

Allen
 

Thread Starter

Circuitfreak101

Joined Apr 13, 2016
15
Thanks for the responses guys

I've also found a fair quantity of 100K pots and a load of 1\4 jack sockets, I fancy building a load of guitar distortion effect pedals once I've brought some enclosures. Most of the commercial one's I've examined used pretty generic low end opamps anyway so my 5218's should be fine in such a circuit.
 
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