Voltage ratings on electrolytic capacitors?

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
@marshall...run on over to Electrotech/projects and tell mic5 why you couldn't get 42 db in one stage. He's 14th down the page right now and nobody has tried to answer him. (I don't do RF)
 

dmfraser

Joined Jan 12, 2011
4
Theoretically the rule applies and it would be nice if you could get a 10uF cap rated at 10V. But really we put in 50V ones as anything lower voltage will not be cheaper.

What happens with lower voltage the insulation layer in the capacitor will eventually get thinner which makes the capacitance value go higher and reduce the ESR. Which means it will be fine in most applications. However if that capacitor is salvages and put in a circuit near its rated voltage, it will be leaky and fail.

In effect if you run a 50V cap at 5V eventually it becomes a 5V capacitor.
 

marshallf3

Joined Jul 26, 2010
2,358
@marshall...run on over to Electrotech/projects and tell mic5 why you couldn't get 42 db in one stage. He's 14th down the page right now and nobody has tried to answer him. (I don't do RF)
In time I will if nobody else has beat me to it, RF is my game at times.
 
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