Capacitor selection help.

[Doomguy42]

Hi there- sorry if this is obvious! I've got a 20 year old board I'm working on and I'm replacing some Capictors. The originals have 104M writen on them.
The replacements I've got just are 104 50v (no M) these are a little smaller too. Are they the same just a modern version? Are they useable in place?
Thanks for any help (newbie)

 

[sagor1]

Usually the "M" marking means +/-20% tolerance. I suspect your new one is about the same, give or take a bit. It should be ok provided the voltage rating is adequate for your circuit.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Hi there- sorry if this is obvious! I've got a 20 year old board I'm working on and I'm replacing some Capictors. The originals have 104M writen on them.
The replacements I've got just are 104 50v (no M) these are a little smaller too. Are they the same just a modern version? Are they useable in place?
Thanks for any help (newbie)

As already said, perfectly fine - however, WHY are you replacing them? - there's some slight possibility that replacing some electrolytics 'may' be of some benefit, but in most cases not.

These sort of capacitors are EXTREMELY reliable, and don't age - not that 20 years is long anyway.

 

[Doomguy42]

Thank you for the help! The board has suffered ni-cad battery damage. A fair few of the components nearby were disintegrating... so I've decided to replace all the components ive taken off too.
Is there a technique or reason to bend the legs out?
Thanks

 

[LandonRobinson]

Thank you for the help! The board has suffered ni-cad battery damage. A fair few of the components nearby were disintegrating... so I've decided to replace all the components ive taken off too.
Is there a technique or reason to bend the legs out?
Thanks

Yes capacitors have gotten much smaller over the years and still do the same job.

The legs are bent out like that so that they will hold the capacitor up when the circuit board went through the wave-soldering machine.

You can bend your own with a couple of very small needle nosed pliers, or some jewelry pliers.

 

[Doomguy42]

Sound! Thanks very much... I have some needle tweasers that should do it. Appreciate the friendly help.