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Those bad electrolytic capacitors in the electronics industry...

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Externet

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There was a season that crappy chinese capacitors plagued the industry... shorting, inflating, leaking, bursting.
What were the years that happened, or is it still going on ?
Was there a particular brand or more than one ?
 
From that link and something I will never forget after replacing thousands of bad caps.
A major cause of the plague of faulty capacitors was industrial espionage in connection with the theft of an electrolyte formula. A materials scientist working for Rubycon in Japan left the company with the secret electrolyte formula for the ZA and ZL series of Rubycon and began working for a Chinese company. The scientist then developed a copy of this water-based electrolyte. After that some staff members who defected this company copied this formula incomplete, and began to undersell the pricing of the Japanese manufacturers with this electrolyte to many of the aluminum electrolytic manufacturers in Taiwan.[1][43] The subsequent electrolyte produced lacked important proprietary ingredients which were essential to the long-term stability of the capacitors,[4][6] and was unstable when packaged in a finished aluminum capacitor. The bad formulation of electrolyte allowed the unimpeded formation of hydroxide and produced hydrogen gas.[33]
 
Thanks ! Good to find it was 2001 to 2007.
Did not think the issue was so bad that was published on Wiki.

Scotophor : I do have a few rectangular LED bars... ----> direct message ?
 
Counterfeit components have plagued the electronics industry for at least two decades now.
The best way to avoid them is to purchase them from reputable vendors, which usually means paying a premium.

One can get excellent deals on some far east vendors, but if the price is too good to be true....well, that is a red flag right there.
 
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