Posted: 3/23/2008 8:13:43 AM EDT
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I recall hearing that the capacitors in radios that have been left in storage for too long can "go bad". Is that true? situation - I have a NIB Icom 706mkiiG purchased in the 2002-2004 timeframe, never powered up. Question - do I have anything to worry about regarding degraded components in this radio? |
Correct. You should have no problems at all powering up your 706. |
But you can't ever be too sure. IM me and I'll give you my address so you can send it to me for testing. I may have to hold onto it for a while just to make sure it's ok. I mean, it's not like you'll miss it anyway. 
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Dont mean to hijack this thread, but I have a similar problem. I have an old Yaesu FT727R, when I put it away last it would trans. and receive. I pulled it out the other day and all I get is static. It has received a couple of times but nothing constant. Our local radio club has its repeater online so I know when they are talking. Thanks |
Really? You'd do that for me? I just dropped it at the Post Office Addressed to JaxShooter, C/O Florida. Lemme know when it shows up, K? ;-) Now that I think of it, this was probably purchased about the same time Dell was building and selling the GX270 series computers. Those computers had an incredibloy high rate of motherboard failure due to blown capacitors. Those capacitors were compromised by one supplier of electrolytic gel to many of the capacitor manufacturers. This supplier sold contaminated gel. Skip ahead a year or three and a huge number of those capacitors started to swell, pop and generally fail en-mass. Maybe I'm just a little paranoid... :-) |
What can I say? I'm here to help. I'll let you know when it arrives. I'm well-known so they shouldn't have any problem finding me. |
Funny this would come up. Im fairly new and have little equipment, but already have this mike with this problem. (PDF file)
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The problem isn't so much with paper capacitors as with electrolytic capacitors. The dielectric in "ordinary" electrolytics is a thin layer of Al oxide, the voltage across the capacitor helps to keep this layer intact - this is why they are polarized, connect it the wrong way around and the same electro-chemical action that builds/maintains the dielectric now works to destroy it. If left for a long time, two things may happen: the electrolytic may dry out (literally), losing the fluid electrolyte. The dielectric may also degrade over time. Depending upon how badly, the dielectric may re-form when voltage is applied, but may take some time to do so. If the current flow is too great, the dielectric may never re-form. Modern tantalum caps. are more stable, but can still have problems. If you think you have this problem, you can replace capacitors, or try running with a lower voltage for a while to give the dielectric time to re-form. |
Can you define "long time"? I wonder how many caps a 706mkiiG has in it..... |