Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: tantalum caps was emc success

Ballendo,

Relax, if they are going to pop, it usually happens in the first day or
two of life of your first prototype. But you do need to understand that
you can't just blindly substitute them for another cap of the same
value.

We all tend to think of passive components as generic jellybeans. Many
times, though, their selection takes as much care as that of IC's.

Jeff

On Tue, 21 Nov 2000 01:48:42 -0000, Ballendo wrote:

>Wally K, Jeff, Jon E, Mariss, List,
>
>I too have used tantalums' where they seemed to make sense. Never
>blown one up. No electrolytics, either. So I gotta ask myself, "Do I
>feel lucky?... Well, Do I...?
>
>What I want to know is:
>Is this a situation (like selenium rectifiers, and OLD paper/wax
>capacitors) where the value, or other operational characteristics (of
>the tantalum cap) change, and LEAD to the "flash, Bang, and white
>smoke"?
>
>Or is it like Wally K sez, Bad DESIGN practice???
>
>I'd sure like as definitive answer as possible! (I've got
>tantalums "out there"!)
>
>Ballendo
>