[Coco] Powering up our retro systems

[wrcooke at wrcooke.net]

   On January 26, 2020 at 8:31 AM rietveld rietveld <
   [1]rietveldh at hotmail.com> wrote:

   A lot of us have a backup coco; and maybe a backup to that backup

   How often do you power up the spare equipment?

   How often should we turn it on?

   The electrolytic capacitors used as power supply filters and for other
   purposes will deteriorate over time, especially without use.  It's a
   good idea to power up the equipment (ANY device with such capacitors)
   about once a year or so.  When in use, the caps "reform" themselves.
   If the device hasn't been turned on in a while, using lower voltage to
   power it up is recommended.  If the caps have deteriorated, they can
   short out, causing a large amount of damage.

   There are lots of articles on the web about "reforming electrolytic
   capacitors."  Here are links to some:

   [2]https://www.6v6.co.uk/vcomp/tech_tips/reform_caps.htm

   [3]https://www.qsl.net/g3oou/reform.html

   [4]https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/parts/51492-reforming-electrolytic-c
   apacitors.html

   I only briefly looked at those to see if they looked reasonable.  There
   are some bad ones.  YMMV.  Generally, I use a variac (variable voltage
   transformer) and slowly raise the voltage to the device over a few
   hours.  Then let it run for a few hours more.

   How long should we leave it on?

   Estimates vary.  Overnight or 24 hours seems to be good.  See above.

   --

   Coco mailing list

   [5]Coco at maltedmedia.com

   [6]https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco

   "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing
   left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." --  Antoine
   de Saint-Exupery

   "The names of global variables should start with    // "
   -- https://isocpp.org

References

   1. mailto:rietveldh at hotmail.com
   2. https://www.6v6.co.uk/vcomp/tech_tips/reform_caps.htm
   3. https://www.qsl.net/g3oou/reform.html
   4. https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/parts/51492-reforming-electrolytic-capacitors.html
   5. mailto:Coco at maltedmedia.com
   6. https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco