Scoring of electrolytic capacitor can top: Are the different styles significant?

[swgertsch]

I could not help but notice the different styles the tops the of electrolytic capacitors are scored to accommodate can swelling.

I have observed 4 styles (there may be more):

1) Simple + (4 quadrants of equal area)
2) Simple  triangle (3 equal areas)
3) K type where the vertical line of the K is linear
4) K type where the vertical line of the K is an arc

Is there functional reason for the difference, or is this a just a matter of style by the cap manufacturer?

Note: I have Googled this and have not been able to find any information that has satisfied my curiosity.

[German_EE]

If this was early Mythbusters they would purchase a handful of each type and Grant would then overload them under the same conditions to see when they failed. Add Kari Byron for extra effect.  Later Mythbusters would use semtex for extra effect.

Me, I don't think there is much difference and 99% of the time a capacitor will fail at the other end, after which you have a big cleanup operation because the liquid inside is corrosive.

[swgertsch]

Just came across another type of scoring: H type, were the vertical legs are angled out (see pic).

[wblock]

Some are unique to a brand or series.  Panasonic has a kind of "T" with a curved top.  Elna has a kind of lower-case "t".

[Macbeth]

Me, I don't think there is much difference and 99% of the time a capacitor will fail at the other end, after which you have a big cleanup operation because the liquid inside is corrosive.

I seriously doubt that 99% figure. In the shit I have had to fix it is often the top that gasses out before the bottom. But I did once have one actually explode in my face one time I was repairing a TV. That was fun! 

[wblock]

I seriously doubt that 99% figure. In the shit I have had to fix it is often the top that gasses out before the bottom.

Same here, failures at the vent are far, far more common.  Bottom failure might be more common on certain brands or series.

But I did once have one actually explode in my face one time I was repairing a TV. That was fun! 

Installed a replacement backwards?

[Audioguru]

I think the scoring has different styles to make the explosions sound different. I like the one that makes KA-BOOM not just a BANG.

[amyk]

It's mostly styling. At this site you can find the vent styles of most capacitor brands:

http://capacitor.web.fc2.com/

[Tomorokoshi]

CapXon should have just punched a hole in the top.

[station240]

I could not help but notice the different styles the tops the of electrolytic capacitors are scored to accommodate can swelling.

1) Simple + (4 quadrants of equal area)

This was the original style.

2) Simple  triangle (3 equal areas)

After the capacitor plague became common knowledge, by way of things like computer shops going broke, this new style appeared.
I assume this was done so companies could sort the crappy caps that leak or just fail, from the older ones that do all that and occasionally go into orbit (we have liftoff).

The other styles came later.

CapXon should have just punched a hole in the top.

  Sums it up to me.
GSC was equally bad, sometimes the challenge was to find one that didn't have a hole in the top.

Also I remember this scene from the simpsons.

Homer: "Look at these low, low prices on famous brand-name electronics!"

Bart: "Don't be a sap dad. These are just crappy knockoffs."

Homer: "I know a genuine 'Panaphonics' when I see one. And look! There's 'Magnet Box' and 'Sorny!'"

So true for some of these cheap capacitor brands.