Capacitor safety valve question

[Greg65]

Hi everyone,

When the plastic top of the big PSU capacitors has popped up and the aluminium top of the capacitor is beginning to bulge upwards, is this a sign that the capacitors need replaced and is this a sign that they are ready to pop at anytime?

Please take a look at the pic.



Thank you!

[Shock]

The plastic tops are just a cover and doesn't mean much, you can pull one or all off to inspect if the aluminum is bulged at all.
If it's faulty though and still in warranty you don't want to mess with it. Less blaming game hassles when you send it in.

What counts is if the capacitors are ok.
Which can be tested by measuring the capacitance value and ESR value of some (all if the amps faulty) to see if the capacitor is going out of spec.

If the amp is known to fail your really looking just a few possibilities:
Caps are a cheap brand and failing early.  You can replace them with a better brand.
Caps are overheating and failing early (which could be the whole amp is too hot). Replace them with a higher temp rating.
Caps are incorrectly spec'd for the circuit.  Replace with correct cap.

If nothing is wrong with the amp and no bulging and you can't find anything to justify replacing them then your all good.