EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Electronics => Beginners => Topic started by: Dan123456 on November 19, 2023, 04:18:06 am
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I was just pulling apart some old pc power supplies to steal the components (inductors, the big chonky capacitors, etc). :)
It got me to thinking, how do I know which kind of capacitor I should be using and when (and why)?
Obviously, I need to take into account the capacitance, voltage rating, etc. but say a data sheet says I need a 1uf cap, how do I know if I should use an electrolytic, a ceramic, a MKT or a “green cap”? And what happens if I use the wrong one?
Same thing with electrolytic. How do I know when I should be using a low ESR vs a normal one?
I know this probably isn’t something that can be explained to me in a single post :P I am more wondering if you guys know any good resources for me like an “all you need to know about capacitors” book or website or YouTube video series that I can go away and learn all this from?
Or is this more of just an experience thing that you eventually just kinda come to know?
Google is not being particularly helpful in providing me with answers :P A lot of sites seem to either mostly tell me what I already know (I.e. to select a cap you need to know the capacitance, select 1.4 times the voltage you need and these are the different types etc. - but not really when to use each one, or more importantly, why), or are so technical that I don’t understand a word of what they are saying :-DD
Thanks in advance :)
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This might help. Pretty basic: https://www.we-online.com/en/components/products/ABC_OF_CAPACITORS_EN (https://www.we-online.com/en/components/products/ABC_OF_CAPACITORS_EN)
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https://www.rfcafe.com/references/electrical/capacitor-dielectrics.htm (https://www.rfcafe.com/references/electrical/capacitor-dielectrics.htm)