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Electronics => Beginners => Topic started by: IO390 on March 17, 2014, 09:59:34 am

Title: Weird capacitor pinout
Post by: IO390 on March 17, 2014, 09:59:34 am

Hi,

I found some of these capacitors at college

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/aluminium-capacitors/0104382/?searchTerm=104-382&relevancy-data=636F3D3126696E3D4931384E525353746F636B4E756D6265724D504E266C753D656E266D6D3D6D61746368616C6C26706D3D5E5C647B337D5B5C732D2F255C2E2C5D5C647B332C347D2426706F3D313426736E3D592673743D52535F53544F434B5F4E554D4245522677633D4E4F4E45267573743D3130342D33383226 (http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/aluminium-capacitors/0104382/?searchTerm=104-382&relevancy-data=636F3D3126696E3D4931384E525353746F636B4E756D6265724D504E266C753D656E266D6D3D6D61746368616C6C26706D3D5E5C647B337D5B5C732D2F255C2E2C5D5C647B332C347D2426706F3D313426736E3D592673743D52535F53544F434B5F4E554D4245522677633D4E4F4E45267573743D3130342D33383226)

They've got a really weird pinout (5 pins) and I can't seem to find what each one is.

There's a datasheet on that RS page, but it doesn't seem to have any info as to what each pin actually does, so if anyone can help that'ddd beee great.

Title: Re: Weird capacitor pinout
Post by: Andy Watson on March 17, 2014, 10:11:19 am

The extra pins are for mechanical anchorage. As the datasheet says: pin 1 i is positive, 5 is negative, the remaining pins are not connected but may be at the same potential as pin 5.

Title: Re: Weird capacitor pinout
Post by: IO390 on March 17, 2014, 11:57:22 am

Thanks for the quick reply. I guess that will teach me to read the datasheet a bit better...

Title: Re: Weird capacitor pinout
Post by: Psi on March 17, 2014, 12:05:28 pm

I've seen large multi-pin caps which are actually multiple caps in a single cap package. Usually it's obvious though as there's multiple uF values written on the side.

 

Title: Re: Weird capacitor pinout
Post by: MLXXXp on March 17, 2014, 05:06:50 pm

Another weird and rare capacitor type is the four terminal axial electrolytic. It's a single capacitor that actually has just two leads, but each lead goes all the way through and comes out both ends. It's sort of a combination axial and radial. You treat the two ends as input and output but it doesn't matter which end is which. Polarity is still important, though. These capacitors are designed for low ESR and inductance.

I've attached a picture of a couple of old ones that I have.

Here's the manufacturer's web page:
http://www.vishay.com/capacitors/list/product-42040/ (http://www.vishay.com/capacitors/list/product-42040/)