Solid aluminium capacitor - replacement

[HendoNZ]

Hi all,
I'm re-caping an old reel to reel (1970s)  and I've come across a 3.3uf 25v cap. In the documentation its listed as a solid aluminium capacitor. Is there a modem day equivalent to this type, or can it be replaced with a normal cap?

Cheers

[bob91343]

Any capacitor with similar ratings will probably be fine.  Try it and see.

[Ian.M]

Wikipedia has 1983 as the date the earliest commercially available solid Aluminum electrolytic capacitors became available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer_capacitor#History
Are you sure the equipment is 1970s?

If it is a solid Aluminum electrolytic, and its capacitance is in tolerance, and its its ESR and leakage current still low, I'd simply put it back.  Otherwise if you can't find a physically compatible modern equivalent, replacement with a solid Tantalum capacitor with at least 50% higher voltage rating should be acceptable.  However we'd need to see that section of the circuit from the schematic (with supply rail voltages marked) to be certain, as Tantalum caps  are extremely intolerant of high current transients and reverse voltage and have a nasty tendency to catch fire when subjected to either and connected across low impedance supply rails.