I have just purchased a capacitor kit from eBay for my Amiga A1200. They were sold as genuine Panasonic capacitors but I do not see any markings on them that make me feel confident in fitting them in my 30 year old machine. They look like the cheap Chinese capacitors I already have in stock.
From what I have read, Panasonic caps should have a 'M' logo on them but I do not know if that is Always the case.
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I can see 83 IV FL and 84 III DT markings on them I can not find out what that means.
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Thanks all.
M logo is not present on capacitors made in a last few years. They have no logo at all.
M logo is not present on capacitors made in a last few years. They have no logo at all.
Yeah, when I ordered some Panasonics (from an official reseller), they also had no logo.
I wonder why Panasonic
doesn’t put their logo on. They’ve got a great reputation, and it’s not as though the logo would cost any additional money to apply. Kinda baffling.
They renamed Matsushita corporation to Panasonic (it was only brand before that). But it's strange they dropped logo altogether.
Haven't seen logos in genuine Panasonic capacitors in at least 6 years. The genuine ones look just like the ones you posted, with a generic Arial-like font.
In any case, unless they went for some crazy hologram shit, any markings can be easily counterfeit, so seeing the well-known logo with a good print quality won't tell you anything about it.
The chances they are real are good because they look right to me, but with Ebay components, you never know.
Also, sometimes components that look "obviously fake" end up being the right thing. Markings of the components in the industry don't seem to serve a brand value, just a functional one, so the printing quality, placement of logos, etc. does vary even within the same part.
If you want genuine, I would go to an official source. Not eBay / Wish / AliExpress / etc. You can never be sure what you're going to actually get.
chang ? 
What are you surprised for? There are hell a lot of Chang capacitors in the wild, mostly in cheap products. Not smallest manufacturer by far. I've seen them even in $30k+ equipment made by one stupid German manufacturer
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These are Panasonic Caps I bought last year from Digikey. I can't say what the actual age of the caps are. Only the packing date is on the label. But I imagine they should only be at most a couple years old. I don't know what Digikeys turn around is on components.
Yes!
YES! YES!If you want name brand parts avoid ALL the el-cheapo sources. Go to places like DigiKey, Mouser, Newark, etc. in the US and other, PROFESSIONAL suppliers in Europe and other areas of the world. Otherwise, you are getting a mystery part.
I have been saying this over and over. It only makes sense.
If you want genuine, I would go to an official source. Not eBay / Wish / AliExpress / etc. You can never be sure what you're going to actually get.
These are Panasonic Caps I bought last year from Digikey. I can't say what the actual age of the caps are. Only the packing date is on the label. But I imagine they should only be at most a couple years old. I don't know what Digikeys turn around is on components.
They are old. From what I've seen on this forum and personal experience getting like 6-7 years old capacitors from Digikey is not that uncommon if you buy certain types which do not turn around fast. NHG series are general purpose, not cheap and were manufactured for decades. So getting stale stock is not that surprising.
High likelihood they are real. The datecodes for the new Panasonic sleeves are silkscreened/painted/pad printed on and you can usually tell by the slight imperfections in the print.
Before 2009-ish, Panasonic was really just a brand name of parent company Matsushita. That’s where the [M] comes from, as engineers might know. Matsushita renamed its company to Panasonic around that time.
Any new capacitor series released after 2009 removed the [M] and the sleeve was made the generic type you show.
FR and FS are two examples that I know about.
It was baffling to me at the time (and still today) why they totally nixed any branding on the caps at all. How about a [P] instead?You can recognize a Panasonic by the the T shaped vent shape but…still an odd move.
I just find that el cheapo caps aren't up to capacity, leak, and short out. I don't use many electrolytics, but when I do, I get them from a reputable source. I needed some to recap the PSU in a 34401A. Panasonic are only one good brand. Nichicon are also excellent.
If you suspect older than 3 years, you can reform the dielectric by bringing the cap up to 10% of it's voltage rating for 3 minutes. Then to zero for 20 sec. Then to 15% of rated voltage, and on and on. As you get past 40%, you can move in 20% steps.
The dielectric is made by a chemical reaction in response to applied volttage. If the caps sit for five to 10 years, the dielectric breaks down. If you fire it up right away, you can get shorts. The cap will still work, but its life is in question. Certain large caps have a warning on the box that the capacitor will explode if it'ss been stored and not formed.
