Capacitors- tantalum VS electrolytic

[fourthhorseman]

hey fellas.

got a fast question,,

can i substitute a ELECTROLIC Cap for a TANTALUM Cap?

Same Specs,very lo-power applicaation.
space is not an issue,enough room to land a 767.

thanks in advance!

 

[Sinister]

Moved to electronics forum

 

[davidmc36]

I would conlcude from here that Tantalum is just a spceific type of electrolytic capacitor:

Electrolytic

 

[N_Jay]

Usually yes, but maybe no.

You might want to pout a small Mylar cap in parallel with the Electrolytic.

 

[smason]

What's the application? Audio filter? Power supply filter? Bypass?
That'll help decide which to go with.

 

[fourthhorseman]

BingO..Audio application,,
i think ill be ok,

 

[gmclam]

Electrolytic capacitors are generally made with aluminum and work fine for things like power supply filtering. A tantalum is often used in a situation where you want lower noise. So if the application is audio or analog video, I'd stick with the tantalum.

 

[fourthhorseman]

i see,,noise will most absolutely be an issue,,

funny,ive been to 4 seperate Radio-Shaks,,they are all sold out of the 10ohm tant's...
seems like they are popular..lol..

 

[gmclam]

... funny,ive been to 4 seperate Radio-Shaks,,they are all sold out of the 10ohm tant's... seems like they are popular..lol..

While you can 'overvoltage' aluminum electrolytics for a short time, tantalums do not like that much and are more likely to blow. So it makes more sense that they'd sell more.

 

[prcguy]

I have seen more Tantalum cap failures that probably any other type of part and this is in supposedly very high reliability military radios and electronics. They are used where space is at a premium and I avoid replacing bad ones with the same type whenever possible.
prcguy

 

[smason]

10 ohms???

 

[zz0468]

i see,,noise will most absolutely be an issue,,

funny,ive been to 4 seperate Radio-Shaks,,they are all sold out of the 10ohm tant's...
seems like they are popular..lol..

Figures that Radio Shack would be selling cap values measured in ohms...

 

[w8jjr]

Figures that Radio Shack would be selling cap values measured in ohms...

or thats why he cant find them

 

[fourthhorseman]

Figures that Radio Shack would be selling cap values measured in ohms...

my apologies,,10uL is what i meant,,,
still can find em...lol

 

[gmclam]

my apologies,,10uL is what i meant,,,
still can find em...lol

uL? LOL. Capacitors are rated in Farads; such as pf or uF. Then there is a voltage rating; it could be a (maximum) voltage or a "working voltage". One reason tantalums blow is because they get over-voltaged. In other words, a 12 volt tantalum could be in a circuit that is normally just below 12 volts. If the voltage goes above 12 volts (there is usually a tolerance which could be 5%, 10%, 20%, etc), it blows.

I expect you need some value like "1uF @ 12v" or perhaps "10uF @ 15v". Depending on the application of the capacitor, you want to match the value exactly but you can use a higher voltage rating (if the component is not too large). So it would be ok to use "1uF @ 15v" for the "1uF @ 12v" part.

 

[N_Jay]

uL???? uF maybe?

 

[texasemt13]

No guys, he was talking about volumetric displacement of the capacitors, can't you see, he wants a teeny-tiny one that only displaces 10 microliters.

I'm just horsin' around... no RS employee in my town comes close to any of the electronics drawers, so I wouldn't be surprised when they said they couldn't find a 10 Ohm capacitor.

 

[10-75]

Tantalum caps are not only used due to their low noise but also due to their ability to operate over a wide temperature range while maintaining their rated performance..... If I ever had to replace a tantalum cap, I would always replace it with a higher rated voltage and not with an electrolytic although an electrolytic would have probably worked.... Trouble shooting failed equipment w/o schematics can be tough when tantalum's are involved because when the fail, they disappear and finding out what the value of the now missing part was can be a problem....

 

[zz0468]

Trouble shooting failed equipment w/o schematics can be tough when tantalum's are involved because when the fail, they disappear and finding out what the value of the now missing part was can be a problem....

They usually leave a debris field, so finding out out where it went is easy enough. Understanding the application can go a long way toward guessing a value that will work.