[morzh]

I just restuffed twistlocks from my EICO amps with two 22uF 450V caps. I use EEUEB series by Panasonic exclusively. Very good cap. The EEU-EB2W220, a 22uF 450V is 560mA ripple at 120Hz. Two of them in parallel make more than sufficient input cap for my amps and in series they make an input cap for any hi end radio. I bought a bag of them on sale (was about to buy from Mouser when I saw them sold cheaply on some supply site as long as you bought 70pcs).

[Ron Ramirez]

You know there is a series of Nichon caps that are about as thin as a pencil. you can easily get 3 or more in an old can.

...and I've been using those pencil-thin Nichicons for a while now. I've simply not tried the film caps yet, but have been wanting to. This will be my first project using film caps in place of electrolytics.

[tbone]

Yep, in later radios or those with values over about 20uf we are still stuck with electrolytics. You know there is a series of Nichon caps that are about as thin as a pencil. you can easily get 3 or more in an old can.

Thanks for the info. I did use the thin caps in 3 of my Z Transoceanics. Restuffing the cans was a must on these radios, as room was limited and I didn’t want to start making a mess by adding terminal strips etc.

[morzh]

I just filled out an order for Mouser, all caps. For axial film, as they don't carry Solen, I chose Roederstein by Vishay. There are much cheaper Illinois capacitors but them being really cheap, I am not sure what quality I get, though I have some.
I first tried Tubesandmore.com, and the Solens are much the same price-wise as the Vishays,but then Mouser has stuff that AES doesn't, plus it's time to replenish some other caps I have,so I switched. Solen is good looking black cap, but I think this is about all the advantage it holds over the others equally priced caps.

[Arran]

Speaking of which if you are restuffing any potted condenser cap, even if it originally had dry electrolytics in it, the film caps is the ONLY way to go. You don't want some electrolytic drying up in 10-15 and have to go through taking that can apart again. I seem to remember seeing a Panasonic film cap that was 2 or 3 uf at 450 volts, or higher, on Mouser and was thinking of those for early AC sets, not that space is an issue in those cans but they were fairly cheap, even compared to the yellow film caps, and they are fused internally, the same would probably fit into a pre war electrolytic can with no problems, even wire in parallel to get the right values. They like using a lot of capacitive dropper power supplies in gadgets now, some are of somewhat questionable design in some cases as they often use caps that don't have a proper AC rating, even if they are non polarized. 
Regards
Arran

[Ron Ramirez]

Illinois Capacitor caps are fine, I've used them in other projects without any problems.

As this 38-690 is missing three of its electrolytic cans and I don't have very many electrolytic cans here, I'm leaning toward using the caps Bob A. recommended to replace the three missing 8 uF cans. I do like the ones Arran suggested, but the ones Bob suggested are almost half the price of the aluminum can film caps. I will restuff the other cans, connecting two 8 uF caps in parallel inside one can to get 16 uF, close enough as a replacement for the 18 uF cap.

[Ron Ramirez]

Speaking of which if you are restuffing any potted condenser cap, even if it originally had dry electrolytics in it, the film caps is the ONLY way to go.

There are a few cans used in the 38-690 that might require electrolytic replacements.

For one, 30-2201 (8 uF 450V and 10 uF, 50V), I might be able to use film for both.

But another, 30-2249 (8 uF 475V, 3 uF 475V, 2 uF 300V) - I think film for all three might be too much to fit in one can.

And then there's one can on the tuner chassis, 30-2247 ( 2 uF 450V, 1 uF 450V X2, 10 uF 50V, 2 uF 300V). That's five caps in one can. I think I'll have to restuff that one wilth all electrolytics.

I think I'm going to use these for the three missing 8 uF cans:
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Arc...cWhlBBU%3d

For the 18 uF cap, I am thinking of using two Solen Fast 8 or 10 uF 600V axial caps in parallel, stacked one above the other inside the can. The Arcotronics/Kemet 8 uF axial from Mouser might not fit inside the can (diameter of the cap is 1.36" and the outer diameter of the can is 1.375"; inner diameter will be slightly smaller). The diameter of the Solen 8 uF cap is 1.18" which will fit much easier.

Solen caps have been ordered. I haven't ordered any of the others yet.

[etech]

Hi Ron,
I haven't been doing much radio work lately. But I just thought I would let you know I restored my 38-690 in the spring of 2016. I used all film caps. I restuffed electrolytic cans and all paper caps. I used a combination of Solen 10uf/630v film caps and some 2.2uf/450v Panasonic film caps Mouser p/n 667-ECW-FD2W225K. Also used a few 10uf/63v film caps Mouser p/n 505-MKS4C051005FKH00 to complete the job.

Here are a few pics of how it turned out.

[Image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/37sk-q...i3RV=w2400]

[Image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Q7WbD2...bbJ4=w2400]
[Image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ej_qsa...j-4s=w2400]
[Image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/qYrNza...W2VC=w2400]

I hope this helps.

Best regards,

Ed

[Phlogiston]

My way of thinking is to try to get that 630V Solen into the first filter. It takes the most abuse. Then if Solens won't fit in all of the other cans you hope that 450V Nichicons will last a long time if the working voltage is only 250 or 300V. (running a 450V electrolytic at 300V will have a longer life than one run at 450V).

Also if you have not seen:

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Nic...RXz3wlg%3d

You can get 3 of this series into many cans.

[etech]

Speaking of which if you are restuffing any potted condenser cap, even if it originally had dry electrolytics in it, the film caps is the ONLY way to go.

There are a few cans used in the 38-690 that might require electrolytic replacements.

For one, 30-2201 (8 uF 450V and 10 uF, 50V), I might be able to use film for both.

But another, 30-2249 (8 uF 475V, 3 uF 475V, 2 uF 300V) - I think film for all three might be too much to fit in one can.

And then there's one can on the tuner chassis, 30-2247 ( 2 uF 450V, 1 uF 450V X2, 10 uF 50V, 2 uF 300V). That's five caps in one can. I think I'll have to restuff that one wilth all electrolytics.

I think I'm going to use these for the three missing 8 uF cans:
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Arc...cWhlBBU%3d

For the 18 uF cap, I am thinking of using two Solen Fast 8 or 10 uF 600V axial caps in parallel, stacked one above the other inside the can. The Arcotronics/Kemet 8 uF axial from Mouser might not fit inside the can (diameter of the cap is 1.36" and the outer diameter of the can is 1.375"; inner diameter will be slightly smaller). The diameter of the Solen 8 uF cap is 1.18" which will fit much easier.

Solen caps have been ordered. I haven't ordered any of the others yet.

For the 30-2201, use one Solen 10uf/630v and one Wima 10uf/63v Mouser p/n 505-MKS4C051005FKH00. This capacitor is 1.04"L x .334"W x .728"H and will easily fit with the Solen.

For the 30-2249, use one Solen 10uf/630v for the 8uf, and two Panasonic 2.2uf/450v in parallel to replace the 3uf, and one Panasonic 2.2uf/450v to replace the 2uf/300v. Mouser p/n 667-ECW-FD2W225K. These will all fit inside the can. The Panasonic film cap is .69" L x .437W x .56"H.

For the 30-2247, use one each of the Panasonic 2.2uf/450v for all the caps but the 10uf/50 volt. Use the Wima 10uf/63v unit for this one. It is a little tight, but they will fit.

These are the caps I used, so I know they will fit inside the cans.

Best regards,

Ed

[Ron Ramirez]

Great to hear from you, Ed! But I am sorry to hear that your wife has been ill. Hopefully she is better now.

I haven't been back to this thread in awhile as I have been very busy working on the very 38-690 which is getting the new capacitors, and is the reason why I started this thread. I'm afraid that I've already ordered all of the caps. The Solen Fast fit the cans fine, even the two 8 uF caps I put in one can and connected in parallel to achieve 16 uF, to replace the 18 uF can.

For the missing cans, I took Bob A.'s advice and bought the big caps that fit in the clamps very well indeed.

When I got to the 30-2249, the film caps I bought to replace the 3 uF and 2 uF would not fit, so I ended up using electrolytics instead. I did put a Solen 8 uF cap in that can, though.

I've already planned to use electrolytics to replace the caps in 30-2247.

If I ever own another 38-690, I will certainly keep your part suggestions in mind. I really appreciate it! I only wish I had known this a month or so ago when I ordered the parts. Oh well. It was very kind of you to list all of the parts that will fit; thanks again.

Russ, thanks. Every 8 uF cap was replaced with a Solen save for the two for which the cans were missing. I replaced those with two 8 uF caps of the same style recommended by Bob Andersen in post #7, page 1, this thread. The 18 uF cap was replaced with two Solens end to end, connected in parallel as mentioned earlier. No problem with fitting both inside the can. The Nichicon UCS series? I'm hip. I've been using those Nichicon "pencils" for awhile.

[Ron Ramirez]

P.S. Ed, your 690 chassis looks great!

[etech]

Hi Ron,

Sorry I was a bit too late on the capacitor info, but maybe someone else will be helped by this.

Best regards,

Ed