04-21-2016, 10:12 AM
Regular high voltage caps. You know, in Philco they used that backelite block of two 15nF 600V ones.
And at the time that was the only right thing to do.
Again, with grounded chassis that would not present any hazard to the user though considering absence of fuses could create fire if broken down between Line and Earth.
The danger was real, the cap of a similar function used in audio amps got the moniker "death cap" as some people were electrocuted as a result of the cap shorting, including musicians touching mike and guitar at the same time etc, and one famous Russian dissident poet/song writer Alexander Galitch who died in France electrocuted by his tape-recorder (though conspiracy theorists say the KGB arranged for that to happen).
Y-cap guarantees failure in "open mode". Which does not entirely eliminate electrocution from various devices where they are used, but it usually is not due to them, but other components. Like that girl killed in China (I think) about 2 years or so ago while using an Apple iPhone plugged into an outlet. Y-cap there is in parallel with the transformer shorting the primary to the secondary for the common mode AC current to stem the EMI (otherwise it won't pass the radiated EMI FCC/CE certification), so if the transformer breaks down, that will kill ya the same way the death cap would.
Or for that matter, any tube radio transformer internal short of primary to the case if the radio is not grounded and the user is.
In short, any good extra measure of protection if available should be used, and Y-cap is one of those essential ones. I always use them.
And at the time that was the only right thing to do.
Again, with grounded chassis that would not present any hazard to the user though considering absence of fuses could create fire if broken down between Line and Earth.
The danger was real, the cap of a similar function used in audio amps got the moniker "death cap" as some people were electrocuted as a result of the cap shorting, including musicians touching mike and guitar at the same time etc, and one famous Russian dissident poet/song writer Alexander Galitch who died in France electrocuted by his tape-recorder (though conspiracy theorists say the KGB arranged for that to happen).
Y-cap guarantees failure in "open mode". Which does not entirely eliminate electrocution from various devices where they are used, but it usually is not due to them, but other components. Like that girl killed in China (I think) about 2 years or so ago while using an Apple iPhone plugged into an outlet. Y-cap there is in parallel with the transformer shorting the primary to the secondary for the common mode AC current to stem the EMI (otherwise it won't pass the radiated EMI FCC/CE certification), so if the transformer breaks down, that will kill ya the same way the death cap would.
Or for that matter, any tube radio transformer internal short of primary to the case if the radio is not grounded and the user is.
In short, any good extra measure of protection if available should be used, and Y-cap is one of those essential ones. I always use them.
People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
![[-]](https://philcoradio.com/phorum/images/bootbb/collapse.png "[-]")
