New Guy with Capacitor Question

[Kirk]

Just rec’d my two stroke kit. Its my first build, and am learning as I go. After checking all my components, I found that one of my electrolytic caps has higher voltage rating than spec’d on the paperwork; the 8uF/450 V cap is listed in ppwk, but I rec’d a 8uF/475 V cap. Is this higher voltage an issue?

Ive been reading Dave’s book, and watching Uncle Doug, etc…so I am still learning. (I do recognize the dangers of high voltages stored up in Cap’s, and know how to discharge them safely).  The guts of amps are beginning to look less like a collection of jelly beans, tootsie rolls, Christmas lights, and shiny bits. Anyway, I’m just beginning to lay all my parts out, do more reading, and maybe I’ll answer my own question…Thanks in advance for any wisdom you guys can share!

Kirk

[Andy]

Hey Kirk,

I think we answered this on email but I’ll add it here in case others have questions too. The Voltage rating of the capacitor can be higher with no issue but NOT lower. So the 475V is just fine.

Basically its saying that the voltage through it can’t exceed that number. So in a power supply section, they need to be much higher than in the signal section.

If you get into designing more in the future, there may be some drawbacks to having too big a difference in voltage (price and potential noise) but in this case,  you are good to go!

[Author]

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