QUESTION: Largest boombox capacitor?

[Superduper]

As you guys know, I've opened up a fair number of boomboxes. For you brave venturers, what is the largest capacitor you've ever seen in a boombox? Capacitors store electricity and act liike current buffers.

The last Sanyo M-X920 amp I rebuilt, had 5500uf worth of caps at the amp (3300 + 2200 in parallel). The 920 I redid before that one, I replaced them with 6600uf (dual 3300's). Today, I am redoing an S90 for another member, and it has the largest son of a gun I ever saw in a boombox: 10,000uf

I never saw one that big before in a boombox. Anyone can beat that?

 

[milosancho]

This flux capacitor runs of 1.21 Jiwawatts!! Largest I've come across.

 

[baddboybill]

This flux capacitor runs of 1.21 Jiwawatts!! Largest I've come across.
[ Image ]

I think it was jigawatts

 

[Superduper]

OK guys, very funny but not really what I had in mind.

 

[restocat]

For the nontechnical like me, would you mind explaining how a capacitor is related to sound quality? Is bigger always better?

 

[Terry]

LOL @ Superduper, you expected a sensible answer from these clowns?

10000uF is pretty big for a boombox, what's the physical size of those suckers?

 

[Superduper]

LOL @ Superduper, you expected a sensible answer from these clowns?

10000uF is pretty big for a boombox, what's the physical size of those suckers?

Ok. I can't get to it to measure since it's behind the tuner dial and signficant disassembly is required to get to it.

But right next to the amps, there is a pair of 470uf jobs, a single 330uf, a pair of 2200 uf's and that big 10,000uf sucker which is about 1-1/8" in diameter and approx. 2" long. That is a lot of storage capacity.

For the nontechnical like me, would you mind explaining how a capacitor is related to sound quality? Is bigger always better?

I already explained what the caps do. In a nutshell, they store electrical energy, much like a battery. Unlike a battery, they are able to blow the whole wad in a microsec, enough to give a huge shock if you should accidentally touch and bridge the poles of a charged capacitor. When in a circuit, large caps like this is typically used as a buffer. As you know, audio signals are dynamic and require varying degrees of power depending upon the needs of the music. The clashing of cymbals require relatively little energy while the kaboom of a canon or drum beat or other bass burst will require huge amounts of energy. Sustained bassy notes can drain the current ability of the power supply to where the amps will weaken and be unable to provide the current required for that type of music. Here is where the large caps come in. They store energy during the charge phase when very little current is required of the circuit but when the circuit has a sudden need for it, the caps can release the stored up energy like gangbusters. The higher the uf (microfarad) rating, the higher the storage capacity. Hope that makes sense to you.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Great explanation SD.

I would have to assume that in portable electronics, such as boom boxes AND the fact that these are relatively low power units that the size of these components are typically small...possibly for weight savings???

So, are you modifying your amps?
Making them more powerful?
Or just making repairs?

 

[restocat]

Thanks for the explaination.
I'll start jotting that information down as I take apart my boxes :jason:
for belt drive repairs

 

[Terry]

That sized cap is probably more suited to a DC power supply, is it part of the speaker circuit, or have they used the space for a power supply cap?

Suddenly everything I learned before I dropped out of Electrical Engineering over 20 years ago is coming back to me.......

If part of the speaker circuitry then it's being used to smooth out spikes coming from a powerful audio amp.

Edit: I just read above, nice explanation.

 

[Superduper]

Great explanation SD.

I would have to assume that in portable electronics, such as boom boxes AND the fact that these are relatively low power units that the size of these components are typically small...possibly for weight savings???

So, are you modifying your amps?
Making them more powerful?
Or just making repairs?

(1) Nope. Caps are caps and they aren't any smaller in portable devices than in any other application. The size will vary, however, depending upon the component's voltage rating. So a 6.3v cap is a lot smaller than a 25v cap, which is smaller than a 100v cap.
(2) Nope, not modifying. I'm working on this for another member and it's a long story but I'm basically done with this except for a creative dial lamp upgrade. Not that I am unwilling to share, but I figure it's up to the other member if he wants to broadcast the work. I was just poking around making observations when I spotted the capacitor and since it is very unusual to find them so large in a boombox, I thought I'd ask around if anyone else has seen one that large. The largest I've seen thus far in a single cap inside a boombox is 4700uf.

 

[Superduper]

That sized cap is probably more suited to a DC power supply, is it part of the speaker circuit, or have they used the space for a power supply cap?

Suddenly everything I learned before I dropped out of Electrical Engineering over 20 years ago is coming back to me.......

If part of the speaker circuitry then it's being used to smooth out spikes coming from a powerful audio amp.

Edit: I just read above, nice explanation.

There is no service manual for this model (that I'm aware of) and without a schematic, I can't say for sure whether it's a PS filter cap but based on what I'm seeing:

(1) Power Supply has it's own separate board with a 2200 uf filter cap and
(2) The proximity of that large cap immediately adjacent to the amp modules.........

I am confident that it's not a PS filter cap.

 

[MasterBlaster84]

This flux capacitor runs of 1.21 Jiwawatts!! Largest I've come across.
[ Image ]

I think it was jigawatts

Yes it was jigawatts and only because Christopher Lloyd mis-pronounced Giga-Watt.

 

[MasterBlaster84]

Norm a capacitor of this size (10,000uf ) seems excessive for a boombox, I can't think of any box I've opened with anywhere near that size.

 

[Superduper]

Don. I looked inside 2 of this model and the cap is ORIGINAL as both have it. So you concur then? That the S90 owns the record for the largest boombox capacitor?

 

[oldskool69]

Don. I looked inside 2 of this model and the cap is ORIGINAL as both have it. So you concur then? That the S90 owns the record for the largest boombox capacitor?

I'd like to open up some of my component ssyetms to see what's there...

 

[blu_fuz]

Holy crap, those are huge!

 

[MasterBlaster84]

Don. I looked inside 2 of this model and the cap is ORIGINAL as both have it. So you concur then? That the S90 owns the record for the largest boombox capacitor?

Yes I do, I can't imagine any boombox using anything bigger since that 10,000 is already Uber Sized for a boombox.

 

[Superduper]

Probably why redbenjoe (and a few others) like the sound of the S90 so much. With a a pair of TA7205AP's into 2.5ohm woofers, the amps are not remarkable. But I have a feeling those caps contribute to provide that warm deep bass (at lower/medium volumes).

 

[MasterBlaster84]

Probably why redbenjoe (and a few others) like the sound of the S90 so much. With a a pair of TA7205AP's into 2.5ohm woofers, the amps are not remarkable. But I have a feeling those caps contribute to provide that warm deep bass (at lower/medium volumes).

Makes sense, those amps would never be starved for current.