2. tech-talk
  3. 1327073472

Psvane Teflon capacitors real or fakes?

These are great looking capacitors and supposed to be competing against the Audience, Rel, V-Cap, and Sonicap Teflon capacitors. A couple of my tweaky friends who have no end to new capacitors gave them a try and had one quit after a month or so, and with the wire cut off, no return possible. So they cut it open, yes they are curious, and according to them, the guts looked like mylar, measured like mylar??? Could these not be Teflon caps after all??? I open this for discussion with some of the tweaky electonic minds out there to get to the bottom of this. If they are not genuine teflon, I would not want fellow audiophiles to get ripped by another false claim. But to be fair, real verifiable data should be submitted here, no guesswork. I trust my friends, but I did not do the test, so I open it to other philes. Hey, I like a great deal too, but if it is not as advertised, I get pissed too. Take a look fellow philes, and lets solve the mystery....Jallen
jallen
sniper9999
6 posts
 
To be fair I would purchase the caps from an authorized dealer, later today.
magfan
1,583 posts
 
Teflon is 'soft' to the touch compared to mylar.
If the mylar is the same as in a space blanket, it'll be 'crinkly' and harder to the touch. It may feel slick, too. Teflon may even stretch....though I've never messed with it in quite that thin a pices. Mylar shouldn't stretch.

The measures above? Good stuff and seem to indicate mylar.

for Serengetiplains: Isn't surface area tied in there as well?
serengetiplains
3 posts
 
Magfan, yes, you're looking at total surface area as one factor determining overall capacitance.
terry9
2,333 posts
 
A note of caution from an old fogie.

270 C and teflon do not mix well. As I understand it, teflon begins to decompose and form HF, a very bad chemical. HF symptoms can develop over 24-48 hours, which makes it particularly insidious. In my experience, expect sore throat and a sudden onset of arthritis in your soldering hand. Also in my experience, if the exposure is very small, symptoms disappear in a few days or a week. But why tempt fate? Read the MSDS.

With a teflon dielectric, I like to keep soldering temperatures below 250 C, and even then I like to solder at eye level, so that harmful vapours go up. Good air flow doesn't hurt much either.

Read that MSDS.
magfan
1,583 posts
 
HF....also known as HydroFluoric Acid is REALLY bad news. In the body, it attacks CALCIUM which is pretty much what bones are made of. Thus, the potential arthritis makes some sense.
There are both liquids and gasses which have HF in them.

People exposed to hi-doses....such as people who work in the semiconductor industry, get calcium shots. This is some painful shit.

HF is used to etch silicon.
Teflon is used all over the semiconductor processing industry. Cassettes and ways to move wafers while exposing them to liquid acids are almost uniformly Teflon, though Polypropolene also is used since it is solvent proof.
More to discover