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  • Source for Capacitors

    From Otto Reverse@21:1/225 to All on Thu Jun 3 23:25:56 2021
    A Compaq Deskpro 286e I bought on eBay arrived today. First old computer in
    30 years of collecting that went squeel, pop! No biggie, just a cap on the power supply and the board is nice and spacious so I can easily re-cap it.

    I don't have a supply of caps or an electronics store nearby that sells them
    so online ordering it is. Outside of ordering directly from China, what are your go to sources for capacitors?
    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Free Speech You Smeg Head (21:1/225)
  • From dflorey@21:1/226 to Otto Reverse on Fri Jun 4 16:05:37 2021
    I don't have a supply of caps or an electronics store nearby that sells them so online ordering it is. Outside of ordering directly from China, what are your go to sources for capacitors?


    Hi

    I recently re-capped a pair of Apple LC-II boards - they had leaked. One
    didn't post, the other had weird screen artifacts, no audio, and would lock
    up during the OS boot.

    One board has damaged traces that still cause audio issues, the other is now perfect.

    Caps? I bought from China via eBay. So far so good, but yes, I too am interested in this question...

    I also have a Compaq Portal 386 in very good working order, and a Compaq Portable III (286) that did the same as your Compaq a couple of years ago and has been sitting in storage ever since.

    One day I might tackle the 286 repair, but it has to get in line with the
    many other repair projects I have lined up...

    We do have local Jaycar and Altronics electronics stores here in SE Melbourne, but seems local electronics parts retailers are starting to slowly delete product lines that don't move terribly much stock. Quite frustrating. Conversely in the US, seems certain electronics parts chains are completely closing down across the
    country!

    Concerning & frustrating times ahead. I did ponder the idea of trying to see
    if I could become an imported of components often found in retro electronics and redistribute locally, but at this point in my life, and not really
    knowing if I'd have much of a customer base, I'm not too confident in
    investing in this adventure just yet...

    My wife and I are considering the option of moving more rural and into a potentially larger house once she's completed her University degree, doing
    this would put me into a better position to take on this daunting task as I would make room in a large workshop - maybe even take on the occasional
    repair adventure!

    There seems to be a diminishing local supply otherwise...

    Dave!


    dflorey
    Retro16 BBS --> bbs.retro16.com (WIP)
    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Retro16 BBS (21:1/226)
  • From acn@21:3/127.1 to Otto Reverse on Fri Jun 4 10:42:00 2021
    Am 03.06.21 schrieb Otto Reverse@21:1/225 in FSX_RETRO:

    Hallo Otto,

    Outside of ordering directly from China, what are your go to sources
    for capacitors?

    I'm living in Karlsruhe, Germany and we have one local electronics store
    left ("M�kra") where I often buy parts.
    But they don't have "everything", so sometimes it's neccessary to order
    parts online.
    And for this task, I'm mostly using reichelt.de, as they have a wide
    variety of parts. Alternatives are conrad.de or elv.de.

    I don't order from China directly for electronic parts as the delivery
    times are quite long (compared to the .de shops).

    Regards,
    Anna
    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: Imzadi Box Point (21:3/127.1)
  • From Dr. What@21:1/194 to Otto Reverse on Fri Jun 4 08:27:00 2021
    Otto Reverse wrote to All <=-

    A Compaq Deskpro 286e I bought on eBay arrived today. First old
    computer in 30 years of collecting that went squeel, pop! No biggie,
    just a cap on the power supply and the board is nice and spacious so I
    can easily re-cap it.

    I don't have a supply of caps or an electronics store nearby that sells them so online ordering it is. Outside of ordering directly from China, what are your go to sources for capacitors?

    I get mine from mouser.com


    ... Compatible: Blows up a little later than Incompatible
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  • From Otto Reverse@21:1/225 to dflorey on Fri Jun 4 14:25:34 2021
    There seems to be a diminishing local supply otherwise...

    No local here anymore. The last would have been Radio Shack stores but they were bought out by Circuit City (in Canada only) which changed them to The Source and they don't sell parts. Perhaps a few of the bigger cities might
    have a parts store, but online it is for most of us.

    A friend mentioned Digikey (which has a US and Canadian online storefront).
    But their database for sorting through the various caps seemed not to be working. I stumbled on mouser.ca (also US/Can storefronts, based in the US) that looked like it had the exact same database as Digikey, only it was working.

    So I ordered double of all the caps I needed and with shipping it came to $26.50CDN. Not horrible for doing this on occassion, but I suppose it could
    be expensive if I were trying to repair a constant parade of broken gear.

    Ordering direct from China is out of the question for me as shipping is a
    month or longer and often the items simply never arrive. That and I'd like
    the free world to ween ourselves of Chinese dependency anyway lol. Not trying to open a can of worms, just making light.
    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Free Speech You Smeg Head (21:1/225)
  • From Otto Reverse@21:1/225 to acn on Fri Jun 4 14:32:36 2021
    Thanks Anna. Reichelt.de looks like a decent store. The EU/CDN conversion makes it a little expensive for me but if they had something I couldn't find elsewhere it would be worth considering.
    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Free Speech You Smeg Head (21:1/225)
  • From tenser@21:1/101 to Otto Reverse on Sat Jun 5 12:24:30 2021
    On 03 Jun 2021 at 11:25p, Otto Reverse pondered and said...

    I don't have a supply of caps or an electronics store nearby that sells them so online ordering it is. Outside of ordering directly from China, what are your go to sources for capacitors?

    For North America, the usuals are Mouser, Digikey, Arrow, and
    Newark, pretty much in that order.

    They'll get you on shipping costs, though. Arrow used to have
    free shipping on mostly everything, but that was pre-COVID.

    There are major shortages all over the supply chain right now
    because of the pandemic. For esoteric values, it can be a while.
    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From dflorey@21:1/226 to Otto Reverse on Sat Jun 5 14:56:58 2021
    Ordering direct from China is out of the question for me as shipping is a month or longer and often the items simply never arrive.

    Yeah, same here in Australia, takes 3-5 weeks on average. Sometimes they surprise me, but not often enough...


    dflorey
    Retro16 BBS --> bbs.retro16.com (WIP)
    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Retro16 BBS (21:1/226)
  • From Oli@21:3/102 to Otto Reverse on Sun Jun 6 09:02:03 2021
    Otto wrote (2021-06-04):

    Ordering direct from China is out of the question for me as shipping is a month or longer and often the items simply never arrive.

    that is the main reason I never ordered something from china. they promise delivery in "3 to 12 weeks".

    That and I'd like the free world

    mind the no-politics rule ;-P

    to ween ourselves of Chinese
    dependency anyway lol. Not trying to open a can of worms, just making light.

    i wonder where the electronic parts you order in the 'free world' are produced? ---
    * Origin: . (21:3/102)
  • From apam@21:1/182 to Oli on Sun Jun 6 18:22:29 2021
    i wonder where the electronic parts you order in the 'free world' are produced?

    :)

    The first time I ordered PCBs I tried to get them made locally, found an
    online shop in Australia and ordered... took a while but they came...
    from china.

    Following that, I just order from JLCPCB and cut out the middle man...

    Andrew

    --
    |03Andrew Pamment |08(|11apam|08)
    |13Happy|10Land |14v2.0|08!|07
    --- Talisman v0.23-dev (Linux/x86_64)
    * Origin: HappyLand v2.0 - telnet://happylandbbs.com:11892/ (21:1/182)
  • From Utopian Galt@21:4/108 to Oli on Sun Jun 6 12:42:01 2021
    BY: Oli(21:3/102)


    |11O|09> |10i wonder where the electronic parts you order in the 'free world' are|07
    |11O|09> |10produced?|07
    Monopolies are not good in general even if its intra-country companies.
    --- WWIV 5.7.1.3531
    * Origin: inland utopia * socal usa * iutopia.mooo.com:2023 (21:4/108)
  • From Otto Reverse@21:1/225 to tenser on Wed Jun 9 16:15:36 2021
    For North America, the usuals are Mouser, Digikey, Arrow, and
    Newark, pretty much in that order.

    They'll get you on shipping costs, though. Arrow used to have

    I ordered from Mouser. Shipping was $8 so I ordered double of everything to make shipping worth it (ha!) and to start my collection of spares.

    Yeah, the supply chain issues several industries are having is phenomenal. On the flip side it is making used items very valuable.
    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Free Speech You Smeg Head (21:1/225)