Capacitor Comparisons: Quality Control, Testing, and Brand Names

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on the differences in capacitors, particularly regarding quality control, testing specifications like low ESR, and brand names. Participants debate the value of purchasing a $30 1.5 farad capacitor versus a $170 1 farad capacitor, highlighting the importance of application-specific requirements. One user emphasizes the need for a capacitor with a discharging/charging rate of less than one second for a design project. The conversation also touches on how the effective resistance and other specifications may vary in relevance depending on the intended use. Understanding these factors is crucial for making informed purchasing decisions in capacitor selection.
foahtein
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Can anyone tell me the difference in capacitors. Such as the quality control in producing it, the testings, the specs (low esr), brand names, and if its worth buying a 30 dollars 1.5 farad capacitor v.s. a 170 dollars 1 farad capacitor.

thanks
 
Engineering news on Phys.org
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/gadgets/caps/caps.html" , they got a complete info on capacitors.
 
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Let me guess foahtein, you're into car audio right?
 
thanks for the information, and averagesupernova, I'm not into car audio. I know that majority of the people who purchase cap's are into car audio, but I'm doing a design project that need a cap to have an actuation time of less than 1 sec.
 
Well, if you need the capacitor to have a discharging/charging rate of 1 sec, you need to evaluate:

Time Constant = R*C = Time to reach 63% of final value
 
Hmmmm. Actuation time meaning what? More info please. Depending on what you are doing, the ESR and other things might not mean a darn thing.
 
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