Condensator - how to wire ?

[0zeo]

Hello,

I have a condensator and i don't know how i should wire it. There is a cross on one side (see photo).

Where is the + and the - ?

Thanks

Jeremy

[Al_The_Man]

Check all the tabs that are common to each other (zero resistance) probabally the outer ring tabs double as common-ve and PCT mounting, If there is zero resistance between the centre two, In all probability these will be the +.
Did you try the Sprague site?
Al.

[martinw]

Dear Ozeo,

Are the terminals numbered?

If they are, what is written on the side of the can suggests that pin 2 is positive, and pin 4 is negative.

I could be wrong.

Best wishes

Martin

[nophead00]

Perhaps the label means 2 pins are + and four pins are -.

[0zeo]

There is no number on the top of the condensator. There is just a cross on one side of it.

On the top there are 6 pins. One is bigger than the 5 other. But there is 2 row of pin.

I just think to sth. Can the cross be a + ?

Thanks for your help

Jeremy

[Al_The_Man]

Did you do the resistance check?
Al.

[nophead00]

If you get it wrong it will explode so be careful

[martinw]

Originally Posted by nophead00 If you get it wrong it will explode so be careful

Yes indeed. A small tantalum bead capacitor half the size of a pea goes off with a crack if reversed polarised. A large can electrolytic?..... be in the room next door.

Er... I still think my pin suggestion is probably OK.

Best wishes

Martin

[nophead00]

The four outer pins look like they all go to the can as Al suggests. The can is usually negative but sometimes floating. If the two middle pins are connected then they must be plus, and the can negative. If they are not connected together then you have a problem. You could apply a voltage through a limiting resistor and measure the leakage current in each direction. The polarity with the lowest leakage is likely to be the correct polarity.

[martinw]

Originally Posted by nophead00 The four outer pins look like they all go to the can as Al suggests. The can is usually negative but sometimes floating. If the two middle pins are connected then they must be plus, and the can negative. If they are not connected together then you have a problem. You could apply a voltage through a limiting resistor and measure the leakage current in each direction. The polarity with the lowest leakage is likely to be the correct polarity.

Dear nophead00,

You could well be right.

However, a lot of "snap-in" can electrolytics have non-connected pins, purely for strain-relief.

Best wishes

Martin

[0zeo]

Sorry for the late answer,

I check the resistance between the differents pin.

Between the 4 outside pins, i get ~10ohm
Between one of the outside pin and a midlle pin the resistance is inf.
Between the two middle pin there is a 11Kohm resistance.

I look on sprage webpage and they don't know the reference...

So, how should i plug this condensator ?

Thanks

Jeremy

[nophead00]

Well it looks like the outside pins are the can and it is isolated so they are for mechanical mounting only. I would expect less than 10Ohm between them, approx 0, but I expect your meter is a bit out.

That leaves the middle two. If you put your meter across these on a high resistance range you should see a low resistance that slowly rises to almost infinity (certainly more than 10K) when you connect the meter the right way round.

Try both ways and see which is the highest resistance. I suspect your original suggestion that the * at the bottom of the picture is indicating the + lead is right and the other central lead is -.