[Nick3092]

My Solen caps arrived yesterday, so I decided to tackle the filter caps/cans tonight.  Wow, are these suckers big!  I had never re-stuffed a can before (I usually just disconnect the can and connect the new cap under the chassis), so I Googled some methods.  I came across one where the guy in the video used a 3/4"PVC connector to hold the sections of the can together.  So I decided to give that method a try.

The filters had been replaced before.  I'm assuming the original style had the positive tab sticking out from the bottom.  The replacements had wire leads coming out of them.  So I cut the first can open with my Dremel.  Pulled the short bottom off over the wires, and tried to figure out how to get the cap out of the top half.  I had a H**l of a time getting all the stuff out.  From what I can tell the cap was surrounded by a cardboard tube.  Then they poured the tar in.  Well the tar apparently leaked out of the tube and cemented it to the inside of the can.  I probably spent 30 minutes slowly digging out chunks of cardboard, capacitor and tar.  When i did the second one, i was surprisingly able to pull the tube out in one piece.

Now that I had the can apart, I soldered new lead wires to the cap and put on heat shrink.  I know the cap is non-polarized, but I still put in a red and black lead for show.  Then I looked at how I was going to put it together.  The 3/4" PVC connector fit perfect in the can.  And the Solen fit perfectly inside the connector.  But that meant I had no way to get one of the leads out the bottom.  So I grabbed my Dremel again and cut a slit in the connector for the wire to lay in.

   

I wrapped some electrical tape around it to keep the wire in place when i slid it in the can.  I tried putting it into the bottom piece, but the hole was too small as the insulation on my new wires is thicker.  So I grabbed my drill and enlarged the hole to 1/4".  The wires now fit through.  I put the 2 halves together, and found the friction from the PVC connector was more than sufficient to hold them.  Not to mention that is right where the card board insulator and clamp go.  But I remembered my dad has some aluminum tape laying in my garage.  So I cut a thin strip of it and went around the cut just to be safe.  Here is the unexciting final product.

   

I slid the cardboard insulator back on, and it ripped.  So I wrapped it on the outside with electrical tape and mounted it in the clamp.  Then I tackled the second can, which went much easier.  I feel like I should put some kind of note on the cans, so some day when I'm long gone and someone else has this radio, they know the work was done.  And that these are film caps that probably won't need to be replaced the way electrolytics do.  Or I can just not care and let that person figure it out.

I cut open and cleaned out the 8uF/10uF can.  But I'm having trouble restuffing it.  The rivet heads on the bottom that connect to the solder lug won't want to seem to take solder.  So I'm not sure how to attach thew leads to them.  Any suggestions in how to connect the new caps to the rivets/lugs?