Neandertal Posted March 28, 2002 Share Posted March 28, 2002 I have a Type-E crossover from a Heresy that is leaking oil out of the woofers capacitor. Besides the obvious mess it is making, what effects does the lack of oil impose on the crossovers operation? Does it only cool or is the oil required as the insulator in the capacitor to operate. I poorly remember that a capacitor is a combination of conductor and insulator that holds charge. Also, what is a source for a replacement capacitor? What specs does it need to be and who sells one? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted March 28, 2002 Share Posted March 28, 2002 Please see the attached DfH for the schematic. I don't see a cap in the woofer circuit. However there are two 2 uF caps for the mid and tweeter. You can call 1-800-Klipsch for a replacement. My guess is that they will not give you an oil bath cap, but rather something more modern. Do oil bath caps have PCB in the oil? In any event, you might think about replacing all four caps. Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted March 28, 2002 Share Posted March 28, 2002 "In any event, you might think about replacing all four caps." I concur. The oil in those caps is neither for cooling nor for insulation,(well not precisely) but rather forms part of the dielectric of the capacitor. Another way to think of it is that the amount and type of oil in the capacitor controls the value of the capacitor. Those networks are designed to separate the frequencies which are fed to the various drivers. Any loss of fluid from the cap will change the filtering characteristics of the network. It is likely that if one has failed the other three are in less than optimal condition. As Gil suggests replace all 4 to ensure good matching and proper bandpass characteristics. ------------------ It is meet to recall that the Great Green Heron rarely flies upside down in the moonlight - (Foo Ling ca.1900) This message has been edited by lynnm on 03-29-2002 at 09:11 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted March 28, 2002 Share Posted March 28, 2002 Yeah, certainly the loss of oil will effect the value of the capacitor. If you want an alternative to a Klipsch replacement: I see that Radio Shack part number 272-1055 is a 1 uF metalized film capacitor. You'll have to put two in parallel to create a 2 uF capacitor. They are $1 apiece and are found in a blister pack. I trust you can solder? You must be a bit of a tinkerer to have taken the speaker apart. Maybe they will have four in stock and you can do one speaker this weekend, and the other next weekend. Is there more than one RS in Norman? Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted March 28, 2002 Share Posted March 28, 2002 If you check the archives, you will find info/opinions on the pros and cons of various types of capacitors for crossover networks. Klipsch used metallized film capacitors in the later Heresys. I replace paper in oil caps in Heresys with Solen metallized polypropelene caps and like the results. You can get them from places like www.partsexpress.com and www.madisound.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted April 7, 2002 Share Posted April 7, 2002 Neandertal, If you want to do your speakers and ears a favor, use a high quality cap such as the Hovland 2.0uF film/foil polyprop. available at http://www.madisound.com/. I use Hovland in my Fortes and RF-7s. I think they're an improvement on stock. They are expensive, but I think Klipsch speakers are easily worth the upgrade. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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