MC250 info

[dr-sicel]

Just curious - on the MC250 power amplifier, how much drift in specs might one expect over time?  Values of capacitors drift over time as the electrolytics deteriorate, but I’m not clear as to how much, if it’s even significant.  I will accept calls as well. Thanks!

[misfitfun · Accepted solution]

This is a public board-your phone number is not safe,it is open to harvesting by spammer/scammers.May want to remove it

[omgitlightsup]

The MC250 is old enough that you could consider it in need of a checkup. Electrolytics dry up.. they don't necessarily "drift," they just go bad. The 'lytics in the MC250 are part of the power supply, and they're designed to be much larger than needed, so the deterioration is usually not very noticeable, but especially if you've got expensive tubes in them, it's worth having a tech make sure they're still up to spec. 

Capacitors are much cheaper to replace than tubes or transformers.

[repairelectronics]

I can't believe I missed this thread, yes you should re-cap, needed or not. Get them from Digikey or Mouser, not from a china seller.

I just re-capped a 1982 Carver M500T for no other reason than I knew it had to be done sooner or later. Still sounds the same but feel good about it as I'm not jamming ripple into the outputs.