Capacitor shelf life is still specified at just a few months (after which it
may need reforming before it meets specification).
But in most cases this reforming takes place within the equipment and you
don't notice because all that happens is just a slightly higher leakage
current. For example if you connect a power supply for the first time it
will take some time before the standby losses fall to their usual value.
They don't degrade to the point where leakage is so high it causes a
problem, at least not in the usual timespan of a few years sitting around.
I don't think it will become much of a problem with the curerrent
technology, because many caps used now are so cheap and crappy they will dry
out even at storage temperature before you need to worry about reforming
them ;-)
ST
On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 1:22 AM, Ray Drouillard <
ray.drouillard.lists@...> wrote:
I wonder if it's still an issue. After all, we no longer have to take
extreme precautions when dealing with CMOS circuitry.
