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To replace or not to replace?

Staybolt

Sr. Member
Mar 20, 2013
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Why are some techs so anti capacitor replacement? The one i normally go to frowns on replacing caps and the other is all about recapping a radio. Ive been called a parts changer, ect ect for putting in new caps.
 
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replacing the electrolytic caps all at once saves shipping costs and shop reputations.
If i replace the one cap that keeps your radio from transmitting, and then a week later the cap that couples to your speaker goes out; who do you think gets the blame?

Now, if you happen to have a repair shop local to you, then sure, you can keep going back each time something goes wrong and giving the guy 20 bucks a pop.
you may get lucky, but you may end up being nickel and dimed to death, not to mention thinking that the tech doesn't know what they are doing because your radio keeps breaking.

To ship a base station to a shop is almost a 100 dollar endeavor before any work even gets done.
with an average price range of 70-90 dollars for a complete re-cap, it becomes the obvious choice pretty quickly.
depending on how a shop charges for services, you may end up 40 bucks in by the time the tech tells you you need to replace a couple of caps. then he charges you 20 bucks or more to replace them.
now you just spent 60 dollars for two caps when you could have just sent the radio to them asking for the re-cap and spent 90 for all of them.

yes, these are hypotheticals, but the fact remains that electrolytic capacitors have a life span. you can end up the lucky one whose caps just lasted and lasted until you shelve the radio, or you can be the unlucky one whose radio goes out four times in a year because of bad caps.
to each his own, but i think old CB radios should be restored if you love them.
LC
 
Why are some techs so anti capacitor replacement? The one i normally go to frowns on replacing caps and the other is all about recapping a radio. Ive been called a parts changer, ect ect for putting in new caps.
Some techs believe 'why fix it if it ain't broken' and other techs believe 'fix it before it's broken'. I also think the age of the radio should be taken into consideration when replacing and/or not replacing parts.
 
Out with the old and end with the new. New ones came from Klondike Mike. (y)

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Well, when one can do it for one's self.... I would say it is a good preventative measure to change them all... maybe the tantalums too.

For instance, my estimate of the caps needed to recap my SBE Console V is just under $20 and that is at retail price! My time is free to me..... I have a great soldering/desoldering station (vacuum)... so why not do it to be sure?

Some of those swapped out caps might fix some problems.... perhaps some you didn't know you had!
 
Agreed that the age of the radio is the largest determining factor in whether or not the radio should be re-capped. Sorry if i didn't put this in my last post, i just thought it was obvious that only old radios need this done, but there are some techs out there replacing caps on radios that don't need them.

for me, radios from anywhere in the 70's and earlier are automatic candidates for a re-cap, and i would consider how well their money would be spent on a repair of a radio with such a potentially short lifespan.
radios from the 80's i would also recommend, but would also consider a repair without doing it.
radios from the 90's to present it's up to the owner. Like i wouldn't tell them they need it, but would do it if that's what they wanted done. I guess if someone wanted their 2006 cobra 29LTD re-capped i would ask them why, and explain that they aren't going to notice any difference in performance if the radio already works.

i will say though that i have seen two philippines 2000GTL's come through here this year that both had badly discolored caps in the frequency counter modules. so bad you almost couldn't read them, so mileage has to be considered also.
LC
 
Wait, we talking about just replacing with stock values for the lulz or what?

Talking about upgrading them like certain people we all know?
 
I know a certain person that is on youtube that replaces caps in brand new radios. The person also took a garden hose to a cobra 2000 then later it wouldn't work right. Im not mentioning names but he goes by a certain reptile.
 
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How long does it take the average cb tech? I spent over an hour recapping an old cobra 29 that I really like. That doesn't include the time I spent making a list and ordering them.
 
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How did you handle desoldering? To me... THAT is the biggest time chewing factor of all . I was fortunate to get a little cash to put in to a soldering /desoldering station. On a PCB that made it so much easier!

How long does it take the average cb tech? I spent over an hour recapping an old cobra 29 that I really like. That doesn't include the time I spent making a list and ordering them.
 

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