Hardware Insights Forum

Just a thought of mine...do you think replacing the electrolytic capacitor in a two-transistor +5VSB circuit with a ceramic capacitor would be a simple way to improve the reliability??? I've just checked and it seems you can get through-hole multilayer types up to 4.7µF 50V with 2.5mm lead pitch (close enough to the 2mm pitch of 5mm radial electrolytics that it shouldn't be an issue). I would love to know how well it works, as while two-transistor oscillators will never be as good as the ICs, at least ceramic capacitors are reliable enough that I would be fairly confident about the PC's safety. I might actually try it myself when I get what I need.

I've never done it before, as the critical 5vsb cap is usually either 22uF or 47uF - a little too high for a ceramic cap. I usually just use Panny FC.