Defender power supply

it's a big honkin' capacitor. lol

I'd venture to say it's just the primitive nature of the design (basically reused pinball boards). when I redid the transformer wiring to mine I was shocked at how ridiculous the voltages were going into that power supply board were. I don't think that's a common failure component though. it's obviously too large and "expensive" to go with a rebuilt kit with those, and to my understanding, the only replacement that exists is a radial capacitor (2 legs out the bottom) so you have to resort to some cool wire jumper mods to make it strap in the same way as the original one.
 
Ok, sweet! One more question. Radial vs. Axial, is there any reason you could not use an axial in place of a radial?

It would depend on the hole placement. I have seen axials used in place of radials by standing them on the end and then attaching some extra wire to fit down to the second hole. I have also seen radials fitted into axial holes.

You have to be very careful with swapping like that to make sure there is no chance of contact from the bare wire to someplace it shouldn't go. For that reason, it is always better to use the correct form factor, if you can find them.

ken
 
Right...aside for possible space limitations. I didnt think there would be differences between the different packages (electronically speaking). Thanks.
 
Electronically they are identical, but as mentioned before the wires can cause other issues. I have seen the following failures in the past:
(a) the wire on an axial cap mounted vertically wore through the plastic insulation covering the aluminum case and eventually shorted to the case with exciting results (the cap popped its top)
(b) the wire on a radial cap mounted in place of an axial cap got bumped and one of the wires contacted a resistor lead, shorting the resistor to ground. It was fried instantly internally, but it looked fine on the outside. I only found it when I bumped the resistor with a pair of pliers while removing the radial cap to replace it with an axial cap.
(c) one of the wires on a radial cap mounted axially wore through the insulation and shorted to the ground plane below it. Pop goes the capacitor.

If you are going to use the wrong configuration capacitor, at least insulate the wires with some heat shrink tubing or some insulator pulled off a wire.

ken
 
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