crosley: Fiver Junior; 5M3

Good morning Gentlemen, I have been reading the great answers in this forum ,and now have one of my own, I am a newbe,(late starter). I am working on a crosley 5m3.. There are a couple capacitors that are marked (example) 2X  .02. one positive one negitive. The positive has two  lines to it. I am assuming it is double duty. Should I seperate the two and put two capacitors or just use one.   Thanks in advance .(first newbe question) 

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Hi George,

What you have in that radio are four two-section paper capacitors, in addition to the usual multiple section electrolytic capacitor.  Looking at the parts list with the schematic, we can see the following:

.001 uF + .003 uF @ 400 V (items 16, 17 on schematic)

.1 uF + .1 uF @ 200 V (items 45, 46 on schematic)

.02 uF + .02 uF @ 200 V (items 47, 48 and 49, 50 on the schematic) - there are two of these units

For whatever reason, I don't actually see the last three on the circuit diagram (maybe I am missing something).  However, your question indicates that at least some of them are definitely there.  There appears to be a mistake in the numbering of items in the parts list, since several capacitors shown on the schematic diagram don't show up in the parts list.

These are all paper capacitors, so they do not actually have a polarity.  One end may be marked in some manner, but usually that simply indicates "outside foil" on old paper capacitors, a distinction that is not important when replacing with modern capacitors.  No need to worry about which end is which when replacing paper capacitors.

In most cases, these kinds of multiple-section paper capacitors have one common lead to which one side of each section are connected, and a separate lead for the other side of each of the individual sections.  Therefore a .02 uF + .02 uF capacitor, with its two sections, will have three leads.

Since these kinds of multiple section small value capacitors are no longer available, simply replace each section of the original with one modern capacitor.

To replace all four of the multiple-section capacitors listed above, you would use a total of eight modern capacitors.

Note that this radio also has a multiple-section electrolytic capacitor with the following sections:

8 uF @ 450 V (item 19 on schematic)

6 uF @ 450 V (item 20 on schematic)

12 uF @ 25 V (item 21 on schematic)

Since these are electrolytic capacitors, they have a specific polarity.  This one, like the vast majority of multiple section electrolytic capacitors, has the negative leads all combined into one common negative lead, and three separate positive leads for the individual sections.

Best regards,

Tom

 

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 Thanks Tom,  I see all of the ones that are doubles. But here is my problem there are a couple of the paper caps that say 2x but only have one  wire out both sides not two . I used the 2x .02 as example but it is one that only has two wires ,one on each end.

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George,

What do these caps look like physically?  Are they cylinders with a cardboard outer wall, are they metal boxes with terminals, or something else?

It would be unusual to have a single capacitor in a cardboard cylinder marked "2X" with only two leads.  If so, the marking may be incorrect.

If it is a metal box, the box itself will be the common terminal, grounded to chassis, and the two terminals you see are for the other ends of the two capacitors.

The schematic suggests that for a value of 0.02 uF, there is one dual section unit, and no single section capacitors of that value.

If none of the above makes sense, could you perhaps take a picture of the capacitors in question and post it here?

Tom

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 Tom, I went to take picture of caps and answered my own question. The caps have single wires out each end. But were mounted to chassis with metal holder in middle. I pulled the metal band off and low and behold there is a center ground wire attached to the ring that mounted to the base.  problem solved. Thanks again for your help. George

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George,

Good work.  Yes -- that is one more variation on this theme that is encountered from time to time.  Thanks for posting -- that will save others some time next time this question comes up.

Tom

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