Electrical – Oil refil on large electrolytic capacitors

power supply

This is related to capacitor construction.

Can a powerlytic or electrolytic capacitor (47,000 μF; 25 V DC) be refilled with oil after it released liquid via the safety gasket?

Assuming effects of overheating, loosing probably half the fluid? And is the oil fluid in a capacitor miniral oil? Or with what type of oil can it be refilled?

The capacitor's size in question is roughly 100 mm high and has 80 mm diameter.

Best Answer

Electrolytic capacitors are not filled with oil, rather they are filled with (not surprisingly, perhaps) electrolyte*. You cannot repair such a capacitor once it has vented.

Oil is used for non-polar capacitors used on AC (sometimes) though film types have taken much of that market.

Oil-filled capacitor (from this site):

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The NO-PCB'S (sic) is not an admonition to avoid mounting the cap on a printed circuit board, but rather refers to the type of oil used, which is indicated to not contain PolyChlorinated Biphenyls, a type of oil which works very well but has toxicity issues, especially when burned.


*The electrolyte is a conductive ionic liquid. From the Wikipedia article on electrolytic capacitors:

The electrolytic systems used today can be roughly summarized into three main groups:

  1. Electrolytes based on ethylene glycol and boric acid. In these so-called glycol or borax electrolyte an unwanted chemical crystal water reaction occurs according to the scheme: "acid + alcohol" gives "ester + water". These borax electrolytes are standard electrolytes, long in use, and with a water content between 5 and 20%. They work at a maximum temperature of 85 °C or 105 °C in the entire voltage range up to 600 V. Even with these capacitors, the aggressiveness of the water must be prevented by appropriate measures.

  2. Almost anhydrous electrolytes based on organic solvents, such as dimethylformamide (DMF), dimethylacetamide (DMA), or γ-butyrolactone (GBL). These capacitors with organic solvent electrolytes are suitable for temperature ranges from 105 °C, 125 °C or 150 °C, have low leakage current values and have very good long-term capacitor behavior.

  3. Water based electrolytes with high water content, up to 70% water for so-called "low-impedance", "low-ESR" or "high-ripple-current" electrolytic capacitors with rated voltages up to 100 V for low-cost mass-market applications. The aggressiveness of the water for aluminum must be prevented with suitable additives.

Proprietary additives are very important, as evidenced by the Great Capacitor Plague of the early 21st century.