Electronic – Is it OK if a newly purchased electrolytic capacitor is supplying higher capacitance

electrolytic-capacitorvacuum-tube

I purchased new electrolytic capacitors in order to restore an old tube radio, and when I tested them with my capacitance meter I noticed that one them is having higher capacitance than it should. It's labeled as 22 mf / 450 V. but it's actual capacitance is 27.5 mf, would it cause any problem if the needed capacitance is only 20 mf ?

Best Answer

Power supply electrolytic capacitors often have a tolerance of +/-20% or even -20/+50% (I've seen -20/+80%). Usually a larger capacitance does no harm (as you might guess from the way the tolerances are specified).

Your capacitor measures +25% (assuming the meter is measuring it accurately), which may or may not be within tolerance, but normally a larger capacitance does no harm, within reason. A much smaller capacitance than nominal would be a much larger cause for concern.