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How Can I Test High Voltage Doorknob Capacitors?

05/30/2011 11:35 PM

I would like to test 30 or more of these capacitors (HEC HT57 100pf 15KVDC N750) to see if they are as good as new.

They are used in a tank circuit of a Colpitts oscillator, 4 in parallel, and I don't trust substituting them one at a time for a good evaluation. The failure modes that I suspect, I guess, are 1) they have gotten hot or for other reasons have begun to loose integrity in the silver-soldered connection between the plates (accross a ceramic barrier), or 2) possibly some leakage may occur indicating a coming breakdown, and explosion.

The oscillator operates at around 22Mhz, and the power consumption of the load is around 1.8KW. I suspect that a simple static test for leakage at high voltage and the use of a capacitance checker would not be enough to be sure they are fit for the work they will need to do. (The load is an induction coil for an induction furnace using a 5868 at the 500ma maximum capacity, 40% duty cycle.)

I would greatly appreciate some simple direction in how to make this test, and some idea how to evaluate how close I am testing them to their specification limits. perhaps a HAM Radio operator has some experience with testing these?

I have tried googling for test methods of this kind of capacitor, but found nothing usefull.

I don't want to spend a lot of money on testing these, of course, but maybe diverting some of the input of the tank circuit to a capacitor in test, maybe in series with a resistor or somethng and doing some measurements would work. Anyone have experience with doing this kind of thing?

Thanks for your help!

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#1

Re: How can I test high voltage doorknob capacitors?

05/31/2011 5:34 AM

I have replaced a similar doorknob capacitor HEC HT57 0351 of rating 15KV1000pf few times. The old capacitor one side connection came out. As I could see the problem I could replace easily. Did you contact original manufacturer? They are replied my mails generously. Otherwise try any HV capacitor manufacturer in your area and request them to test your component.

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#2

Re: How can I test high voltage doorknob capacitors?

05/31/2011 7:26 PM
  1. The 5868 is rated for about 4000 V peak and 0.5 amp. So say the anode has 3000 V peak to peak AC at 22 MHz. That is about 1000 V rms.
  2. The reactance of 100 pF at 22 MHz is about 70 ohms. 70 ohms at 1000 V makes about 14 amps.
  3. If the 5868 were running at 0.5 amp rms and the tank circuit has a Q of 20, then the current in the tank inductor and capacitor would be about 20 x 0.5 = 10 amps. If you have 4 of those capacitors in parallel, they would draw 4 x 14 = 56 amps at 1000 V.
  4. So these capacitors are not running at the full tank voltage - my guess is they are in the grid side, since you say it is a Colpitts oscillator.
  5. The anode capacitance may be about 100 pF, considering the Q - so 400 pF on the Grid side would see about 1000/4 = 250 V rms.
  6. So the operating current of each capacitor will be about 3.5 amps @ 250V, 22 MHz - a power of 875 volt amps. If the capacitors have a Q of 250, they will have a power loss of about 4 watts.
  7. So by I²R , 3.5²R = 4. Hence the capacitor loss resistance is about 1/3 ohm, compared to 70 ohm capacitive reactance.
  8. I feel the most likely cause of failure of these capacitors would be overheating - as has been pointed out bad contact to part of the plates would increase resistance, as would increased dielectric loss.
  9. A complete disconnection of part of the capacitor would reduce its capacitance, any degree of water penetration would increase capacitance and losses.
  10. Testing at near to your 22 MHz operating frequency is advizeable.
  11. If possible get a radio frequency bridge which can measure capacitance and Q at near your operating frequency to much less than the tolerances of the capacitor. Try to get the specified Q values for the capacitor (and the test frequency) to compare with your tests.
  12. Capacitors with capacitance or Q values outside the tolerance are suspect.
  13. Considering that you have a powerful 22 MHz source to hand, I would consider using 1000W rating of 230V [say 10 x 100 W] incandescent lamps as a ballast resistor and dummy load (about 500W) in series with a 100 pF capacitor under test, this combination being paralleled with the existing 4 x 100 pF capacitors. It should drive the capacitor under test at about 200V. In the event of capacitor short circuit failure, the lamps will limit the current.
  14. If a capacitor survives this test, proceed to substitution for 1 of the 4 working capacitors
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#3

Re: How Can I Test High Voltage Doorknob Capacitors?

06/01/2011 3:40 PM

Use a schering bridge to test at high voltage to see the value and the loss of the capacitor.

There should be no need to use 22 MHz for testing, unless you are testing to destruction...

The manufacturer will be able to advise.

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