The electrolytic capacitor is a critical part of both old and modern electronic equipment which must be used correctly in order to get the longest and safest operational life and this is particularly important with high voltage versions of these components. Electrolytic capacitors rely on an electro-chemical process to provide the insulator between the two metal plates and this process can degrade over a period of years if the capacitor has not had power applied. The result is that the working voltage of any electrolytic capacitors in equipment gradually falls with time. If full power is applied to long unused equipment then the electrolytic capacitors can pass excessive amounts of current that could cause a catastrophic failure to the entire equipment and a potential fire hazard to the equipment and surrounding property.
The correct course of action is to ensure that each electrolytic capacitor’s insulation layer is ‘reformed’ by the application of a current and voltage limited DC supply to each individual capacitor. Current limiting ensures that the heat generated within the capacitor is kept at a sufficiently low level that damage does not occur. My preferred method is to carefully disconnect each electrolytic capacitor and apply a voltage, equal to the working voltage of the respective capacitor, via a suitable current limiting resistor to that capacitor.