Capacitor question, in general.

[BraindeadAudio]

I am new to building/creating pedals and I recently purchased a handful of boards from the site, and while Resistors are a piece of cake to source I am having a mild problem with the Caps, as certain codes on the board layouts are confusing me, Namely these.

the 3N on the Wolfshirt, is that a Film or a Box Cap?
Same with the 50N. I have seen silver mica caps with this value as well as a few others?

On the Chunk Chunk pedal I ran into the same problem.

I know this is probably a total noob question, Its just confusing me a bit and once I learn how and what they are Ill remember it.

I have been trying to compare and deciper the codes from what I am reading here with no luck. http://www.wjoe.com/capacitorinfo2.htm

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Also, where does everyone source their pots from?

[irmcdermott]

Welcome to the forum!

As a "general" rule in Brian's layouts, values of p = ceramic, values of n = film (which box caps are film caps), values of uF = electrolytic. This isn't always the case, i.e. sometimes you will see a 1uF box cap in a layout. Best to look at the layout and see what the part looks like on that. You for sure can try other caps if you want (silver mica, etc.), but usually thats how he does his layouts.

The 3n and 50n can be box, or even "greenies". The Grapevine uses them as well, here is a link to Mouser for the 3n http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Xicon/140-PF2A302F/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvOcEq4GH1AAp6xkCMmLRF5LNM8XCmxT60%3d

Looks like the 50n's that are linked in that build doc are obsolete, but these should work http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Xicon/140-PF2A503F/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvOcEq4GH1AAuFxM8DKxCsxRPsZDdlUCSY%3d

Also, since cap values can be written in different ways (pF, nF, uF) I highly recommend printing this out and keeping it on your bench. http://www.justradios.com/uFnFpF.html

I get pots from wherever I am ordering other stuff from. No 1 particular source. I just got some pots from Tayda and their price is good, I got my order in about a week. I think I'm going to start buying more from them.

Ian

[BraindeadAudio]

Thanks you very much! Ive been on Smallbear and Mouser for the past day and a half looking up and converting the values haha. Cant wait to get these built up and hear how they sound through my V4

[k.rock!]

Hey dude! Welcome to the forum !

You could use either film or box, it really doesn't matter when it comes to non-polarized caps. Some people prefer one type over the other but this is really a matter of taste. To me, I can't really tell the difference.

I've seen silver mica mostly for pF (pico Farad) values like 220pF and such. You have to keep in mind the size of them, as the silver mica take quite more space than ceramic disk for example. And again, it's a matter of taste.

C1 100n
C2 100n
C3 1n
C4 10uF
C5 10uF
C6 10uF
C7 10uF
C8 10uF
C9 10uF
C10 3n
C11 50n
C12 10uF
C13 10uF
C14 100uF

In this case, all your uF (micro farads) for the Wolfshirt are polarized. Which means you need electrolytic type capacitors. 25V rating will work fine and they would be fairly small.

The rest you can do either film or box. Either way will work fine.


As far as pots try these:

www.smallbearelec.com
www.mammothelectronics.com
www.pedalpartsplus.com
www.taydaelectronics.com
www.effectsconnection.com
www.mouser.com

There's tons more but these might help you get started Good luck!


-Kaleb

[k.rock!]

Ah!! shoot hahaha 

Looks like Ian types faster than I do...haha

Well, there it goes for what it's worth

-Kaleb

[irmcdermott]

I may have a few 3n & 50n's I can part with. I'll have to check. PM me if you are interested.

[LaceSensor]

3.3nF and 47nF box caps might be more readily available, and would make no discernable difference I reckon.

[BraindeadAudio]

I just wanna say the boards showed up and look amazing. How much would you want for those Caps?