Capacitors to fix a PCB - General Purpose or Low Impedance ?

[kebrank]

Hello,

I got a couple of System 16A and 16B boards with broken capacitors. I went to mouser.com and selected a few capacitors, however one of the selection is General Purpose or Low Impedance and I'm not sure what to select. Any advice?

Thanks,
\o/.k.

[system11]

Are you sure they didn't say low ESR?

Anyway - just get general ones, I guess these are for the corners of the ROM board? Those are usually bashed around..

[kebrank]

Yes, it says low impedance. Low impedance should be very simliar to low ESR. Price is very close anyway.
Thanks,
\o/.k.

[leonk]

For "retro" systems, just use general purpose caps (+/- 20%). That's how they were designed to work back in the day. Low ESR is like putting high octane gas in a Lada.

[kebrank]

You guys are right. Low ESR is recommended for use in Power Supplies. I'll stick to the general purpose ones.
\o/.k.

[Ed Oscuro]

Low ESR is recommended for use in Power Supplies.

I thought the reverse was true - some PSUs require specific ESR, but low ESR should be absolutely great everywhere else.

[Edward_Tz]

Here's a helpful guide.
http://www.niccomp.com/help/capsubguide.asp

[kebrank]

Edward, thank you for the guide.
\o/.k.

[Ed Oscuro]

Yes, but see this important caveat for power supply instability with low ESR parts:
http://www.kemet.com/Lists/TechnicalArt ... %20Low.pdf