6 ms·
Isn't the volumetric energy density higher for tantalum capacitors? I haven't done detailed comparison, but I recall having to reach for tantalum capacitors in
by fest 3y ago
Isn't the volumetric energy density higher for tantalum capacitors? I haven't done detailed comparison, but I recall having to reach for tantalum capacitors in some space-constrained applications requiring 100-200uF at 20-30V.
- mrWiz 3y agoYeah, that's the appeal. Occasional combustion (though less frequent now than in the past, I think) is the drawback.
- magicalhippo 3y agoIIRC the trick to not having the tants go up in flames is to make absolutely sure they will never ever see a voltage beyond their rating. Apparently they really don't like that. I prefer just to avoid that headache, but I'm just a hobbyist so...
- exmadscientist 3y agoSurge current is potentially an even bigger issue. I use a lot of tantalums (more than many engineers), and my personal rule is basically that they are great for anything that never leaves my board and very, very sketchy for anything that does. This works out pretty well!
- magicalhippo 3y agoAh I probably misremembered a bit. I did some digging and found this[1] paper which goes into some detail. It contains this interesting section: Experiments show that solid tantalum capacitors can tolerate discharge currents at much higher levels of voltage (typically, close to the scintillation breakdown) than the charge currents, so current spikes are much more “dangerous” in combination with the increasing voltage that happens during charging. This indicates that a fast voltage increase to sufficiently high level is critical for surge current failures, and high current spikes are byproducts of the fast voltage increase rather than the prime cause of failure. [1]: https://nepp.nasa.gov/files/24745/2013_n240_Teverovsky_ESTEC_Derating_paper.pdf https://nepp.nasa.gov/files/24745/2013_n240_Teverovsky_ESTEC...
- CarVac 3y agoAh, so ESD protection should cover that case?