When is used used up?

When you can no longer get parts for it, do not buy it.

"Thrown away generally means gave away to a Goodwill""

hehehheheh.. Hate to break your heart, but the GW tosses most of that stuff too. Trust me, they have one down the street, and I have seen tons of used stuff tossed in the dumpster.

Al - Do you remember to increase line voltage slowly over few days? Voltage re-builds up isolating layer of aluminum oxide in electrolytic caps, that tends to get thinner without voltage lowering breakdown voltage.

Hi Kijanki,

Thanks for mentioning those things, but yes in my case I have absolutely always done that. During the 1990's I invested in an earlier version of this variable ac power supply.

It provides a variac-type function that allows me to bring up the voltage slowly, while providing an ac current meter as well as a voltmeter.

My standard practice is to bring up the voltage over a period of about 8 hours, rather than several days, and that seems to have worked well for me generally.

The 50 capacitors that I mentioned I had to replace on one of the Scott's, btw, were all coupling caps, not electrolytics. I have, of course, had to replace electrolytics in other pieces of vintage equipment.

Best regards,
-- Al

When its FRIED!!