Re: [EE] Tantalum capacitors?

On Fri, 25 Oct 2024 at 02:41, Clint Jay <[email protected]> wrote:

> Given all the negatives which have been discussed here, what are the
> advantages, use cases and why are they still made if they're so bad?
>

Largely what Chuck said - compact physically and low ESR - but usually not
so low that they do not suit LDO output capacitor use.
On a rail where it can be ***GUARANTEED*** (that's yelling in bold with
emphasis :-) ) that spikes or and other voltage excursions will NEVER
exceed rated voltage then they can be a good solution. This was far more
true in the past as ceramic capacitors of high capacitance are now made.
The other desirable feature is a supply that has limited energy available.
Those two requirements tend to rather limit the application area.

One reason to use them is the sheer joy of experiencing a capacitor
sequentially:smell, smoke, shriek, noisily emit flame and then explode.
I've only seen that happen once but it was very satisfying. The more so
because it was not in my equipment :-).


         Russell McMahon