[mdlug] Hardware diagnostic SW

[Jeff Hanson]

On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 7:50 AM, Michael Rudas <audiotech50 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ummm, no.  Tantalum caps are NOT suitable for low-ESR applications.  A
> "solid" capacitor is one that uses a polymer-film electrolyte
> replacement (MUCH more expensive to manufacture--more processing
> steps).  The relation of a "solid" capacitor to an electrolytic
> capacitor is (much simplified) the relation of a lithium-polymer
> battery to a Li-ion battery.

I was looking at one of my newer boards and you're correct - it looks
like they are using aluminum solid (or maybe hybrid) caps.  But your
claim of tantalums being unsuitable for low-ESR applications is
misleading as the suitability depends on the ESR needs of the circuit.
 I've worked on a lot of automotive DC-DC converter circuits (mostly
Linear Technology based) and usually they have tantalum output caps.
They also have an AE input cap and a big ceramic in the switch
circuit.