Psvane Teflon capacitors real or fakes?

A note of caution from an old fogie.

270 C and teflon do not mix well. As I understand it, teflon begins to decompose and form HF, a very bad chemical. HF symptoms can develop over 24-48 hours, which makes it particularly insidious. In my experience, expect sore throat and a sudden onset of arthritis in your soldering hand. Also in my experience, if the exposure is very small, symptoms disappear in a few days or a week. But why tempt fate? Read the MSDS.

With a teflon dielectric, I like to keep soldering temperatures below 250 C, and even then I like to solder at eye level, so that harmful vapours go up. Good air flow doesn't hurt much either.

Read that MSDS.

Of course you are correct, Rodman. No component.

But what if you are servicing something with a teflon-insulated wire connected to a lug, insulated right to the joint? And if the factory used high temperature solder? Then the teflon might get hot, and that's bad.

I only intended to sound a note of a caution against a procedure discussed previously, about touching a teflon sheet with a hot iron.

Magfan, I think the arthritic feeling comes from CaF2 precipitating in the calcium channels of the neurons. What is left over of the HF trades up the activity chart until it bonds into an insoluable compound, as found in the bones. As you say.

All academic - as you also say, bad stuff.

Hello Jallen.

I tested tin V-caps against RelCap teflons for my RIAA eq, one set on each side. Found the RelCaps more to my taste. The V-Caps appeared too shrill to both my wife and myself. Solen teflon were also very good. System was vinyl with ESL's.

Using a switch box, I tested larger caps as amplifier input filters. Solen teflon vs MIT Multicap styrene RTX went to Solen. RTS also sounded good, but with less edge - I'm not sure if this is desirable or not - the edge may be missing from my vinyl, and the teflon may be putting it back. MIT MFXS polypropylene sounded a little less precise than the RTX, and Solen polyp a little less precise than that. To my ears in an AB comparison.

I DON'T like teflon with digital.

Hope that helps a bit.

Should read

RTX also sounded good ...

You may wish to dismiss my comments as uninformed, because I have only heard a break-in difference with metalized caps, never with film and foil. Perhaps I just gradually accommodate to the difference without consciously hearing it.

In any case, all the teflons (Vcap, Relcap, Solen) were unused, the RTX was previously used as a coupling cap in an amplifier, the polyp f&f used in power supply filters.

I agree that the RTX appears a bit less clear, but I wonder if this is an accurate perception. Comparing teflon to air, for example, shows that teflon is far from neutral. Yet it is pleasing in one or two places in the signal path, while more can be wearing.

I think that teflon is putting a slight artificial edge onto the program material. The brass bells in Solar Winds seem a bit larger than life, for example. Perhaps teflon re-introduces an edge which is lost in many recordings, or perhaps we are just engineered to be "edge detectors", and so find enhanced edges pleasing.

What do you think?

I agree that teflon caps, including the Russian ones, make music sound cleaner and more exciting, especially on transients. Also, I have modded and improved equipment from the ARC SP8 and onwards, so that's a few years worth, and I always started with caps.

To continue with Jallen's analogy, I guess that I see streaks on that window unless I use air gap.