Electrolytic Condenser "Blows Its Top"
January 1947 Radio News Article

January 1947 Radio News [Table of Contents] Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles from Radio & Television News, published 1919-1959. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.

Who among us has not purposely hooked up a power supply to an electrolytic capacitor and turned up the voltage until it popped? It was a ritual for new guys in the shop. Admittedly, the ones I've blown up were insignificant compared to the one shown in this January 1947 Radio News magazine photo where the staff at Daven Labs reproduced a test failure and was sure to be rolling film during the process. Hopefully, no one was in the room either time. The Daven Company made passive components for radios and other types of electronics. An eBay search turns up some of their vintage equipment. The newspaper clipping (below, right) reporting the purchase of the Daven Company in 1960 was retrieved using my Newspapers.com subscription.

Electrolytic Condenser "Blows Its Top"

Technicians working quietly at their tasks at the Daven Laboratories in Newark, New Jersey were startled recently when an electrolytic condenser suddenly "blew its top." The can hit the ceiling with the speed of a bullet while paper and foil spiraled upward in a cloud of smoke. Walter Steinhard, Radio News Staff Photographer, re-produced the phenomena realistically with the original cast of parts.

Posted October 13, 2022
(updated from original post on 9/12/2016)