Effects of Conditioning on Life and Reliability of Capacitors

The results of a study of the life behavior of a developmental capacitor of the synthetic film type are presented. The life is shown to be extremely sensitive to thermal history of the capacitor. Heating at 85°C for 100 days increased the life by at least 40 to 1. Progressive stress testing in which voltage is increased with time aided materially in defining this effect as well as in showing that two mechanisms of failure were present. The purpose in this presentation is to present an example of the conditioning effect because it is not generally recognized that its effect on life can be as serious as it often is.