Analysis of the effects of end connection quality on the dielectric loss of metallized film capacitors

Plasma sprayed metal end connections of metallized film capacitors are the weak link for pulse power applications which involve discharge times of tens of microseconds and less. This problem will only get worse with increased capacitor energy density. The present contribution quantifies the relationship between the "quality" of the end connection and dielectric loss of the capacitor winding. The analysis suggests that even for very poor end connections, the effect on dielectric loss of the total capacitor is relatively small. This makes a low stress production test for end connection quality problematic since such tests can only show the total capacitor dissipation factor resulting from various factors.