Capacitors and Temperature

What is the temperature of a capacitor?

In plastic type capacitors this temperature value is not more than +700C. The capacitance value of a capacitor may change, if air or the surrounding temperature of a capacitor is too cool or too hot. These changes in temperature will cause to affect the actual circuit operation and also damage the other components in that circuit.

What are the temperature characteristics of ceramic capacitors?

The temperature characteristics of ceramic capacitors are those in which the capacitance changes depending on the operating temperature, and the change is expressed as a temperature coefficient or a capacitance change rate. There are two main types of ceramic capacitors, and the temperature characteristics differ depending on the type. 1.

How does temperature affect the capacitance of a capacitor?

Changes in temperature around the capacitor affect the value of the capacitance because of changes in the dielectric properties. If the air or surrounding temperature becomes to hot or to cold the capacitance value of the capacitor may change so much as to affect the correct operation of the circuit.

What happens if a capacitor evaporates at a high temperature?

Generally for electrolytic capacitors and especially aluminium electrolytic capacitor, at high temperatures (over +85 o C the liquids within the electrolyte can be lost to evaporation, and the body of the capacitor (especially the small sizes) may become deformed due to the internal pressure and leak outright.

Do capacitors change their value over a certain temperature range?

However, some capacitors do not change their value and remain constant over a certain temperature range, such capacitors have a zero temperature coefficient or “NPO”. These types of capacitors such as Mica or Polyester are generally referred to as Class 1 capacitors.

What is a temperature compensating ceramic capacitor?

1. Temperature-compensating-type multilayer ceramic capacitors (Class 1 in the official standards) This type uses a calcium zirconate-based dielectric material whose capacitance varies almost linearly with temperature. The slope to that temperature is called the temperature coefficient, and the value is expressed in 1/1,000,000 per 1°C (ppm/°C).