El-Menco
El-Menco Six Dot Colour Coded Mica Capacitors, Three Pieces, Values Undecoded
- 5 photos
Never used. The original pack has been opened, or the quantity was split off a full reel or tube. Leads are original and unclipped.
New old stock, open stock on the grading scaleSend the quantity you need. You get a quote back with shipping before anything is charged.
Video
Filmed on the bench. Sound is stripped from product clips.
- 0:23
Specifications
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Identification | |
| Part number | S9DC8FKG |
| Manufacturer | El-Menco |
| Condition | New old stock, open stock |
| Date code | Not recorded |
| Package | Moulded rectangular mica case, axial leads, six dot colour code on the face |
| Country of origin | Not recorded |
| Family | Not recorded |
| Stock number | S9DC8FKG |
| Overview | |
| Type | Moulded mica capacitors, six dot colour coded |
| What the buyer needs | A capacitance meter. The values are readily measured even though they are not readable |
| Provenance | |
| Manufacturer | El-Menco, embossed on the reverse of each body |
| Quantity offered | Three pieces, priced individually |
| Condition | New old stock, unused, bodies intact and leads unsoldered |
| Basis of identification | The embossed maker name only. No electrical parameter is claimed |
| Not established | |
| Capacitance | Not established. No printed value and the dots do not resolve confidently |
| Tolerance | Not established |
| DC voltage rating | Not established |
| Values matched | No. The three carry visibly different dot patterns, so this is a mixed lot |
| Markings as read | |
| Marking system | EIA six dot colour code, three dots on each of two rows moulded into the face |
| Dot colours observed | Tan, cream, yellow, lilac, orange and black in varying combinations, aged and not confidently identifiable |
| Marking, reverse | EL-MENCO, embossed |
| Physical | |
| Lead style | Axial, one lead from each end |
| Body | Moulded rectangular case, red, with recessed dots on the coded face |
| Electrical | |
| Polarity | None. Mica capacitors are not polarised |
About this part
Three El-Menco moulded mica capacitors of the type collectors call dominoes, red bodies with axial leads and a six dot colour code moulded into the face. The reverse of each is embossed EL-MENCO. New old stock, unused. Priced per piece and three are available.
These carry no printed value. Before makers printed numbers on capacitors they moulded coloured dots into them, and the six dot system is the one used on American postage stamp micas for decades. The top row gives the standard being used and then two significant figures, and the bottom row, read in the opposite direction, gives the multiplier, the tolerance and the characteristic. It is the same idea as the bands on a resistor and it works well when the colours are fresh.
We have not decoded these, and we are not going to pretend to. Under magnification the dots on these three read as tan, cream, yellow, lilac and orange in combinations that do not resolve confidently into the standard colours. Sixty or seventy years of oxidation and light have shifted them, and the distinction that matters most, between brown and gold and a faded white, is exactly the one that is hardest to call. The three units also carry visibly different patterns from each other, so this is a mixed lot rather than three of one value.
That makes these a job for a buyer with a capacitance meter and ten minutes, which is why they are priced as they are. Measure them and you will know what you have, precisely, which is more than the dots would tell you anyway.
Questions about this part
Why are the values not listed?
Because we could not read them with enough confidence to print them. These carry no numerals at all, only six moulded colour dots, and after six or seven decades those colours have shifted. Under magnification they read as tan, cream, yellow, lilac and orange, and the distinctions that matter most, brown against gold against a faded white, are precisely the ones that will not resolve. We would rather sell them honestly as undecoded than print a value a buyer would find wrong on a meter.
How does the six dot system work?
It is the same principle as the bands on a resistor. The top row is read left to right and gives the standard being used followed by the first two significant figures. The bottom row is read right to left and gives the multiplier, the tolerance and the characteristic. An arrow or the shape of the body tells you which way up to hold it. When the colours are crisp it is quick to read, and the whole scheme predates printing numbers on parts this small.
Are all three the same value?
No. Compare the three in the photographs and the dot patterns are visibly different from one another, so this is a mixed lot rather than three of a kind. If you need a matched pair or a set, these are not it, but if you are filling a parts drawer or looking for a specific value at random, three unknowns are three chances.
How do I find out what I have got?
Measure them. Any meter with a capacitance range will read a mica of this size in seconds, and unlike an electrolytic there is no forming or conditioning to do first. Zero the meter with the leads in place before you start, because on the small values these are likely to be, the lead capacitance is a meaningful fraction. Ten minutes with a meter will tell you more precisely what you have than a perfectly readable set of dots would.
Can I decode them myself from the photographs?
You are welcome to try, and if you can read them we would genuinely like to know. The photographs on this listing include close views of the coded faces. Our position is only that we cannot call the colours confidently enough to publish them as a specification, not that the task is impossible for someone with a better eye or the parts in hand under daylight.
Why buy capacitors whose values are unknown?
Because they are cheap, they are period correct, and mica does not deteriorate. For a restoration where the look of the part matters as much as its value, a genuine El-Menco domino is not something you can buy new. And a capacitor whose value you measure yourself is arguably better documented than one you trust a marking on.
What condition are they in?
New old stock, open stock, never fitted. All three bodies are intact with no chips or cracks, the embossed EL-MENCO on the reverse of each is clear, and the leads are unsoldered. The dots are aged, which is the point of this listing, but the capacitors themselves are unused. The photographs show the actual three you would receive.