Phil Nelson wrote:
RECAP YOUR HQ-145 - even if it only has the one can.

Amen. I don't know why so many people are too lazy -- or is it just too
stubborn -- to replace those ancient electrolytics.

After you have burned up an expensive and/or "unobtanium" power
transformer, you'll see what I'm talking about.

Turning the radio on without reforming the cap is indeed laziness.

Bringing the radio up slowly with a variac, is less lazy, but still
fraught with problems... most folks won't go as slowly as you really
need to go (about 8 hours from 50% to 100% power with a close eye on
input current.) for success.

But if you can reform the cap (and if you do it out of circuit with
a current limiting resistor it is obvious when you are successful),
it will be just as good as when it was new.

New multi-section electrolytic capacitors are not always available today.
Some values exist because of the guitar-amp crowd, but in general they
are more purely unobtainium than power transformers (check out Hammond).

Why replace it if it reforms ok?

-Chuck