In article ,
Lee K. Gleason wrote:
Hello all. I'm restoring an old radio, and in the process of replacing
the assorted electrolytic caps, I came across a half melted looking wax
coated cylindrical cap. The only markings on it are "Micamold 420E2503. On
the next line, it says ".05 plus or minus 20 150". It's a tubular shape, not
the usual postage stamp or lozenge shape that Micamold caps usually are.
It's got a band on one end, so I'm guessing it's polarized - although the
end without the band is grounded, the opposite of what I would have guessed.
I'm guessing, .05MFD, 150 volts. I can't just look it up in the schematic,
since this this part of the radio is a circuit a previous owner added on to
support a Magic Eye tuning indicator tube. What do you think?

Sounds like an ordinary old wax paper condenser, definitely not
polarized. What's its function in the circuit? Sounds like a real
home-brew mod, as if it is grounded, the band (outside foil) should
have gone to ground. An ordinary .05 mike mylar cap, 150 volts or higher,
is a replacement, if that value is suitable for the circuit function.

Hank