MF or UF?

[Dime59hum]

What the difference in a capacitor? Example: .22uf .22mf . Whats the difference? Whats your preference?

[Dime59hum]

Re: MF or UF?

Bump.

[midnite_man]

Re: MF or UF?

That's a good question, Dime. There's also "pf" ratings as well. Maybe STRATDELUXER97, or someone more knowledgeable in that department will chime in.
Anyone?

[Farkus]

Re: MF or UF?

Dude, I think that what you're reading as Uf is actually the letter MU which is essentially a fancy looking letter M. MU=micro. so mf=microfarad.

[midnite_man]

Re: MF or UF?

Okay, let's see if this helps....
I went to the Geofex website (http://www.geofex.com/) and found this brief explanation right off the bat there:

I found this in the subdirectory on the left-side of the main page under "Regular Features," clicked on "electronics," went to Graham Knott's "Electronics for Beginners," then clicked on "Components."


"Capacitors come in all shapes and sizes and are usually marked with their value.
Values are measure in Farads. Values in Farads are unusual. Most capacitor values are measured in microfarads, nanofarads or picofarads. See the page on Value multipliers to find out more about this."

I would've dug in further, but wanted to get this posted to see if it would help you out at all. This website is great for DIY'ers interested in electronics, effect-making or modding, amp-building, and such.
Hope it helps!

-Bob

[tone4days]

Re: MF or UF?

yes the "u" is an approximation of the greek letter mu .. which is the scientific abbreviation for 'micro' meaning 1x10 exp-6 (one times ten to the negative 6th power, or one millionth)

n is for 'nano' and is equal to 1 x 10exp-9 (one times ten to the negative 9th power, or one billionth)

p is for 'pico' and is equal to 1 x 10exp-12 (one times ten to the negative 12th power, or one trillionth)


.22 uF or .22mf are equivalent values for a capacitor .. you have to be a little careful because the lower case m is used for 'milli' which is one times ten to the negative 3rd power, or one thousandth .. but for a capacitor relevant to guitars, there would never be a case to use a cap in the millifarad range ... it wouldnt fit inside the guitar's cavity :-)

hope this helps

cheers,
t4d

[Dime59hum]

Re: MF or UF?

Thanks man, you always come through with awesome info, I appreciate your post.

[JOLLY]

Re: MF or UF?

I've been called a MF quite a few times. That's about the extent of my knowledge

[tone4days]

Re: MF or UF?

no prob, lil tone bro ... happy to help

i saw your sig .. that schecter is gonna KILL somebody with a FS and 500XL in it !! .. i'll be able to hear it all the way up the east coast

cheers,
t4d

[59paul]

Re: MF or UF?

Hey Jolly, me too. What does it mean, anyway ????? LOL

[MattPete]

Re: MF or UF?

u = mu = micro

BUT, I think I read that m = milli!

Having said that, I think 99% of the time you see mF, they really mean uF (µf)

[Vintheo]

Re: MF or UF?

Yes uF stands for a micro-farad and mF stands for a milli-farad. The most commonly used capacitors are uF (micro-farads) in common electrical circuitry, but other applications such as a TV use huge capacitors ranging from Farads even to KiloFarads.

[Kent S.]

Re: MF or UF?

yes the "u" is an approximation of the greek letter mu .. which is the scientific abbreviation for 'micro' meaning 1x10 exp-6 (one times ten to the negative 6th power, or one millionth)

n is for 'nano' and is equal to 1 x 10exp-9 (one times ten to the negative 9th power, or one billionth)

p is for 'pico' and is equal to 1 x 10exp-12 (one times ten to the negative 12th power, or one trillionth)


.22 uF or .22mf are equivalent values for a capacitor .. you have to be a little careful because the lower case m is used for 'milli' which is one times ten to the negative 3rd power, or one thousandth .. but for a capacitor relevant to guitars, there would never be a case to use a cap in the millifarad range ... it wouldnt fit inside the guitar's cavity :-)

hope this helps

cheers,
t4d

What you said dead on, actually I think the use of the lower case m is just a mistake period, it's used by accident because people are not aware of what it means. It is just what you said, an abbreviation for an exponential power.

Regarding cap magnitudes they work like so:
pF = picofarad, nF =nanofarad, uF = microfarad
1,000pF = 1nF; 1,000nf = 1uF
There is also a three digit picofarad code that is used, kinda a shorthand for capacitor values ... the first two digits are the value, and the thrid is the multiplier (number of zeros added after, the value is represented in picofarads)
For instance 102 is 10 + two zeros = 1,000pF; 223 is 22 + 3 zeros= 22,000pF ...which equals 22nF, which equals .022uF. So all you have to do is move the decimal point around to transpose magnitudes.

[southadc]

Re: MF or UF?

What the difference in a capacitor? Example: .22uf .22mf . Whats the difference? Whats your preference?

If that's the correct use of the m and u prefixes, then there's a factor of 1000 difference, i.e. 0.22mf = 220uf. If you pick up an engineering text book you'll find a long list of what power of ten each prefix relates to.