Is it really that serious though? I've seen those same old Otis boxes running fine for years after people said they were ticking time bombs. Maybe a thermography scan would catch things earlier, but sometimes a quick visual check does the job just as well without all the extra cost.

Kept hearing stuff like that from the old guys who hang around the feed store and wrote it off as them being cranky. Had one guy tell me in 2017 that we'd see $200 fertilizer before 2025, laughed it off while grabbing a bag of ammonium nitrate. Now I'm dropping triple that and actually listening when they start talking about the next thing. Feels dumb to admit I was the one scrolling my phone while someone tried to hand me the answers.

Toss the paste for through-hole and stick with a decent 63/37 rosin core. Hot air is fine for surface mount but you need that mechanical bonding plus the wetting action from a hot iron on leads.

Heard about this from an old timer at the fleet shop down in Baton Rouge... said the same thing about reverse flow being the way to go. Dry running just cooks the seal because the water's what keeps it cool and lubed up. I think a lot of guys don't realize the pump's not designed to spin without that fluid cushion, so it's basically metal on metal in there once it goes dry. That reverse trick sounds a lot smarter than blowing $600 on a seal kit every time you hit a patch of gravel.

Wait has anyone checked if Phoenix humidity levels are messing with those caps before they even get installed? I know it's dry out there but the swing between 110 degree attics and AC cooled houses creates condensation inside the panels sometimes. Had a buddy in Tucson lose three boards that way before he started letting them sit in the garage for a day to acclimate, just something to think about.