At 10:34 PM 9/28/2009, David Beierl wrote...
>>Perhaps simply removing the old cap will allow proper operation,
>>except for that power-on indication.
>
>Actually I believe that removing the cap will force blinking forever
>-- the reason it fails to stop is that internal and external leakage
>prevent the cap from ever charging enough to trigger the
>shutoff.

I don't follow your logic.

If charging the cap turns off the blinking, then changing to a 0 pF cap
with 0 leakage (i.e. removing the cap) should cause the circuit to
charge instantly, and stay charged.