Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #02106
To: Benjamin Edward Hitchcock beh01@uow.edu.au
From: "Paul B. Webster VK2BZC" pwebster@clinipath.com.au
Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 17:36:17 +1000
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: capacitors exploding
Benjamin Edward Hitchcock wrote:
> So if you're working with capacitors at reasonable voltages (above say
> 20 volts) please make sure that you get them the right way around.
> They do explode.
The voltage is irrelevant in this context. It's the *can*!
> I've never seen one explode at the voltage that BEAM uses,
Then you haven't worked with computers.
> but I suppose that anything's possible, especially with very high
> capacitances.
If you wire it in reverse, a large current can flow. This has
relatively little to do with the capacitance or indeed voltage. The
power delivery of your power supply is more important. It has nothing
to do with discharge of the electrical energy, everything to do with the
buildup of heat and pressure in the can and perhaps the size of the can.
That was the import of my previous comment.
--
Cheers,
Paul B.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
eGroup home: http://www.eGroups.com/list/alt-beam
Free Web-based e-mail groups by eGroups.com
Home