whats inside capacitors

[Arpit]

I was making an inverter,, and a capacitor exploded, it hit my
forhead, bounced off, hit the roof, and flew down the corridor. I have
a large oval cut on my forhead and blood. THe base of the cap is still
on the breadboard, and has lots of fibres around it. what are those?
are they toxic?

 

[Mike Harding]

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 04:39:20 GMT, Arpit
<DONTSPAMMEF00Lneko4@dodo.com.au> wrote:

I was making an inverter,, and a capacitor exploded, it hit my
forhead, bounced off, hit the roof, and flew down the corridor. I have
a large oval cut on my forhead and blood. THe base of the cap is still
on the breadboard, and has lots of fibres around it. what are those?
are they toxic?

Thank God we put you off that high voltage induction
heating thing!

Mike Harding

 

[Noah]

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 04:39:20 +0000, Arpit wrote:

I was making an inverter,, and a capacitor exploded, it hit my
forhead, bounced off, hit the roof, and flew down the corridor. I have
a large oval cut on my forhead and blood. THe base of the cap is still
on the breadboard, and has lots of fibres around it. what are those?
are they toxic?

Sounds like you're lucky to still have your eyes.
Don't you have any experienced friends that can help you?
Sounds like you used a lower rated cap. Now you know what's inside them.

--

Noah
Linux. The leading OS of the future.

 

[Death Eater Dan]

Yeah I have had that happen, I had one big one hit my back from some idiot
putting like 60v across a 16v cap. They are toxic as in you wouldn't want to
eat it but i wouldnt worry about poisoning or anything. Most likly the
plastic case is what smashed into you and caused the blood. the fibre crap
is just the electrlyte blown up.

"Arpit" <DONTSPAMMEF00Lneko4@dodo.com.au> wrote in message
news:t3pilv4lhuf8hni7m0sfdcu1u7e2edv7ht@4ax.com...

I was making an inverter,, and a capacitor exploded, it hit my
forhead, bounced off, hit the roof, and flew down the corridor. I have
a large oval cut on my forhead and blood. THe base of the cap is still
on the breadboard, and has lots of fibres around it. what are those?
are they toxic?

 

[Richard Parris]

"Arpit" <DONTSPAMMEF00Lneko4@dodo.com.au> wrote in message
news:t3pilv4lhuf8hni7m0sfdcu1u7e2edv7ht@4ax.com...

I was making an inverter,, and a capacitor exploded, it hit my
forhead, bounced off, hit the roof, and flew down the corridor. I have
a large oval cut on my forhead and blood. THe base of the cap is still
on the breadboard, and has lots of fibres around it. what are those?
are they toxic?

You'll live. Whenever I'm energising something with quite a large amount of
energy (on the bench) I tend to look away from it when I turn it on. That
way, if something like a cap is going to say hello it will do so to the back
of your head, and you won't loose your eye sight.

Given the posts I've seen, it might be worth finding a friend with some
experience to give you a hand with these projects, you only live once after
all.

Rich

 

[Unbeliever]

"Arpit" <DONTSPAMMEF00Lneko4@dodo.com.au> wrote in message
news:t3pilv4lhuf8hni7m0sfdcu1u7e2edv7ht@4ax.com...

I was making an inverter,, and a capacitor exploded, it hit my
forhead, bounced off, hit the roof, and flew down the corridor. I have
a large oval cut on my forhead and blood. THe base of the cap is still
on the breadboard, and has lots of fibres around it. what are those?
are they toxic?

You probably either exceeded its voltage rating or soldered it in back to
front.

Always a good idea to wear safety glasses the first time you power up any
sort of power supply with electrolytic caps in it.

The fibres are usually paper soaked in an electrolyte. There are many
electrolytes used by different companies. Low toxicity is *usuallly* one of
the non functional requirements of these electrolytes. Ethylene Glycol,
Ammonium Borate, Ammonium Hydroxide, and even Salicylic Acid (active
ingredient of Aspirin) are often used. If it was Salicylic Acid, that
headache you have from being hit in the head may be self curing.

Tantalum capacitors can also be nasty when you exceed their voltage rating
or reverse their polarity. They often start burning, sometimes acting like
a sparkler, and often making clouds of interesting coloured (but probably
quite poisonous) smoke.

Take care,
alfkatz@remove.the.obvious.ieee.org
www.micromagic.net.au

 

[Brian Goldsmith]

"Death Eater Dan" <DeathEater@Hogwarts.com> wrote

I had one big one hit my back from some idiot
putting like 60v across a 16v cap.


**** The idiot wasn't some clown hiding under the psuedonym "Arpit"as
it?
Brian Goldsmith.

 

[Brian Goldsmith]

"Brian Goldsmith" wrote



The idiot wasn't some clown hiding under the psuedonym "Arpit"as it?

**I also cannot spell "pseudonym" or "was" correctly,Brian Goldsmith.

 

[Arpit]

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 09:33:16 GMT, "Brian Goldsmith"
<brian.goldsmith@nospamecho1.com.au> wrote:

"Death Eater Dan" <DeathEater@Hogwarts.com> wrote

I had one big one hit my back from some idiot
putting like 60v across a 16v cap.


**** The idiot wasn't some clown hiding under the psuedonym "Arpit"as
it?
Brian Goldsmith.

*kicks the shit out of brian *

 

[Arpit]

On Sat, 6 Sep 2003 18:50:05 +1000, "Unbeliever"
<alfkatz@remove.the.bleedin.obvious.ieee.org> wrote:

"Arpit" <DONTSPAMMEF00Lneko4@dodo.com.au> wrote in message
news:t3pilv4lhuf8hni7m0sfdcu1u7e2edv7ht@4ax.com...
I was making an inverter,, and a capacitor exploded, it hit my
forhead, bounced off, hit the roof, and flew down the corridor. I have
a large oval cut on my forhead and blood. THe base of the cap is still
on the breadboard, and has lots of fibres around it. what are those?
are they toxic?

You probably either exceeded its voltage rating or soldered it in back to
front.

Nup, I double checked the polarity, and it was rated to twice the
voltage I was using. What I did do however was charge and discharge it
too quickly, at about 10khz in fact.

Always a good idea to wear safety glasses the first time you power up any
sort of power supply with electrolytic caps in it.

The fibres are usually paper soaked in an electrolyte. There are many
electrolytes used by different companies. Low toxicity is *usuallly* one of
the non functional requirements of these electrolytes. Ethylene Glycol,
Ammonium Borate, Ammonium Hydroxide, and even Salicylic Acid (active
ingredient of Aspirin) are often used. If it was Salicylic Acid, that
headache you have from being hit in the head may be self curing.

Tantalum capacitors can also be nasty when you exceed their voltage rating
or reverse their polarity. They often start burning, sometimes acting like
a sparkler, and often making clouds of interesting coloured (but probably
quite poisonous) smoke.

Take care,
alfkatz@remove.the.obvious.ieee.org
www.micromagic.net.au

 

[Arpit]

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 05:30:37 GMT, Noah <noah@susie.linux.au> wrote:

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 04:39:20 +0000, Arpit wrote:

I was making an inverter,, and a capacitor exploded, it hit my
forhead, bounced off, hit the roof, and flew down the corridor. I have
a large oval cut on my forhead and blood. THe base of the cap is still
on the breadboard, and has lots of fibres around it. what are those?
are they toxic?

Sounds like you're lucky to still have your eyes.
Don't you have any experienced friends that can help you?
None whatsoever

Sounds like you used a lower rated cap. Now you know what's inside them.

Heh, yeah, Im using a pulse rated one now.

 

[Arpit]

On Sat, 6 Sep 2003 16:12:47 +1000, "Death Eater Dan"
<DeathEater@Hogwarts.com> wrote:

Yeah I have had that happen, I had one big one hit my back from some idiot
putting like 60v across a 16v cap. They are toxic as in you wouldn't want to
eat it but i wouldnt worry about poisoning or anything. Most likly the
plastic case is what smashed into you and caused the blood. the fibre crap
is just the electrlyte blown up.

Yeah, except the case was metal
"Arpit" <DONTSPAMMEF00Lneko4@dodo.com.au> wrote in message
news:t3pilv4lhuf8hni7m0sfdcu1u7e2edv7ht@4ax.com...
I was making an inverter,, and a capacitor exploded, it hit my
forhead, bounced off, hit the roof, and flew down the corridor. I have
a large oval cut on my forhead and blood. THe base of the cap is still
on the breadboard, and has lots of fibres around it. what are those?
are they toxic?

 

[Arpit]

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 07:17:10 GMT, "Richard Parris"
<_nospam_rparris@bigpond.net.au> wrote:

"Arpit" <DONTSPAMMEF00Lneko4@dodo.com.au> wrote in message
news:t3pilv4lhuf8hni7m0sfdcu1u7e2edv7ht@4ax.com...
I was making an inverter,, and a capacitor exploded, it hit my
forhead, bounced off, hit the roof, and flew down the corridor. I have
a large oval cut on my forhead and blood. THe base of the cap is still
on the breadboard, and has lots of fibres around it. what are those?
are they toxic?

You'll live. Whenever I'm energising something with quite a large amount of
energy (on the bench) I tend to look away from it when I turn it on. That
way, if something like a cap is going to say hello it will do so to the back
of your head, and you won't loose your eye sight.

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. When I was younger, a similar
capacitor explosion actually happened, I had exceeeded the voltage
rating there, making a voltage quadrupler. It hit me just below the
eye, phew. Im gonna wear safety goggles from now on.

Given the posts I've seen, it might be worth finding a friend with some
experience to give you a hand with these projects, you only live once after
all.

Thanks, but noone i know has any experience with this stuff

Rich

 

[manuka]

Assume your cap. was an electrolytic ? If so these traditionally used
Ammonium Chloride ( "Sal Ammoniac") = quite safe. In fact more
electros. blow from incorrect polarisation than over voltage- I had it
happen on a brand new modem a few years ago = MOST disturbing for the
customer ! As part of "use your nose as well" to fault find, I explode
2200 uF 16VW under controlled circumstances for tech newbies. Some
just fizz - others go like a rifle shot. Boy - does this wake up the
backrow ! The fumes have a distinctive salty bite to them that's a
real giveaway to the nature of the fault. Of course other components
have their own failure aroma too - overheated Rs, cooked 555s,
overloaded transformers & burnt PVC insulation in particular. I've
been in electronics 40 years (& also have a keen nose !) & note such
initial insights often forgotten now. Duh - it's not rocket science to
just use you eyes & nose.

 

[Arpit]

Oh my goodness! I thought I was the only one why used smells! ALso
very distinctive smells are Overheated motors and diodes

On 6 Sep 2003 03:08:09 -0700, manuka@orcon.net.nz (manuka) wrote:

Assume your cap. was an electrolytic ? If so these traditionally used
Ammonium Chloride ( "Sal Ammoniac") = quite safe. In fact more
electros. blow from incorrect polarisation than over voltage- I had it
happen on a brand new modem a few years ago = MOST disturbing for the
customer ! As part of "use your nose as well" to fault find, I explode
2200 uF 16VW under controlled circumstances for tech newbies. Some
just fizz - others go like a rifle shot. Boy - does this wake up the
backrow ! The fumes have a distinctive salty bite to them that's a
real giveaway to the nature of the fault. Of course other components
have their own failure aroma too - overheated Rs, cooked 555s,
overloaded transformers & burnt PVC insulation in particular. I've
been in electronics 40 years (& also have a keen nose !) & note such
initial insights often forgotten now. Duh - it's not rocket science to
just use you eyes & nose.

 

[Alan Rutlidge]

"manuka" <manuka@orcon.net.nz> wrote in message
news:dd8572bb.0309060208.18cbd7b6@posting.google.com...

Assume your cap. was an electrolytic ? If so these traditionally used
Ammonium Chloride ( "Sal Ammoniac") = quite safe. In fact more
electros. blow from incorrect polarisation than over voltage- I had it
happen on a brand new modem a few years ago = MOST disturbing for the
customer ! As part of "use your nose as well" to fault find, I explode
2200 uF 16VW under controlled circumstances for tech newbies. Some
just fizz - others go like a rifle shot. Boy - does this wake up the
backrow ! The fumes have a distinctive salty bite to them that's a
real giveaway to the nature of the fault. Of course other components
have their own failure aroma too - overheated Rs, cooked 555s,
overloaded transformers & burnt PVC insulation in particular. I've
been in electronics 40 years (& also have a keen nose !) & note such
initial insights often forgotten now. Duh - it's not rocket science to
just use you eyes & nose.

It's a mystery how electronic parts manufacturer's get the smoke inside
these devices. From my experience, once the smoke gets out - they are
cactus..............

Cheers,
Alan

 

[KLR]

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 10:24:24 GMT, Arpit
<DONTSPAMMEF00Lneko4@dodo.com.au> wrote:

Oh my goodness! I thought I was the only one why used smells! ALso
very distinctive smells are Overheated motors and diodes

yes - overheated motors (and solenoids) have a particularly disgusting
(and distinctive) smell.


I think the worst stink would have to be a burning/smoking selenium
rectifier. Fortunately you dont see these much these days

On 6 Sep 2003 03:08:09 -0700, manuka@orcon.net.nz (manuka) wrote:

Assume your cap. was an electrolytic ? If so these traditionally used
Ammonium Chloride ( "Sal Ammoniac") = quite safe. In fact more
electros. blow from incorrect polarisation than over voltage- I had it
happen on a brand new modem a few years ago = MOST disturbing for the
customer ! As part of "use your nose as well" to fault find, I explode
2200 uF 16VW under controlled circumstances for tech newbies. Some
just fizz - others go like a rifle shot. Boy - does this wake up the
backrow ! The fumes have a distinctive salty bite to them that's a
real giveaway to the nature of the fault. Of course other components
have their own failure aroma too - overheated Rs, cooked 555s,
overloaded transformers & burnt PVC insulation in particular. I've
been in electronics 40 years (& also have a keen nose !) & note such
initial insights often forgotten now. Duh - it's not rocket science to
just use you eyes & nose.

 

[Sambo]

"Brian Goldsmith" <brian.goldsmith@nospamecho1.com.au> wrote in message news:55i6b.85524$bo1.40217@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

"Brian Goldsmith" wrote



The idiot wasn't some clown hiding under the psuedonym "Arpit"as it?

**I also cannot spell "pseudonym" or "was" correctly,Brian Goldsmith.

Can be a problem when completely blotto.

 

[Phil Allison]

"Unbeliever" <alfkatz@remove.the.bleedin.obvious.ieee.org> wrote in message
news:3f599fb8$0$4189

The fibres are usually paper soaked in an electrolyte. There are many
electrolytes used by different companies. Low toxicity is *usuallly* one
of
the non functional requirements of these electrolytes. Ethylene Glycol,
Ammonium Borate, Ammonium Hydroxide, and even Salicylic Acid (active
ingredient of Aspirin) are often used.

If it was Salicylic Acid, that
headache you have from being hit in the head may be self curing.

** There should have been a warning in front of that one !


ROTFLMAO



........... Phil

 

[Albm&ctd]

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 04:39:20 GMT, Arpit
<DONTSPAMMEF00Lneko4@dodo.com.au> wrote:

I was making an inverter,, and a capacitor exploded, it hit my
forhead, bounced off, hit the roof, and flew down the corridor. I have
a large oval cut on my forhead and blood. THe base of the cap is still
on the breadboard, and has lots of fibres around it. what are those?
are they toxic?

We needed a laugh. LOL
In future, for safety reasons, please video all you experiments.
Maybe turn them into a movie.

Al

2003 insult page awaits your contribution
http://kwakakid.cjb.net/insult.html