What to do with big capacitors?

[sanddrag]

I've got a couple 25,000uF 40VDC capacitors. Is there anything cool I can do with them?

[Viper37]

Charge them up, short em out, run.




Well, you could use them for some high powered audio system.

Or you could make a giant tazer.

Better yet, charge them up and leave them on a bench top for some unsuspecting victim to touch.

My dad said back when he had electronics shop they would charge up little caps and leave them laying around for freshman to pickup.

[Arkorobotics]

A tack welder. Maybe even a mobile one!!!

[BuddyB309]

-tesla coil

-charge it up, grab a couple of friends, and take turns putting the ends on your tonge.

-same thing, but nostrils

-get some raw chicken wings and make it dance

-get a volenteer to allow the ends to be stuck in his head. (have emergency crew stand by)

-put the two ends in the pool when someone is swimming (may be dangerous)

-try to light stuff on fire with the spark (is there a spark?)

-charge it up, grab some old electronics, and watch the magic smoke!

-sell it on ebay

-compare the shock bettween that and the shock that you get from a disposeable camera flash capacitor

-give it fully charged to the newbies

-mount it on the wall, and claim you shot it when you where hunting in south africa

-chuck it at my head to disable me from comming up with any more ideas

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by BuddyB309

-tesla coil

-charge it up, grab a couple of friends, and take turns putting the ends on your tonge.

-same thing, but nostrils

-get some raw chicken wings and make it dance

-get a volenteer to allow the ends to be stuck in his head. (have emergency crew stand by)

-put the two ends in the pool when someone is swimming (may be dangerous)

-try to light stuff on fire with the spark (is there a spark?)

-charge it up, grab some old electronics, and watch the magic smoke!

-sell it on ebay

-compare the shock bettween that and the shock that you get from a disposeable camera flash capacitor

-give it fully charged to the newbies

-mount it on the wall, and claim you shot it when you where hunting in south africa

-chuck it at my head to disable me from comming up with any more ideas

I wouldn't do any of these things! Rule of thumb...if it sparks don't put your face and especially your tongue near it!

Those are some serious caps, might make a spectacular linear power supply.

[lukevanoort]

Rail Gun. Alright, they're a bit small, depending on your number and desired power. Then again, they might be just fine and I'm just crazy... most likely the latter, I had a railgun design I was going to make for Physics extra credit that had a theoretical 1MW output.

[Cody Carey]

Those are overkill for a small railgun... There are a few sets of plans out there that can launch 1x1mm steel balls at 30+ m/s and are made out of 5 or 6 disposable cameras, I'd love to see what you can make with those!

[chris31]

Disposable camera capacitors are like 400 uF, I think. So with those you could make something very nice!

[Qbranch]

Originally Posted by lukevanoort

Rail Gun. Alright, they're a bit small, depending on your number and desired power. Then again, they might be just fine and I'm just crazy... most likely the latter, I had a railgun design I was going to make for Physics extra credit that had a theoretical 1MW output.

Actually.... if you tied these all in parallel and got a large wound electromagnet, put a steel magnetized ring over a pole, and discharged the caps into the magnet, it will shoot up pretty dang far!

btw can't take all the credit for that, i saw it at the carnegie science museum.

-Q

[MAteo9944]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9bnhJqWaR0

Here is a low power shot from one of my projects.
There were 9 more caps in parallel for use outside.
It was very amusing.

The most power I ever used was 1KJ

[Protronie]

Hey I got a really crazy idea

Why not just put them in a locker somewhere... and hang on to them .

You might come up with a good[/i] use for them someday.

[Matt Krass]

I say save them, you never know when a sensible, safe use for them will come up.

To all of you suggesting stupid, dangerous stunts, shame on you. When dealing with high powered devices the last thing on your minds should be "What stunts can I pull with this?"

Show some respect for the amount of damage you can cause to yourself when you're fooling around with stuff, this might be a relatively small capacitor, compared to say a computer monitor, but it can still hurt someone.

I'll never understand what's amusing about hurting yourself.

I say save em for a project, I bet you can come up with something cool. (And safe!)

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Qbranch

Actually.... if you tied these all in parallel and got a large wound electromagnet, put a steel magnetized ring over a pole, and discharged the caps into the magnet, it will shoot up pretty dang far!

btw can't take all the credit for that, i saw it at the carnegie science museum.

-Q

Are you sure the ring wasn't aluminum? That's what's used in the usual demonstration of such effects.

[Qbranch]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Are you sure the ring wasn't aluminum? That's what's used in the usual demonstration of such effects.

it may have been aluminum, what I should have said was a metal ring, just saw the thing at a science museum, thought it was cool, and this thread reminded me of it, you are probably right.

-Q

[BuddyB309]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

I wouldn't do any of these things! Rule of thumb...if it sparks don't put your face and especially your tongue near it!

Those are some serious caps, might make a spectacular linear power supply.

sorry i have no idea the power that this capacitor can dish out. I was just comming up with some random ideas that I wouldnt want anybody to take seriously.