Exploding Electronics (Not FIRST Specific)

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Many of the devices in the video are electrolytic capacitors. They are manufactured with a chemical that makes them wet inside as part of their function. When they are abused, the liquid boils and produces the steam you see in some of the video. The caps have cuts in the case to act as pressure relief point when the cap fails. That is where you see the steam escaping in the video. I have seen some rather spectacular self destruction of electrolytic caps over the years. The cap is also a rolled up assembly of alternate paper and aluminum foil. I have seen a cap explode and leave a trail of paper and foil like a party favor all over the room. Recently, a server failed in one of our editing rooms and in looking at the motherboard, I found the remains of a blown cap, just two lead sticking out of the board. The power supply had failed and the cap was the merely the first component to give it's life before the fuses blew.