> [Electrolytics] can explode pretty violently, so let me tell you a > story. [...785V on a 450V cap...serious dent in plaster...]
My exploding cap story is not quite so impressive, but I know I certainly found it convincing. I put together a circuit - can't even remember what it was, now - on one of those solderless breadboards. Turned it on and it seemed to be working, but then I heard this hissing noise. I was just starting to try to locate it when the cap let go. Fortunately it was a small one (perhaps half a millicoulomb rating); all it did was make a bang and a small cloud, which settled in moments to cover everything within about a 6" radius with a thin film of something oily-feeling. On reflection, I realized I'd been running it at something like twice its rated voltage. Ever since I've been substantially more careful to think about voltage ratings when selecting electrolytics. /~\ The ASCII Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mo...@rodents-montreal.org / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B _______________________________________________ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user