unclej Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 and when they do they will scare hell out of you, burn holes in you're indoor/outdoor carpet that you've covered your work bench with, burn a hole in your favorite hawaiian shirt and a small one on your right arm, blow oily fuzzy junk all over your storage bins, the screen of your oscilloscope and your multi-meter and just generally make you really want a whiskey and a cigar...just thought you'd like to know. by the way i had just replaced all five of the big caps on a bassman 10 and assuming that i oriented the pos/neg right, and i'm positive that i did, what will normallly make one blow like that? oh yeah, and do i get any sort of merrit badge for this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 The only ways I've been able to blow 'em up are massive over-voltage and wiring 'em backwards (the arrow goes to negative, which is counterintuitive, at least for me). It's impressive, though, isn't it? I thought I'd been shot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted March 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 ok, forget that part where i said that i was positive that i'd wired them right..not..i thought the arrow pointed positive..but yeah, impressive is a good description. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 *POP* That takes me back to vo-tech where we had a little "trophy" sign that you would mount over your work bench and attach whatever was left of the component you blew up to it. Kind of embarrasing, although you could hide most resistor or diode meltdowns, everybody could hear it when you blew an electrolytic cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Cavanaugh Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 never blown one myself, but others in my class do it all the time. Smells like someone put a big scoop of peanut butter on a skillet! Yuck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Blow one of them at 500 volts DC with the BOLT-ON terminals pointing up! There are still holes in the ceiling insulation at our old shop from this. They were not over-voltaged or reversed, they were just bad. Brand new ones can do this without any reason so always be prepared. AND hold your nose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted March 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 *POP* That takes me back to vo-tech where we had a little "trophy" sign that you would mount over your work bench and attach whatever was left of the component you blew up to it. when i finally found the plastic outer covering i pinned it to the wall over my work bench with a little note.."arrow points negative". by the way lk, counterintuitive is one of the better words i've heard lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stageleft Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Wow finally you guys are talking about something I can relate to I blew a cap making a simple constant intensity light circut for a model train a few years back. Very loud, very suprising.....I had of course put it in backward. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executioner606 Posted March 25, 2005 Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Whiskey and a cigar , now thats what im talking about. Didnt happen to get pictures did you ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted March 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Whiskey and a cigar , now thats what im talking about. Didnt happen to get pictures did you ? didn't think about pictures but i did go out and have a couple of whiskies and i'm sitting at home now having a cigar..all in all..a good day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted March 25, 2005 Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Well, it looks like the 'Lectrolytic Blower-Upper's Club is bigger than I thought - I figured I was the only one to have it happen more than once! Maybe we should issue a merit badge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted March 25, 2005 Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 It's the damn arrow. It points the wrong way in a DC circuit. I seem to remember in college a few friends had some problems with the motherboards in their computers. Seems there was some Asian industrial espionage going on between a shady component manufacturer and a legit supplier of electrolytics. Somehow the spy got the recipe wrong and within months the caps would either leak or explode, destroying the motherboard. I have a few old can caps lying around in the parts box. Maybe I should set off some nerd fireworks sometime around Cinco De Mayo... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted March 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Maybe I should set off some nerd fireworks sometime around Cinco De Mayo... lol..nerd fireworks..i like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unusual71 Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 that would be pretty sweet, salvaged off old whatevers, and experiment what values at what voltage gives what effect lol....you could write your bloody name in the side of someones car =D......not that I endorse, or even think of doing stuff like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Gee, I guess I can't join this club... I haven't blown up any caps yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarmonky55 Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 after i read this thread last night i went to my worktable and found an old cannibalized board with a bunch of really big 10 and 25v electrolytics, so i started ripping them off and hooking them up at 15vdc, except backwards. FUN! i wish i had a power supply that i could use to throw something massive at them, as im sure it would be more entertaining. but its fun nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Gmonkey, ferget about the power supply! Hit dem puppies wid 120VAC right outta da outlet!! Talk about geek fireworks!! Just use a really long cord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarmonky55 Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Gmonkey, ferget about the power supply! Hit dem puppies wid 120VAC right outta da outlet!! Talk about geek fireworks!! Just use a really long cord. ← im so doing that, sounds fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted March 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 doesn't take much to make you boys happy does it? Gee, I guess I can't join this club... I haven't blown up any caps yet! it's not hard to do at all paul..even i managed it without a lot of trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 it's not hard to do at all paul..even i managed it without a lot of trouble. I know. I'm just really careful with that sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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