how do you discharge your caps?

[travis]

what's your preferred method of discharging your big caps? i'm going to work on my sovtek's tone controls because they don't work.

[Fantastic]

Use a large ( 3 watt ) 470 ohm resistor or something similar. You will need to hold it across the cap for at least 30 sec if it is very large in value ( like 20,000uF).The value avoids sparking due to large currents. Caution: Make sure the mains power is OFF !
Hold the resistor with a plier or make an insulated grip for it with a piece of cardboard.

[fdegrove]

Hi,

Hmmm...they should have a bleeder resistor somewhere.

In case they don't- not a very wise practice-you could put a 220K across them and monitor them discharging through a voltmeter.

Don't just short them with a metallic object, it will damage the caps, not to mention the spark you'll see.

Cheers,

[travis]

man, this thing is too hard to take apart. i wanted to be like "hey dad, watch this" and then put a screwdriver across or something. i think i'll take this too a tech. its used and i have never had it inspected.

[Sch3mat1c]

With my tounge.

Nah, I usually watch it with a voltmeter, long as I saw it fall at a rate slower than that which the meter falls at if the contact came loose, and shows some residual, maybe just a few volts - then I short it with a screwdriver or pliers for piece of mind.

If I'm having a slow day sometimes I'll short it with voltage still in it (not to say it's still powered!), but I don't recommend doing this habitually.

Tim

[stokessd]

I'm suprised that nobody said "jesus stick"...



Sheldon