Filter capacitor across AC plug?

Oh it's funny. Especially since it usually stays charged long enough to get you twice... Any time I've picked up a cap by the leads and got a zap, the cap got thrown across the room... That's the real danger... No one wants to crack a television with a stray capacitor :D

These days, nobody is dumb enough to "catch" the capacitor - they all know better. I also used to charge up an old 330uF junk cap to 400V and short it on a frying pan to startle people lol
 
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My 40,000µF 400V capacitor array (for can crusher project) makes enough noise on discharge (using massive SCR) to require hearing protection - I think it would puncture a frying pan. That's 3.2kJ stored energy. It also deforms thick copper wire so its no longer round in cross section and is too hot to touch.


Definitely not to be messed with...
 
My 40,000µF 400V capacitor array (for can crusher project) makes enough noise on discharge (using massive SCR) to require hearing protection - I think it would puncture a frying pan. That's 3.2kJ stored energy. It also deforms thick copper wire so its no longer round in cross section and is too hot to touch.


Definitely not to be messed with...

Awesome!

I have a favorite X cap, is made by Vishay and I always get the .1uf.
 
If switching an inductive load (like a transformer) shouldn't the cap after the switch be sized to the load for best effect? I.e. won't too small a value not quench the arc on switch and not stop the electrical noise, and too large will increase risk causing a switch on arc charging (or discharging, depending on position) the capacitor and premature failure of the switch contacts?
 
My 40,000µF 400V capacitor array (for can crusher project) makes enough noise on discharge (using massive SCR) to require hearing protection - I think it would puncture a frying pan. That's 3.2kJ stored energy. It also deforms thick copper wire so its no longer round in cross section and is too hot to touch.


Definitely not to be messed with...

About what I use in one of my speaker magnetizers.

You are 90% there, includingb the vital SCR switch, if some day you need one or want to provide the service for advanced reconers or small Speaker factories yu only need to build the proper yoke.

With that kind of energy you can easily magnetize 150mm ferrite magnets and just reach 170mm ones, big macho man stuff, well beyond typical magnetic motors used in Hi Fi stuff.

Not sure about Neo, they have their own batch of special problems.

Any link to can crushing stuff?
 
That's not a safety cap. That Y does not mean the same thing as line-safety. Y5R is a medium quality dielectric for local bypassing. X7R is another, not safety cap, not suitable for power lines.

You can get Y5R/U/V (and Z5R/U/V) that are Y rated. Those 3KV discs often are - and what I typically use for solid state rectifier snubbers on tube amp power supplies. X5R (and the higher temp X7R) can’t handle enough voltage to *be* Y rated. They don’t come in much above 100 volt. And they don’t have any capacitance left when charged up that high anyway. A 3 KV cap will still have most all its capacitance when charged up to 400 volts.
 
Capacitance vs. voltage curve. At rated voltage, class 2 ceramic caps are often only 10% of “rated” capacitance. You can only get so much charge on them - the dielectric tends to “saturate” with field strength the same way iron does with current. That’s why they call them “ferroelectric”.
 
No. The Y in Y5R is the dielectric type. There would be a separate Y rating marking on one, if it has it. Sometimes a TUV, VDE, CSA, or UR - depending on whatever safety certs they have. I never specifically order them that way - I pick up a LOT of old ceramics on the surplus market. I get enough of them that do have a safety rating of some sort that I can use them on my highest voltage supplies. Nice to know that a cap can’t fail short circuit and take out a stack of 1N5408’s. When they go, they can throw pieces some 10 feet and take out an eye.

I also have plenty of other ceramics with just a dielectric characteristic and a uF value marked on them. Even 3KV ones. I use those when the voltages are lower, or if there’s something that can limit current between it and the transformer/rectifier.