cap shock

[nyazzip]

got my first capacitor shock today...from a camera! i took the batteries (two "AA"s, 1.5v each) out of a little digital camera and unscrewed the case to see if i could fix the lens which appeared to have jammed....so i was handling the naked guts, and i guess my finger planted a bit to firmly on a copper ground....POW it got me and i dropped the camera- i forgot all about the flash feature! i eventually dug out the cap and it was a 300v 110uF cap. left a tiny pinhole burn on my finger too.
just thought it was amusing. be careful out there folks....they can get you anywhere!

[Tubeamp]

Try to short a larger capacitor with a screwdriver ...it can melt the tip !!!!!

[Triodethom]

Sorry it bit you but those cap make very good heater filters and cathode bypass caps. Not so much in the power supply unless they have a choke before them they have very low esr and are not built for a lot in rush current pulse .

[dcriner]

Quite a few decades ago, automotive ignition systems had coils and caps (condensers). Most service stations had cap checkers, which charged the cap to a high voltage. Some kid would pitch a charged cap to another kid, yelling, "Here, catch." You normally didn't fall for that trick more than once!