Capacitor Charger

This project details the process of building a device capable of charging a flash capacitor (the type of capacitor found in disposable cameras).

What possible use could anyone have for a capacitor charger?

You'd be surprised /lie

Action packed video after the jump.

*jump*

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*splat*



Is it not fascinating?

Step 1: Materials

The materials will end up running you somewhere between 0 and 20 dollars.

1. Disposable camera w/ flash
2. Soldering iron and solder
3. A few square inches of 1/4" thick wood, acrylic, glass, etc.
4. Super glue / hot glue
5. Momentary push button switch
6. Syringe tips (Come with ink cartridge refill kits)
7. Wire
8. AA battery holder

Comments

[whiskeysausage]

can you 'trickle' charge a capacitor?

I understand that a capacitor must be charge by the same voltage that the capacitor can hold before the plates reject incoming. I.e. - a 9v battery can charge a capacitor to 9volts. No more no less.

There is though, no mention of amperage. Can you trickle charge a capacitor at 9volts, but 0.001amps, and over time, achieve a fully charged capacitor capable of discharging 9v worth of energy at 1 amp?

Or is there a pre-determined 'amp' rating that capacitors must be charged at?

Thanks.

[agm88]

epicly fuunnyy and weird at the same time =)

[wolf996]

Ewww!!! Silence Of The Lambs Reference!!!

[scamp]

who likes this one? its a 25 volt i think and 1000 mF would that hurt badly/kill some one?

[Sandisk1duo]

25v is not enough voltage to go thru skin (sorry) 50+ volts and you start to feel it, but if you lick you finger and touch the terminals of the 25v capacitor, you just might be able to feel it You need a 300V+ and a couple(20+) hundred uF to leave a mark

[silencekilla]

wrong it only takes 1 volt to kill you and if it goes across your heart you are 70% more likely to die from it

[zeosrule]

Not to be rude but it is one amp not one volt

[mettaurlover]

hm... what would a 250 volt 4500 capacitor touched you?

[Sandisk1duo]

depends on if it is charged or not... charged, i wouldn't like it one bit... discharged, sure!

[Sandisk1duo]

although i do have a 330v 4000+ uf capacitor

[evanwehrer]

 I have a 16V 77000MFD capacitor....two actually. Their BIG

[mettaurlover]

I have a 200/680/5442 if anyone knows what the third number means...

[mettaurlover]

wow... i now have a 50 volt 4500 uf capacitor with solder on the ends of the leads... it contact solders anything it discharges through...!

[Wesley666]

I have a capacitor rated at 500v at 10000uF, how much would that hurt?

[Emett_builds]

Probably kill you withh a full charge.

[Wesley666]

Depends if it can deliver any sort of current. If it can discharge 500v doesn't mean it will have anywhere near the amperage to kill you.

[mettaurlover]

Well, depending on how large the capacitor itself is, it could kill you. If it's large enough, it could actually have the amperage to kill you, but if it's as small as it could get while still having that capacity, probably not.

[master key]

I have a capacitor thats 16v at 68000uF and another a 50v 6800uF

[mettaurlover]

a lot. i'd not put that anywhere near my skin if i was you...

[Wesley666]

OK, what about a cap rated at 1500v at 120uF?

[ReCreate]

It will probably be discharged before you get a chance of removing it from the charger

[mettaurlover]

pain. that's the only word i can think of as a result of touching that.

[Wesley666]

WOOT!

[ggiihh1]

if 25v can't go through skin how come if you can test a 9v battery w/ your tongue?

[Sandisk1duo]

cuz your tongue is wet, and has WAYY more nerves then your skin, so you can't really tell how food tastes with just your finger (duh)

[Madrias357]

Note to all people here: this is not a good suggestion for finding out whether or not the capacitor's charged...

[Sandisk1duo]

yeah, that's true

[ggiihh1]

maybe i CAN taste with my fingers!

[davidprosser]

how cool would that be though...... ??? hmmmm .

[Sandisk1duo]

well you are the only one that can do that....

[Gamernotnerd]

Not so cool if you are a garbage man.

[MrPyro1010]

or taking a dump ..... hahaha

[josh1324]

lol

[ggiihh1]

Luckily i'm not.

[isetmyselfonfirefollowinginstructables]

what of you overcharge the capacitor? what happens?

[Dodge]

With the circuit and capacitor described in the 'ible, you can't "overcharge" it. It actually never reaches a complete charge. It just keeps getting closer and closer.

If you were to use a cap that wasn't rated for the voltage that the circuit supplied, the cap would fail. I think the cap would internally short itself out, then kill the charging circuit. I don't think t would explode or anything, but you never know... My bet is that it would just stop working.

[bibbibbib]

so its like an asymptote?

[Dodge]

Exactly. When you graph the charge pattern you get an asymptotic curve.

[guitarmonk15]

where did you get the syringe tips? Is there anything you could use as a substitute, like an ic socket?

[Dwarg]

gotta add this in, (clears throat) BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!111one!!!