Cheap/free capacitor bank and charger by n3ldan

Step 5: The actual bank

Alright, now that we have a sweet charger in a cool looking box, let's get something to connect it to.

Remember all those disposable cameras? Pull the capacitors out, I got 4 caps rated at 330volts and 120µFarads. Make sure the gray stripes are all pointing in the same direction, and get out some of that 12AWG wire. As you can see in the picture, I stripped only part of the wire. To do this, make the circular cuts like you usually would, then take a razor blade and slice down the middle. Then just peel off the rubber, it's way easier than it sounds.

Now using a small screwdriver, push throught the copper strands making a slot the capacitor leads can go through. Put em through, and then solder, it's that simple. I reccomend making both wires first, then soldering all the caps onto one wire, and then the other wire. It's easier that way.
 
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bigpinecone says: Oct 28, 2006. 2:19 PM
ALWAYS, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, DISCHARG EACH CAPACITOR BEFORE DOING ANYTHING WITH IT. I SHOCKED MYSELF WHILE MAKING A FLASHGUN, AND IT HURT LIKE HELL, WITH ONE CAP.
demonxkid says: Sep 18, 2009. 4:23 PM
what is the best way to do this
bigpinecone says: Sep 18, 2009. 6:33 PM
screwdriver on the leads.
demonxkid says: Sep 20, 2009. 9:57 AM
like 1 screwdriver connecting the leads or just touch 1 then the other
bigpinecone says: Sep 20, 2009. 4:44 PM
'cross the leads.
Punkguyta says: Apr 6, 2010. 9:00 AM
 With your finger
freerunnin1 says: Aug 27, 2010. 2:40 PM
lol id laugh if someone actually did that and kept trying like "for some reason my capacitors aren't discharging"
demonxkid says: Sep 20, 2009. 7:31 PM
is how much it holds the v or uf on the side of the conductor
bigpinecone says: Sep 21, 2009. 7:09 PM
uF is how much it can hold. stands for micro farads. V is the max voltage it will operate at.
demonxkid says: Sep 23, 2009. 6:07 PM
sorry for all the questions but can u draw a pic or something for the complete wiring (like a schematic)
bigpinecone says: Sep 24, 2009. 1:40 PM
just go back through the instructable it's explained very well.
hack3rboy says: Sep 10, 2009. 8:43 AM
yeah i found out 330v really hurt...haha
ElectricJ says: Jan 5, 2007. 11:19 PM
the scars on my left hand agree with you
bigpinecone says: Jan 7, 2007. 2:27 PM
lol now i took 3 of 'em and make a bank but i still have to test it also, do you know what the leads on a laser diode are? i have one salvaged from a boombox
Coindude19 says: Nov 29, 2010. 3:25 PM
I found some high-voltage capacators from old adapters to computers and video consules and one of them reads 400v and 68 uf
fundash says: Sep 4, 2010. 1:47 PM
be carfull with this, those wires are pretty close!
fishpie23 says: Oct 19, 2009. 5:13 PM
 try getting shocked be several thousand volts and several million microfarad my thumb was sad that day...... think of it like holding a match under your thumb for an hour or two 



...............................DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!................................................

but if your going to do this project use it on a coil to make a coil gun

 TIP: if your going to make a coil gun with several capacitors IT MUST SWITCH FROM PARALLEL TO SINGULAR or the full power of the cap wont be released
fishpie23 says: Oct 19, 2009. 5:17 PM
 feel free to do this project its a useful tool for high voltage experiments
Mudbud says: Jul 1, 2009. 11:26 AM
how many capacitors can I put in the bank? I got 10 fuji cameras from wal-mart.
honsoworld-bro says: Sep 17, 2009. 2:44 PM
hell yea me and my bro made a tazer out of ten of them
hack3rboy says: Sep 10, 2009. 8:48 AM
I'm using 8 capacitors not 4 will I need to wire anything differently?
honsoworld-bro says: Sep 17, 2009. 2:43 PM
i dont think you do me and my brother made a disposable camera tazer and used 10 compacitors (awsome) and its basically the same wiring
Lightbulbjb says: Jun 2, 2009. 10:43 PM
would 100uF 330V caps work in a coilgun? thanks.
MrRodrigez says: Aug 6, 2009. 8:51 PM
yes, just make sure they are parallel, and and use a relay instead of a switch ;D
frixx says: Apr 9, 2009. 1:12 PM
plz help me! i conected caps as told, started to charge them and the diode was on in about 10 secounds i tried to fire my coilgun and the nail just stayed in the barell how many volts i have to use??? when i tried 6 the flash card was burned and anything under that had no effect
moshee says: May 10, 2009. 9:26 PM
How many volts are the capacitors rated for? If it's below 200 then you probably need to get higher voltage ones. 300-350 volts seems to be the most common.
seabeepirate says: Dec 20, 2008. 9:41 PM
Ok, so I actually did almost exactly the same thing for my cap bank before I read your instructable, but I still can't find some answers I'm looking for on the web, I was hoping you might know the answer. I have several different size caps from 8 different cameras, I have five 120uF caps, one 160uF cap and two of them are unmarked (still looking for a resource to help ID them.) the 120's and 160 are all 330v, will it be a problem to attach the different rated caps in the same bank? I know if they were different voltages I wouldn't be able to attach them. I haven't been able to get the small unmarked caps to charge on the board, so I can't test their voltage.
Electronics111 says: Apr 6, 2009. 1:24 AM
I think it should be as long as the voltage is the same. Your just increasing the capacitance.
MicRoelelectronica says: Dec 18, 2008. 11:08 AM
YEAH agreed i couldn't move my fingers for about ten minutes and it feels like.... welll.... REALLY PAINFUL! the next time i used a wire but this time the capacitor was fully charged and it roasted my wire in flames. the first time it was 100 microfarad second was a 470 microfarad killer.
moza says: Jul 28, 2007. 6:24 PM
the 2 wires connecting the capacitors, does one end connect together???
n3ldan (author) says: Jul 29, 2007. 12:45 AM
No. That's where you connect whatever you want to zap.
moza says: Jul 29, 2007. 2:44 PM
i thought that u connect wat ever u want to zap to the flash
jonrb says: Jul 4, 2007. 2:53 PM
are all the +'s of the capacitors joined together or does it go + - + - + -
pyrophotographer says: Jul 6, 2007. 7:40 AM


pyrophotographer says: Jul 6, 2007. 7:41 AM
sorry - - - + + +
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