Where to get capacitors.

Capacitors are almost in all electronics. Im going to show you how to get them. Touch the wires on the capacitor with a screw driver before touching it. That will discharge it, and there will be a huge spark if the capacitor is fully charged.

Step 1: Tools

All you need is a soldering iron.

Comments

[lemonie]

I have de-soldered a lot of components in my life, and I know there's a bit more to it than... well you haven't actually said how to do it and your images are very dark.
You and I know how to do this, but can you explain how in a bit more detail?

L

[janw]

@L
You are completely right, it is a subject that needs a good explanation. I also have taken apart a lot of old or disfunctional electronincs for parts (and have burn some fingers while doing it) and as you say it isn't as straightforward as it seems.

And I must say that I now prefer to buy part instead of reusing them (with the exception of motors and solar cells and some other bigger and more expensive parts). Some of the standard values are so cheap that isn't worth to heat my solderingiron for it. And new parts have long leads so they are easier to use when soldering.

But that ofcourse is only my humble opinion.

[pfred2]

Well if you have the means the way I find the best is to use a pick and get under the part to pop it up. Really depends on the part, sometimes I use pump pliers, and sometimes angled needle nosed pliers work best. But overall I can pop a lot of parts with a simple pick tool.

And by means I mean something like this:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1200/solderpot.jpg

I can humbly strip a few hundred dollars of parts an hour with it. But you're right, trying to salvage parts with a soldering iron is a waste of time and often destroys parts in the process as well. I still have to buy some parts myself. I can't always find everything.

Though I have done projects with just salvaged components too. And if I strip expensive commercial electronics it is a good bet the overall component quality is better than most are willing to pay for, or in many cases even have access to.

You can see some of my parts storage here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Pauls-Electronics-Pit/

No part is worth me getting burnt trying to get! That just doesn't happen.

[ihordyky]

ok thanks for the tip

[lemonie]

How do you do mutli-pin things, I had a really hard-time on some switches. I had to get physical an drill them out...

L

[tdfolmer]

A trick that worked for me when I was trying to remove some relays was to get the solder melting and then hit it with a blast of air from an air compressor.  (In a safe direction of course!)  It blows the solder right out and then just move on to the next pin.

[lemonie]

That's good (if you've got air) I can see it working.

L

[pfred2]

I have air and don't think its so good. But then again I have one of these:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1200/solderpot.jpg

With it I can pull any through lead part off a board that is less then 3 3/8 inches long (88mm) in about the time it takes me to put the board onto it and pull. If there's a better way of stripping boards I've never heard of it, or I'd have it!

[absolute zero]

mabye if you blow really hard?
if its 4-5 pins i usually lay the irons tip flat against all the pins at once and romove then, or break away the board if im going to trash it

[pfred2]

Been there, done that, moved on.

[absolute zero]

Yea, I have pretty much stopped that unless it is a last resort. That solder pot must be nice, how much did it run you?

[pfred2]

Around $150 It is handy for a few tasks though. It's probably saved me more in beat soldering tips alone by now. it retinns burnt tips like nothing else can.

[absolute zero]

Sounds nice, might have to pick one up before my next big project.

[pfred2]

I think a metal pot on a heat source would work about as well. That is all mine seems to be there is a heating element under the cup part.

[putty1cat]

oh may be I can re-purpose that old rice maker into one of these.

[pfred2]

Hit a thrift store and get one of them electric burners then put a tuna can on it full of solder. If you want to go top shelf then get a tiny frying pan while you're at the thrift store for a couple bucks more. My solder pot isn't anything more than that, it is an iron cup with an electric heating element under it.

If there is anything more than that going on I can't see it.

I will tell you this though it takes my pot about 40 minutes to get molten so be patient. It isn't like popping something in the microwave.

[absolute zero]

Probably, not sure if I'm willing to risk any of my pots. I'll surely try if I come across any old ones though.

[pfred2]

Well I didn't mean a pot you cooked in. Really a nice big pipe end cap would probably be a good vessel, or a small cast iron pot of some sort. Or one of the homebrewed crucibles I've seen people make out of a short length of pipe with a plate welded to the bottom of it. Something along those lines. Though honestly I've seen people melt aluminum in paint cans and solder has a lot lower melting temperature than aluminum does.

[jj.inc]

so how do you know if yours will handle 120v ac turned to dc (no other changes) without going bad, or how do you know what it can handle.

[ihordyky]

it says how many volts it can hold on the capacitor

[LiquidLightning]

It may say the rated voltage, what what about current? You'd most likely fry the capacitor, although I don't know for certain.

[absolute zero]

im going to laugh and laugh when somebody sues you because they shock there self. you really need to tell not to touch the leads, because that usually inadvertently leads to a big shock

[troseph]

Yes, its best to drain them out with a resistor before playing with them. Or live like I do - recklessly..

[atombomb1945]

I have a friend of mine who works on Satellite Dishes, and gave me a big box (like over a hundred) remote controls.  It was awesome in that each one had two Capacitors and two IR LEDs.  The easiest way I have found for removing these items is using a small pair of wire cutters.  I believe that they are called "Nippy Cutters"  at most electronic stores.  They are flat on one side and they can cut the connection right at the board.  They can also be used to cut the soldier at the back of the board.