Yes, Caps DO blow up!

[Ryan from Ohio]

I bought an amp that had a blown cap. Should be an easy and cheap fix.

Just to illustrate that caps DO blow up. SO be VERY careful with them. I bet this small one (smaller round than a pencil, under .75" long) probably sounded like a fire cracker!

Imagine a 1 Farad blowing up. It would take your HAND off.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e136/basstronics/Amp%20Repair/100_0190.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e136/basstronics/Amp%20Repair/100_0191.jpg

[Midgear]

capacitors are hairy? :blink:

on a more serious note.. wonder what caused that one to explode?

[Valley olds]

I had a friend who had a 1 farad cap blow. He was connecting the battery terminal in the front, and boom, the cap blew in the back.

[Midgear]

^ what kinda damage did that cause.. ?

[Ryan from Ohio]

Thats the cardboard insulator in there... Not hair... lol

I bet that cap made him poop his pants!

[AleroDrime]

hey im new on capicitors, old system didnt need one, how can you prevent them from blowing

[jamcllw]

^^^ hook them up right

[Ryan from Ohio]

And charge them properly!

When charging a capacitor on first hookup you must use a resistor!

[heineck]

how i would i know whether or not i need a cap?

[Misuseofyou]

Nobody seems to agree on whether they even do their intended function. I doubt it would solve my dimming, though since I did the (not so) big 3 w/ scrap 8 gauge I can only detect dimming at idle or at ear damaging volumes.

[heineck]

hmm im not pushin too much power just the stocks and then 2 12s in parallel on a 600 watt kenwood

[Misuseofyou]

I was doing the same for a while. Until I upgraded I didn't really realise how crappy my mid base was. Now it blends beautifully; worth twice what it cost.

[Valley olds]

Midgear: ^ what kinda damage did that cause.. ?

It was pretty bad. There was some liquid all over the trunk, and the rest of the car audio got effed up.

Sorry about this thread jack Ryan, but when connecting the cap, what is the trick to getting the display to light up? With me, sometimes I connect it and it lights up and stays working, then if I disconnect it for any reason, it wont work at all or maybe it will. A friend once told me there was a trick to getting the display, but I dont really know it.

[jabartram]

It was pretty bad. There was some liquid all over the trunk, and the rest of the car audio got effed up.

Sorry about this thread jack Ryan, but when connecting the cap, what is the trick to getting the display to light up? With me, sometimes I connect it and it lights up and stays working, then if I disconnect it for any reason, it wont work at all or maybe it will. A friend once told me there was a trick to getting the display, but I dont really know it.

what cap are you running?

[cherrington17]

It was pretty bad. There was some liquid all over the trunk, and the rest of the car audio got effed up.


that liquid is oil, to separate the plates that hold the current w/in the cap.

and yes.. wiring it backwards is like putting a pipe bomb in your trunk. Thats why most big caps have that little "turkey tester" thing that pops up when its going to blow. You see that... you run.

[Ryan from Ohio]

JBL is good people.

They got back with me already on the cap that blew. Now I need to just order the $0.25 part and replace it... lol

Im going to try Radioshack first. I doubt they have it though.

On the other hand I ordered $16 worth of parts from digi-key the other day and its here already!

I hope to have my frist repair job done by weekend!

[cherrington17]

ryan, whats the cap's numbers? i'll look right now

Edit: nvm, if you get this later then 9pm

[jamcllw]

Make sure you get a good quality cap. If you use a cheap brand they tend to dry out quicker and fail shortly there afterwards. You also might want to think about changing the other caps close to that one. When 1 cap goes they like to take others with them. Check the other ones around that one. If any of the tops of them are distorted replace it before applying power to it.
Although it looks like that one went fairly quickly so your probably alright just replacing that one. You should also try and figure out why that one blew violently like that. you may have the symptom and not the cause.
I replace caps almost daily on television power supplies.

[Valley olds]

jabartram: what cap are you running?

Oops, sorry I forgot about this thread. I am running a 1.6 farad lanzar cap.

[Ryan from Ohio]

Given the caps proximity to the RCA input, its likely somebody had a line driver on this amp and applied to much voltage to the RCA input.

Thats my guess. These are only rated for 5v input. Ive seen line drivers to 13 volts.

[lonnie]

Was it a Electrolytic cap that blew or a Ceramic? Kind of hard to tell from the pic but I would assume elctrolytic..but just Fyi, there is a manufacturer that has been selling some dud caps, that are expanding and leaking due to bad temperature stability...I'll see if I can find the name again, but they were electrolytic caps. Hopefully there is no residual damage from that cap blowing, should be a good project!

[AleroB888]

Given the caps proximity to the RCA input, its likely somebody had a line driver on this amp and applied to much voltage to the RCA input.

Thats my guess. These are only rated for 5v input. Ive seen line drivers to 13 volts.

No schematic, huh?

[Ryan from Ohio]

Nope,
these places dont give them out.

I can pay $20 to some chinese website who claims to have them but Im confident I can just replace said cap and be fine.

[Nate's Alero]

that liquid is oil, to separate the plates that hold the current w/in the cap.

and yes.. wiring it backwards is like putting a pipe bomb in your trunk. Thats why most big caps have that little "turkey tester" thing that pops up when its going to blow. You see that... you run.

Turkie is dun! wait DAIYUM!!! (boom) :lol:

[AleroDrime]

how i would i know whether or not i need a cap?

if your headlights dim when your bass hits hard you need one

[AleroDrime]

um is there a how to on these i handnt thought much about how to wire one up, i just new you had to be careful when disconnectign them, discharge and all

[Nate's Alero]

um is there a how to on these i handnt thought much about how to wire one up, i just new you had to be careful when disconnectign them, discharge and all

yeah, i made my own small cap, i forgot about discharging, i lol'ed

[AleroDrime]

how do you dischrage them safely

[cherrington17]

put your hand across them.
:lol:

[Nate's Alero]

put your hand across them.
:lol:

:haha: :haha: :haha:


i can imagine, hmm OOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!

[natedawg9640]

speaking of blowing up electronice... i seen a dude trying to start a bronco II... hooked the power cables up backwards or something... got in the cab and cranked it and the battery exploded... it was way louder than a shot gun and sent plastic shrapnel and battery acid flying everywhere... he's lucky he didn't have someone in the cab trying to start it for him

[cherrington17]

:haha: :haha: :haha:


i can imagine, hmm OOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!

thats not ow worthy... i CAN and MIGHT stop your heart. worse electric shock you'll probably ever get. like a horse fence... on steriods.

[Misuseofyou]

12v shouldn't be that bad. I've heard 120v is just about perfect to stop your heart. I got a 120 volt shock once and I jumped like 3 feet in the air involuntarily.

[cherrington17]

its not the voltage (thats just what hurts) its the current. 1F is ALOT of current.

i've been hit by 120V multiple times. makes my arm tingle, but thats about it. 3kV REALLY hurts.

[Ryan from Ohio]

The higher the voltage the further the electric can "jump".

The higher the amperage the more you die.

Thats as simple as it gets. lol

[jamcllw]

3kV aint shit
Try putting your hands on a backlight inverter on a big screen LCD panel. 15-20kV. At that point it doesn't sting it more or less boils your skin instantly.

[cherrington17]

yeah... mine wasn't that bad. it was an electric fence to keep horses contained. it locked up my arm, and blew it back behind my head.

most stun guns run 10-30k

[Ryan from Ohio]

Just dont pee on that fence... lol

[AleroDrime]

can't i get a seriose answer on that, i could hurt myself, how is actual injury funny? now if i said i was chancing tires adn the wheel fell off the hub adn hit me in the nuts or someone else, i could see the humor, im laughting cus i just though of that but yeah some one tell me

[cherrington17]

you connect them to a lightbulb. when the bulb goes out, theres no power left.

[AleroDrime]

thankyou

[Ryan from Ohio]

Done!

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e136/basstronics/Amp%20Repair/100_0235.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e136/basstronics/Amp%20Repair/100_0236.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e136/basstronics/Amp%20Repair/100_0237.jpg

Now to test it!

[lonnie]

Good Luck