quick ? about caps

[bogiejoe1 10+ year member]

ok guys i no caps are about worthless but i got a very nice one from my old school days that has a volt meter readout on it so im going to go ahead and wire it up but my ? is

since ive used this cap in the past then let it set for 3 years now is their anything i need to do before i reinstall it thanks for your time guys

joe

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[mdillon 10+ year member]

ya you need a diode to charge it. try a local audio shop they will prolly have extras. run it inline with your positive wire, between the wire and the cap. the cap should start showing a display around 8 volts, and when it hits 12 your good to hook up

 

[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

just re-charge it and you should be alright

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

ya you need a diode to charge it. try a local audio shop they will prolly have extras. run it inline with your positive wire, between the wire and the cap. the cap should start showing a display around 8 volts, and when it hits 12 your good to hook up

You mean resistor.

 

[tRidiot 10+ year member]

I never used a resistor when charging mine, and was just careful hooking it up... disconnected everything, wired it in parallel, just like an amp. Then reset my circuit breaker and it was fine. I don't use one now, though.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

I never used a resistor when charging mine, and was just careful hooking it up... disconnected everything, wired it in parallel, just like an amp. Then reset my circuit breaker and it was fine. I don't use one now, though.

You use a resistor to avoid the inevitable sparks that will be caused by trying to charge the cap normally.

 

[budget76 10+ year member]

You can also use a spare 12v lightbulb from a car, one of the small 1" ones. It'll slowly charge this way as well.

Learned this before I knew caps were dumb, especially ones witout the digital readout. Don't even look good.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Those digital read outs on caps add more resistance to the circuit, precisely where you dont want it (in your low ESR storage device) and actually should be avoided.

 

[bogiejoe1 10+ year member]

maybe i will just sell it then sound like more trouble then its worth

thanks for the responce guys

joe