Do large caps need to be discharged before handling them?

Jimb0 · 1087

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Offline Jimb0

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Hi. Just curious to know if it would be safe to turn over a modded Crack with extra large caps to look at the circuit after using the amp. Do the large caps need to be discharged before touching them? I installed 3 90UF 250V Dayton Caps and 3 Russian Teflon 4.7uF 250V caps and 2 Russian Teflon .056uF 500V caps. Thanks.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2018, 10:01:01 PM by Jimb0 »



Offline Kitchener

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Reply #1 on: June 19, 2018, 03:39:40 AM
I installed some Mundorf caps in my Crack.
A week or so afterwards I did some other mod, and decided to give the joints on the new caps a do-over.

I did not discharge them.

At around 2 am my fiance was awakened by a loud bang and severe swearing.


Everything was fine, the only damage done was to my nerves and my shorts.
After that I made my custom discharge tool from some wire and one of the resistors I'd replaced with a choke earlier.

Modded, Speedballed Crack + Sennheiser HD6XX
STAX SRM-353X + SR-L500
STAX SRM-313 + SR-L300
-Jørgen E. J.


Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #2 on: June 19, 2018, 04:07:23 AM
The coupling caps discharge very quickly, but the power supply caps take a few minutes. 

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man