by the curb:giant capacitors-great find!! what is it??

loss1234

I found this out in the garbage!! It looks like a super heavy duty power supply.

But what are those rusty parts (batteries?) and is that GIANT blue tube in the bottom a really really big CAPACITOR??

i wonder if it still works..those transformers are BIG~ this thing weighs a ton.

thanks

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what are these rusted parts?

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gavgomad · Joined: Jan 29, 2006 Posts: 69 Location: Canada

According to this website...

http://www.qie.com/e.html

... it's an Emerson Power Supply. For what sort of beastie, though, your guess is as good as mine! Wink

It looks as though Emerson do power supplies for networking installations....

Gav.

Danno Gee Ray · Joined: Sep 25, 2005 Posts: 1351 Location: Telford, PA USA

Those rusted metal cans look like motor start capacitors.

blue hell · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:19 am Post subject:

Danno Gee Ray · Joined: Sep 25, 2005 Posts: 1351 Location: Telford, PA USA

Excellent. Very educational. Thank you.

RF

loss1234 · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:34 pm Post subject:

well i plan on dissecting it for parts and then chucking the rest. there are some big caps on there (47000uf etc) which look good and lots of other useful stuff.

danielwarner · Joined: Dec 18, 2006 Posts: 65 Location: Sacramento

Be careful with those big capacitors, discharge them before you dissect the thing, use a screwdriver and short the two leads together while you're holding only the plastic handle. Seriously I've heard of people burned from big capacitors before, I don't know the values or at what threshold they become dangerous, I'd just take some precautions.

RF · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:57 am Post subject:

Clack · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:01 am Post subject:

Uncle Krunkus · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:04 am Post subject:

If you want to use them later, don't use a screwdriver. These big caps don't like being discharged so quickly, and it will seriously shorten their life. (You don't know how much life they have left, so why waste it?) Even just a 1Kor 2K 5W resistor will do the job alot less stressfully. Hold it with a pair of pliers.

RF · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:16 am Post subject:

I'm sure there must be bleeder resistors on those caps - so unless they have failed (which happens) those caps would be discharged.
Throw a voltmeter on and take a look before you stress too much over the big spark possibility Smile

danielwarner · Joined: Dec 18, 2006 Posts: 65 Location: Sacramento

Whoops, my "screwdriver short" advice was derived from a guy I know who restores old televisions, radios, etc... I suppose he simply tosses the caps once they've been removed... or houses new caps inside the old ones, I've read about people doing that.

"I'm reminded of a certain "RF" tech who many years ago discharged a very large 700 volt oil filled filter cap through his body.... It felt like someone hit him with a baseball bat - and he hit the wall hard on the other side of the room. Immediately, his high voltage safety proceedures got significantly more rigorous. Don't ask me how I know about it."

Once of my teachers at school has his position because the guy who previously filled his position is dead. He was a licensed electrician, working in a basement somewhere. He had removed the safety ground plug from an electric drill with a metal chassis, for some reason had his neck against a water pipe, and accidentally drilled into the mains. The current went right through his brain stem, well above the "let go" threshold, and the home owner found him dead in the basement several hours later. Shocked

Anything high voltage, high current frightens me, with good reason.

Uncle Krunkus · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:30 am Post subject:

Nasty!

I've been bitten a few times by 240VAC.

R_E_S_P_E_C_T........ Smile

RF · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:33 am Post subject:

Hey Daniel -
I use the screwdriver ALL the time on big caps I "know" to be discharged.
It's solid advice, and my standard procedure as a last assurance the thing is completely flat.
I also strap the terminals on big caps after removing them from service and keep new large caps strapped in storage.

factus10 · Joined: Jun 20, 2007 Posts: 158 Location: Buffalo, NY

I know this'll sound apocryphal, but a friend (really!) used to use the screwdriver method too until one of the caps welded his screwdriver to the terminal.... If you do use a screwdriver, use a decent resistor to limit the rate of discharge.