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Just a question for some of you non-rc electronic guys.
A buddy of mine works at an electronics recycling depot, and came across this 450 VDC capacitor. I told him I was pretty sure a charged cap that large could mess you up pretty bad if it discharged through your body, while he wasn't sure that it would. I did a quick search, but couldn't find out the kind of amperage that would generate. Any ideas? I just want to be able to say I was right and he was wrong. (although he never said he was right and I was wrong. Still, I feel I need to rub it in his face)

Charge it short it out and stand way way way back

I am pretty sure it would. A capacitors job is to store energy and to be able to release it quickly when needed. I have seen a couple people short out a cap on their car stereo systems and it welded metal parts together.

it can be very dangerous.

I don't recall the exact impedance of the human body model, but it only takes a few mA's of current to kill you passing through your chest.

110VAC isn't enough for your muscles to tighten, but 220VAC is. DC is much lower to achieve the same effect, so I bet something like 100volts charged on that cap could kill you. of course, the V=IR equation is what determines the limits, with the I=2-10mA, the R being the human body model, and then the V determined by those two variables.

just be careful with it if you plan to charge it up over 24 volts or so......they make a really cool arc when shorted!

purpletimbo wrote:Charge it short it out and stand way way way back

That was similar to my suggestion. Although mine was to involve a certain sweaty part of the body. (He declined)

Well, back when I was designing magnet zappers, the capacitors I used were slightly smaller than those, and capable of producing MANY 10's of thousands of amps for a few (3+) milliseconds. The human heart can be disrupted by as little as 5ma of current. That capacitor is capable of killing you (and a screwdriver) many times over. -Jeff

Oh my! You can fabricate an actual stun device with a camera flash capacitor- that would most certainly drop yo ass dead.

450v is the voltage but the other thing to consider is what is the capacity in farads? uf, ufd, mf, and mfd are common abbreviations. it looks to be about .5 uf or 1 uf, most car stero caps are at least 1 uf @ 15 to 20 volts

If that doesn't kill a person you can always resort to bludgeoning them to death with it.

A fully charged capacitor like that would at the very least cause severe burns. If you just managed to get a finger across it, it would cook it like a hotdog or worse blow it off. -Jeff