Testing out some nice high voltage caps (and hoping to promote my channel a bit)

[XOIIO]

Hey all, here's a video you might all enjoy, testing out some high voltage caps that I got out of an APC symetra LX power module (I have a video of that too).

I'm hoping some of you enjoy it and some of the other videos I have, I have a fair bit to upload still so there is a fair bit of new content just waiting on rendering/upload time as well as some cool stuff coming up. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the channel if there is much to say.

I will say the video quality is nowhere as nice as many of the other people's, I can't afford a nice $600 camcorder so I'm just using an $80 point and shoot but I have a tripod mount for my iphone coming so quality will improve then.

Content wise I just throw up random stuff I do on there, some high ish voltage relating to those caps, I have some videos of the air cannon I made (and more to come), and some projects. I also did a bit of a teardown of an old techtronics oscilloscope that I need to render. I don't have as much knowledge as dave, mikeslectricstuff or aintbigaintclever or the various others but I try.

Anyways here it is, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on how I am charging the capacitors 

[TerraHertz]

Dear God, that's not a coil. It's a coaxial cable precision delay line. Used to delay signals so the trigger circuit can start the sweep circuit sweeping before the delayed signal gets to the scope's vertical amplifier. So you can see the trigger point on screen.

But don't let that stop you discharging big caps through it for no particular reason. Btw, those caps are probably not rated for extremely high impulse current, and eventually the internal foil tabs connecting the terminals with the spiral-wound capacitor foil will fail.

You know, casually handling tools wired to big caps, wired to bridge rectifiers directly off the mains... does tend to correlate with a severely shortened life expectancy. It's all good until you make a small slip-up, and then you're dead. Just so you know.
If you want to live to see your channel subscriptions rise, I'd suggest using much less hands-on setups for high voltage play.

[AndersAnd]

You hooked up two bridge rectifiers in parallel? How would that give double the voltage? 

[c4757p]

Oh lord.

You need to take more responsibility for the stupid choices you might be suggesting to your viewers. How hard would it have been to take ten minutes to arrange your charging setup so that you're never reaching over live conductors? Better, so that the live conductors aren't exposed at all. Would that really be difficult? And take the time to explain what you are doing, because it looks like you're shorting out the mains. Do I know you aren't? Yep. Do your viewers?

You might notice that many of the videos you see with "do not try this at home" warnings actually do take the time to do things safely. "Do not try this at home" does not legitimize your recklessness. You are going to fuck yourself up with that some day, and I am not going to be surprised.

[calexanian]

There are better and safer ways to test big caps.

[XOIIO]

You hooked up two bridge rectifiers in parallel? How would that give double the voltage? 

I plan on it, I'm going to buy a proper enclosure and wire it up safely grounding the chassis and using a Cockcroft Walton multiplier to get the voltage up a tad higher. I definitely know it wasn't the best idea, but it was 3 or 4 am and I was a tad tired I still did take some precautions, working with one hand behind my back (well, at least far back from the capacitors)

I also plan on grabbing an isolation transformer off ebay or seeing if the one from my APC power supply can be used as one but a proper isolation one is probably a better bet and probably fairly cheap on ebay if you look in the right section.

Also, interesting, I didn't know it was a coax delay line, I figured that was just the coil used to align the electron beam, thanks for the neat info.

This was also before I leaned as much about (relatively) high voltage than I have now, and I do recognize that it was insanely dangerous if I had made a mistake.

You hooked up two bridge rectifiers in parallel? How would that give double the voltage? 

I figured that paralleling up the DC outputs might give me 240 volts, and figured what the heck may as well see if my theory was correct, turns out it was not.

[AndersAnd]

You hooked up two bridge rectifiers in parallel? How would that give double the voltage? 

I figured that paralleling up the DC outputs might give me 240 volts, and figured what the heck may as well see if my theory was correct, turns out it was not.

I think you should learn basic electric theories and play with galvanic isolated low voltage stuff before starting to play with any high voltage stuff.
And when playing with electronics you should also use an galvanic isolation transformer in front of it to avoid killing yourself. Doesn't matter if you play with high or low voltage electronics, always use an galvanic isolated transformer in front of it instead of plugging it directly into a mains outlet.

[XOIIO]

You hooked up two bridge rectifiers in parallel? How would that give double the voltage? 

I figured that paralleling up the DC outputs might give me 240 volts, and figured what the heck may as well see if my theory was correct, turns out it was not.

I think you should learn basic electric theories and play with galvanic isolated low voltage stuff before starting to play with any high voltage stuff.
And when playing with electronics you should also use an galvanic isolation transformer in front of it to avoid killing yourself. Doesn't matter if you play with high or low voltage electronics, always use an galvanic isolated transformer in front of it instead of plugging it directly into a mains outlet.

I have a feeling you missed the part where it was middle of the night and I was tired, people don't exactly think best when they have been up for 14 hours. (yay insomnia). Besides at the time it made sense that you could boost the voltage that way considering you can do it with other voltage sources like variable power supplies (if they support it)

Like I said I need to find an isolation transofrmer on ebay or at least get a price range so I can grab one when I can afford it.

[XOIIO]

After a quick browse on ebay I found these two that seem like the best deals, first one is for 230v though I doubt it can work on 120v, or maybe it can I asked for more specs on it. I really like the second one, but its a fair bit more expensive but I may try to save up and grab it if I get a decent amount of work.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=331071295566

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Toroid-ISB-100W-Medical-Grade-Isolation-Transformer-8403D-/121145925452?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c34dc1f4c#shpCntId

[Jon86]

Hmm, I have to say I really don't like the look of this. No one's going to take you seriously if you're just messing around with High Voltage caps with no precautions. I think you ought to go back to the drawing board, rethink what you're doing and just act a bit more sensible.

[XOIIO]

Hmm, I have to say I really don't like the look of this. No one's going to take you seriously if you're just messing around with High Voltage caps with no precautions. I think you ought to go back to the drawing board, rethink what you're doing and just act a bit more sensible.

Most of the stuff I do doesn't even relate to high voltage, I just wanted to see how those caps worked and if it was effective with that coil. Aside from that all the stuff I plan is just low voltage stuff, some arduino/attiny stuff, and modifying things. I was going to build a coil gun but I lost interest in that. Besides it's hard to set up any proper precautions on a budget of $0

[czdt8m]

You hooked up two bridge rectifiers in parallel? How would that give double the voltage? 

I figured that paralleling up the DC outputs might give me 240 volts, and figured what the heck may as well see if my theory was correct, turns out it was not.

I think you should learn basic electric theories and play with galvanic isolated low voltage stuff before starting to play with any high voltage stuff.
And when playing with electronics you should also use an galvanic isolation transformer in front of it to avoid killing yourself. Doesn't matter if you play with high or low voltage electronics, always use an galvanic isolated transformer in front of it instead of plugging it directly into a mains outlet.

I have a feeling you missed the part where it was middle of the night and I was tired, people don't exactly think best when they have been up for 14 hours. (yay insomnia). Besides at the time it made sense that you could boost the voltage that way considering you can do it with other voltage sources like variable power supplies (if they support it)

Like I said I need to find an isolation transofrmer on ebay or at least get a price range so I can grab one when I can afford it.

All the more reason to take proper precausions.
Electricity does not care how much or little sleep you had, or what time of day or night it is.

But I expect you got that message by now.

Having said that, I welcome anyone making EE content on YT. Just make sure you don't make any victims, including yourself.

[TerraHertz]

I have a feeling you missed the part where it was middle of the night and I was tired, people don't exactly think best when they have been up for 14 hours. (yay insomnia).

Arrgh!
Here's another rule I've developed for myself over the years, by painful error. NEVER work on anything dangerous or tricky while tired.
Not 'avoid if possible'. NEVER.

[Jon86]

Hmm, I have to say I really don't like the look of this. No one's going to take you seriously if you're just messing around with High Voltage caps with no precautions. I think you ought to go back to the drawing board, rethink what you're doing and just act a bit more sensible.

Most of the stuff I do doesn't even relate to high voltage, I just wanted to see how those caps worked and if it was effective with that coil. Aside from that all the stuff I plan is just low voltage stuff, some arduino/attiny stuff, and modifying things. I was going to build a coil gun but I lost interest in that. Besides it's hard to set up any proper precautions on a budget of $0

There's plenty of things you could've done to make what you were doing much less dangerous. Use insulating tape, a larger working area so things are less likely to fall over or come into contact, tidy up wires, use a proper mains switch or contactor.
Also, if for some reason the mains wasn't properly disconnected when you shorted the caps, you might have not had a very nice time. There's potential for a good video, just try and be more professional about it next time 

[XOIIO]

I have a feeling you missed the part where it was middle of the night and I was tired, people don't exactly think best when they have been up for 14 hours. (yay insomnia).

Arrgh!
Here's another rule I've developed for myself over the years, by painful error. NEVER work on anything dangerous or tricky while tired.
Not 'avoid if possible'. NEVER.

yeah back when I made this I pretty much had no way to handle my minor insomnia well at all, so I'd just try to do whatever was stuck on my mind to get it out of the way so I could actually sleep and that lead to occasional stuff like this. Luckily now I have a bit more control over it, I just need to remind myself to avoid stuff like that because occasionally I am still up at night and get an idea for something that could end badly when I'm tired. The good thing is now I remember to just letit sit to the next day. Repairing a PC power supply and accidentally touching the live heatsinks twice got the point across. (Interestingly it wasn't all that big of a shock, it was just across the forearm, not my chest or anything  but I would have expected more from 120v, perhaps it wasn't mains voltage. I don't have a similar one to check right now)

Hmm, I have to say I really don't like the look of this. No one's going to take you seriously if you're just messing around with High Voltage caps with no precautions. I think you ought to go back to the drawing board, rethink what you're doing and just act a bit more sensible.

Most of the stuff I do doesn't even relate to high voltage, I just wanted to see how those caps worked and if it was effective with that coil. Aside from that all the stuff I plan is just low voltage stuff, some arduino/attiny stuff, and modifying things. I was going to build a coil gun but I lost interest in that. Besides it's hard to set up any proper precautions on a budget of $0

There's plenty of things you could've done to make what you were doing much less dangerous. Use insulating tape, a larger working area so things are less likely to fall over or come into contact, tidy up wires, use a proper mains switch or contactor.
Also, if for some reason the mains wasn't properly disconnected when you shorted the caps, you might have not had a very nice time. There's potential for a good video, just try and be more professional about it next time 

Yeah, I made sure to use a good quality powerbar with a switch and I had something else hooked up to it so I was absolutely sure the power was turned off, that's one thing I was definitely cautious about. I didn't want to be able to pull whatever amperage (I'm guessing it would have allowed a full 15 amps before the breakers(s) tripped) through those powerful bridge rectifiers at 200v dc or so.

[Jon86]

You could've got a lot more than 15A surge through that bridge, but at least you were careful about that.

[Stonent]

14 hours?  Is that a lot or am I Superman for being able to work that long at work?

[XOIIO]

14 hours?  Is that a lot or am I Superman for being able to work that long at work?

it was a few days of that in a row unfortunately, not just an all nighter.

[AndersAnd]

14 hours?  Is that a lot or am I Superman for being able to work that long at work?

it was a few days of that in a row unfortunately, not just an all nighter.

Most people are awake well more than 14 hours every single day 

[XOIIO]

14 hours?  Is that a lot or am I Superman for being able to work that long at work?

it was a few days of that in a row unfortunately, not just an all nighter.

Most people are awake well more than 14 hours every single day 

For me a day is just whenever I wake up from sleeping, and my sleep schedule switches around a lot, I really should move to Australia or somewhere on the other side of the globe since I always drift towards being awake at night, anyways that 14 hours of being awake was probably on only 6 hours of sleep or less. It's a pretty viscous cycle once it gets going and takes a good week to reset and usually a couple bottles of coke or pepsi to stay up at least 30 hours so I can sleep at a normal time.

[BillyD]

How about using some sort of camera stand? My desire to avoid motion sickness outweighed any motivation to watch this for more than a minute or so!

[XOIIO]

How about using some sort of camera stand? My desire to avoid motion sickness outweighed any motivation to watch this for more than a minute or so!

Yeah I got a cheapo ($50) tripod, I had misplaced it at that time, but I found it again (albeit with a broken leg, it still works) and I have an iphone tripod mount from ebay coming so I can use that to record some decent looking video. My olympus point and shoot has really crap quality 720p for some reason, I guess because it's just a gimick they add to those cameras.

Most of my stuff is on a tripod unless it's a really quick thing that doesn't show much.

[Stonent]

14 hours?  Is that a lot or am I Superman for being able to work that long at work?

it was a few days of that in a row unfortunately, not just an all nighter.

Most people are awake well more than 14 hours every single day 

For me a day is just whenever I wake up from sleeping, and my sleep schedule switches around a lot, I really should move to Australia or somewhere on the other side of the globe since I always drift towards being awake at night, anyways that 14 hours of being awake was probably on only 6 hours of sleep or less. It's a pretty viscous cycle once it gets going and takes a good week to reset and usually a couple bottles of coke or pepsi to stay up at least 30 hours so I can sleep at a normal time.

I get around 4 hours of sleep regularly.  I go to work every day when most people are leaving work and work until 1, 2,or 3 in the morning.  When I get home I'm not really tired and end up going to sleep around 7:00 or sometimes 8:00AM. But it seems something tends to wake me up before noon.

[XOIIO]

14 hours?  Is that a lot or am I Superman for being able to work that long at work?

it was a few days of that in a row unfortunately, not just an all nighter.

Most people are awake well more than 14 hours every single day 

For me a day is just whenever I wake up from sleeping, and my sleep schedule switches around a lot, I really should move to Australia or somewhere on the other side of the globe since I always drift towards being awake at night, anyways that 14 hours of being awake was probably on only 6 hours of sleep or less. It's a pretty viscous cycle once it gets going and takes a good week to reset and usually a couple bottles of coke or pepsi to stay up at least 30 hours so I can sleep at a normal time.

I get around 4 hours of sleep regularly.  I go to work every day when most people are leaving work and work until 1, 2,or 3 in the morning.  When I get home I'm not really tired and end up going to sleep around 7:00 or sometimes 8:00AM. But it seems something tends to wake me up before noon.

Well, I wish I could survive on that much sleep regularly, it would leave a lot more time to get stuff done although I'd go bat shit when all the stores for parts are closed and I run out of stuff to do.

[c4757p]

You might do better if you slept more regularly. I'm a lot more tired and need a lot more sleep when I wake at random times. I usually feel more well-rested if my alarm wakes me at 6 than if I sleep until 8.