Capacitor Failure Mode: Explosion

What happens when you connect an electrolytic capacitor in reverse polarity (voltage hooked up backwards)? If it's happened to you before, you won't forget. At Pocobor, we thought it would be interesting to intentionally induce a capacitor explosion and document the results to share with you. Watch the video and I promise the next time you hook up an electrolytic capacitor, you will use more care. Check out our blog for a complete post on this topic (www.pocobor.com/blog). And remember: Don't Try This At Home!

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Pocobor
• mechatronics
• electronics
• capacitor
• failure
• explosion
• electrolytic
• reverse polarity

[Beardy241]

"Don't try this at home!" — try it a friend's house!! ;)

It's made me check-on with my current project. Thanks.

[chills2102]

Much larger capacitors can explode like a shotgun blast! Ive heard of capacitors explooding in a car trunk connected to subwoofers and blowing the trunk right off the body! Very cool. And dangerous.

[cheetawolf]

i wonder what those little fibers are that blow out of the cap...

[suretobringskills]

...so THAT's what the sound was coming from my psycho roommates room!

and whatever you Do, DO NOT let him have any LIthium Batteries!!!

[Ciaran55]

thanx for the upload! strange what a little component can do in the wrong hands haha