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MG TD TF 1500 - condensor warning

Hi all.I have as many others problems
i think with ignition.and searched ion the net
on how to check a condenser/capacitor.There i
read. If you charge a capacitor and sombody
takes it, he or she can be killed. They are f.i used in defilibrators to start harts that
has stoped. I am no doctor or ambulancedriver so i cant confirm this. Anybody more knowlegable than me regarding electronics than me may comment on this isue.
people with pacemakers beware.

Thoralf. Norway TD 4490
Thoralf Sorensen (TD4490)

Thoralf, I don't think a capacitor used in a car system would cause any problems at the low DC voltage used. In the old style valve amplifiers where 600v DC was used in a power supply, capacitors were used to filter out any ripples in the voltage which in turn caused hum, these certainly stored high voltage and even when turned off for some time we would short out the capacitors before working on them. I certainly had a few 'bites' in my early days as a junior technician.
Don TF 4887
D J Walker

If you look at some of the very large capacitors used to add peak power to expensive car audio systems, I am quite certain some of them could kill you if discharged. But as Don says, the condenser in the distributor is not nearly as powerful.
Geoffrey M Baker

I have handled these little ignition condensers since the fifties and not once have I gotten a shock off one. I don't know what the capacitance rating is on one of these but the voltage is so low you should have no worries about them being lethal. I have been shocked by 50 mfd 250 volt caps at work and although they will "get your attention" they were never lethal.
P.W. Lester

Thoralf, where are you in Norway?
Ed
efh Haskell

One of the tricks when I was a young junior was for the senior guys to charge up a large condenser, fold the pigtail back along either side, and throw to an unsuspecting me. Only happened once!
Don TF 4887
D J Walker

We insulated the fenders on a friends corvair and added a couple of large capacitors with a switch. Enough jolt to knock you back. Great for keeping people off your car.

PS. This is Bruce Cunha. Web is acting up and displaying my name as a number.
Bruce

Efh Haskell From Thoralf. Norway. I live in a
litle place called Stavern, at the coast 150km south east of OSLO.
Thoralf. Norway TD 4490
Thoralf Sorensen (TD4490)

This thread was discussed between 14/03/2015 and 15/03/2015

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