Discharging capacitors

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

I have a leaking cap (25v 2200uF) in a small fish tank lighting circuit that I would like to replace. How dangerous is one of this size and how should I go about discharging it?

[bojan]

No danger at all.
Switch off the unit, just unsolder the faulty cap (or cut it out) and solder in the new one, of same size and ratings.
And be careful not to swap the terminals :-)

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

Oh, OK. Too low voltage to pose a problem then? I've always been a bit wary of them

[wasyoungonce (Brendan)]

You can short across the capacitor terminals with a screwdriver tip if you want.

But at 25V....this would be un-necessary.

[DavidU (Dave)]

I had a tube amp come in last week that had a row of 100uf 500V caps with no bleed resistors !!!!
It gave me a tingle

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

Originally Posted by wasyoungonce

You can short across the capacitor terminals with a screwdriver tip if you want.

Thats what I was going to do, but I thought I might just ask before hand.
Cheers

[Barrykgerdes]

Originally Posted by wasyoungonce

You can short across the capacitor terminals with a screwdriver tip if you want.

But at 25V....this would be un-necessary.

I would not do that from close range with a 10 uf 10000v. Although I have done it. The capacitor,10 Kg jumped a foot in the air.

Baz