Over Charged Capacitors can cause severe damage due to explosion and can pose serious health hazards when left carelessly. A capacitor is previously known as condenser which is a passive two terminal electrical component used to store power in an electric field. Oftentimes, a capacitor consists of two electrical conductors separated by an insulator. Capacitors are used as parts of electric systems consisting of metal foils separated by layers of insulation film.
When subjected to voltages beyond the capacitor’s rating or as it gets to its normal end of life, capacitors are perilously susceptible to bulging, rupture and explosion. Dielectric or metal interconnection failures may produce arcing that vaporizes the dielectric fluid inside the capacitator. “Capacitors used within high-energy capacitor banks can violently explode when a short in one capacitor causes abrupt dumping of power stored in the rest of the bank into the failing unit. High voltage vacuum capacitors can generate soft X-rays even during normal operation. Proper containment, fusing, and preventive maintenance can help to minimize these hazards.”
“High-voltage capacitors can benefit from a pre-charge to limit in-rush currents at power-up of high voltage direct current (HVDC) circuits. This will extend the life of the component and may mitigate high-voltage risks.”
“Capacitors are extensively used in electronic circuits for blocking direct current while allowing alternating electric current to pass, in filter networks, for smoothing the output of power supplies, in the resonant circuits that tune radios to particular frequencies and for many other purposes.”
“Capacitors may retain a charge long after power is removed from a circuit; this charge can cause harmful or perhaps life-threatening shocks or damage connected equipment. For instance, even a seemingly innocuous device like a throw-away camera flash unit powered by a 1.5 volt AA battery contains a capacitor which can be charged to over 300 volts. This is easily capable of delivering a shock. Service procedures for electronic devices typically contain instructions to discharge large or high-voltage capacitors. Capacitors may also have built-in discharge resistors in order to dissipate stored energy to a safe level within a couple of seconds after power is removed. High-voltage capacitors are stored with the terminals shorted, as defense against potentially dangerous voltages due to dielectric absorption.”
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