Fun with ultracapacitors
Posted on : 01-06-2011 | By : | In : Nanotube Capacitor
I got hold of some 2600F capacitors that can dump hundreds of amps. Normally these are used in electric cars to handle sudden stops and starts. Instead, I use them to vaporize bits of metal, and show you the 3 most important capacitor equations along the way.
so if i don’t care about safety then i can do everything in this video?
pila grande 2.5 v
@bob800chem amps will kill you. i assume these have many amps.
Can’t wait until I get my paycheck, I’m so gonna get a set of these.
@Nikiz001 These CAN be used in a coilgun/railgun application, but from what i understand, typically it is better to have a high voltage rather than just high current.
I have two of the same caps shown in this video, so fun
What if someone is making a coilgun with these capacitors?.. It would shoot things with very high speed. :s
@brainflakes They have a lower gravimetric energy density (for now) and have a hard time keeping a constant voltage (voltage drops as their charge drops). They also have a hard time staying charged, so you’d need to make sure your car is recharged before taking it out for a spin.
@Ohmegavolt You should buy a regulated DC power supply with current limiting or current limit protection.
I just purchased and received four of these exact capacitors. I unfortunately don’t have a DC powersupply. Would it be possible to charge these to a usable voltage using two D cell batteries in series with a resistor to limit voltage to 2.7V? If possible, would it simply just take too long to be of any “fun” use? Should I buy a DC power supply?
since these caps are only 2.5v, there’s no electrocution hazard, right?
How do these compare to a car battery?
@xsilentxxnightx
Yes….V = I x R, it all makes sense…Thanks xsilentxxnightx!
@Bracerjack The input resistance of a multimeter is very high. for example, say 20Mohm. So basically, these capacitors have HUGE energy storage capabilities, but their voltage (or ability to push through a resistive load) is very low. So even if you were to short the cap across a load of lets say 10Ω, the resulting current would only be 0.25 A
on the other hand, when these caps encounter a small load of lets say… 10mΩ, the resulting current would be 250 Amps.
@TheKaos90 I’d love to see one of those cars short-circuited. I’d bet it would melt a lot more than a few coins.