Fun with ultracapacitors

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Picture of Cloe41 achievements

+4 1. Cloe commented 12 years ago

Question: what happens if you conect the 2 wires togheter and live them connected? : A) one of the two wires will vaporize or B) the ultracapacitor will explode ..leave your comments and if you like your arguments..
Picture of HellsVacancy40 achievements

+31 2. HellsVacancy commented 12 years ago

"Wow, that beaver really took a pounding" awesome
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0 3. banzemanga commented 12 years ago

Heck! I am so going to try this experiment! >:)
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+7 4. N3R3Z commented 12 years ago

#1 I'll go with A)... If i take example from vid: Voltage of that capacitor is 2.5V with internal resistance of 0,0007Ohm. If you connect those two wires together you'll make short circuit. So the current trough the capacitor will be I=U/R ... I=2.5/0.0007 which is about 3571A (and that's really A LOT). You can leave out resistance of those wire (it's really small in case of usual copper wire) you can count Power -> P=(I^2)*R=(3571^2)*0,0007 = 8926 J = 8,9kJ... and because the wire is much thinner and smaller than capacitor, it will vaporize much quickly than capacitor :)

But if you replace that small wire with something much thicker, maybe the capacitor would melt or maybe even explode

That's all just my opinion, so it shouldn't be necessarily true
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+21 5. orion commented 12 years ago

My overexcited brain first read "Fun with velociraptors". Go figure.
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+5 6. sartre commented 12 years ago

Be careful here folks. I had a PC years ago which was badly designed. If you unplugged it and held the plug you got a shock from the capacitors. Even though they were the less powerful types mentioned in this video, they were big enough to deliver a vicious shock. These ultracapacitors can kill.
Picture of Sizzlik64 achievements

+3 7. Sizzlik (admin) commented 12 years ago

Another fun with capacitors is when you buy a few of this cheap one time use cameras wich got a flash..you can build a nice shocker with them. Good/Mean when used in a prank :P
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+2 8. cameramaster commented 12 years ago

Imagine using those Ultra's to build a Taser.....Mind you ....You'd need a back pack to carry the circuitry ..Hmm.....maybe not such a good idea after all :-(
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+4 9. Siruss commented 12 years ago

Ultracapacitors were supposed to be the holly grail by replacing heavy bulky lead acid batteries. Ultracapacitors were also to revolutionize electric cars that would make gas powered cars obsolete. Never happened.
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0 10. h8isgr8 commented 12 years ago

These type of capacitors still have a relatively high internal resistance when compared to standard capacitors. If you put a few in series to get a higher voltage it just compounds the issue.

Only good for moderate current draw.

Oh, and just for comparison.... a car battery can deliver roughly 2MJ (Mega Joules) of energy without dropping below 10.5V. That just shows how pathetic these caps really are.
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+2 11. loadrunner commented 12 years ago

1.21 Gigawatts
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-1 12. knospi commented 12 years ago

Could these capacitors be put in an electric car as a battery replacement?
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+1 13. h8isgr8 commented 12 years ago

#12 No, they're a failed technology. If it were practical, you would already see them in electric vehicles.

Six of them would roughly equal the same size as a 12V car battery, but would have about 40 times less energy storage.
Picture of LaoMa28 achievements

+2 14. LaoMa commented 12 years ago

#12, #13: Actually, there are some hybrid buses that use this technology.

However, capacitors can't hold their potential nearly as long as batteries can. Therefore they're pretty useless when it comes to electric cars.
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+1 15. loadrunner commented 12 years ago

They store power very slow, but can release it very fast. I think it can be used in weapons.
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+1 16. h8isgr8 commented 12 years ago

#15 You obviously didn't pay attention to the video. The internal resistance limits both the charge and discharge rate... it's not a one way street.
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0 17. ataneg commented 12 years ago

Probably one day we will start seeing these in KERS for cars... Now they are too week and expensive even for that. No comment for battery replacement :)

They can jump into our gadgets sooner, but...(this 6 capacitor array holds about the same power as a 3.6V 750mAh battery) apparently this array costs at least $500 compared to $5 for a LiIon battery, its a bit heavier and a lot more dangerous...
the benefits though are pretty quick charging and no limit in the number of charges.
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+1 18. rufinus commented 12 years ago

this is used in cars today :-) but only to back up amps. see http://www.sonicelectronix.com/cat_i6_capacitors.html for examples and explanation.
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0 19. ALI3N commented 12 years ago

you can tell if its still charged by touching the wires to your tongue, just like with a 9 volt battery