Do you discharge a capacitor before you desolder it to remove/replace it? I would like to discharge a 1.5uf 250 volt AC capacitor. Which resistor should I use? Which method is safest screwdriver or resistor? Thanks
Rusty
10 K or similar. Leave it connected for a while.
Most capacitors tend to discharge into the circiut. If you are that worried, short the cap with a screwdriver, remove and replace it and you should be good. You should only repair unpliged equipment first of all and you should have let it sit for awhile.
Adam Kb2Jpd
I don't usually bother. If the device has been powered recently I short across small caps with a screwdriver.
any low r reistor will do fine. As long as its R is an order of magnitude above the cap's internal R it wont cause it any harm. So a few ohms is fine, as is 10 or 100 ohms.
Shorting with screwdriver usually works ok, but can produce failures on occasion.
NT
thank you so much for your help.
Rusty
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