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BrianG · 07.07.2009, 09:52 PM

A car audio cap of ANY size will not hurt anyone in the slightest no matter if it is 1pF or 1000F. It take current to hurt/kill, and ~12v cannot generate enough current through your body's resistance. A large cap will just take longer to discharge. The voltage is too low to do anything except give a good tingle if you put it on your tongue. And a cap can only be charged up to the supply voltage. Slim; now if you are talking about those "starter caps" you see on electric motors, or some found in CRT TV's (especially larger screens), then yeah, those can hurt/kill you because they are charged with voltage in the 100's.

Case in point. A long time ago, the shop where I worked had a spot welder that was basically just a transformer rated for 1.5v but at over 1000A. On a dare (because I knew what would happen), I put my finder in between the jaws and turned it on. Of course, nothing happened. The spot welder would be like putting 500 AA's in parallel. Actually, the open circuit voltage measured closer to ~5v unloaded IIRC.

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BrianG RC-Monster Admin Offline Posts: 14,609 Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Des Moines, IA	07.07.2009, 09:52 PM A car audio cap of ANY size will not hurt anyone in the slightest no matter if it is 1pF or 1000F. It take current to hurt/kill, and ~12v cannot generate enough current through your body's resistance. A large cap will just take longer to discharge. The voltage is too low to do anything except give a good tingle if you put it on your tongue. And a cap can only be charged up to the supply voltage. Slim; now if you are talking about those "starter caps" you see on electric motors, or some found in CRT TV's (especially larger screens), then yeah, those can hurt/kill you because they are charged with voltage in the 100's. Case in point. A long time ago, the shop where I worked had a spot welder that was basically just a transformer rated for 1.5v but at over 1000A. On a dare (because I knew what would happen), I put my finder in between the jaws and turned it on. Of course, nothing happened. The spot welder would be like putting 500 AA's in parallel. Actually, the open circuit voltage measured closer to ~5v unloaded IIRC.