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I have a 200 volt 330uf(not sure what that means) capacitor i pulled from an old tivo power supply. I was wondering how i can charge this and use it, and what i can use it for. Iv charged some smaller ones in the best by directly connecting to battery but read somewere you should use a resistor. Iv also only ever run a christmas lightbulb off a capcitor for a few secondsWill a 19 volt laptop charger work with this? If so do i connect it directly? How long do i charge it? What can i power? Thanks!

user2860253
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    If you're not sure what 200V 330uF means you probably shouldn't be charging it. That said, if you stick with a 19V PSU, you'll probably be safe. – Wesley Lee Dec 27 '16 at 00:30
  • I know the 200 volt. Just unsure about the uF. – user2860253 Dec 27 '16 at 00:33
  • Trying to keep this simple. Basically, the more uF, the longer it takes to charge, the more energy it holds when charged, and the more energy it will deliver when discharged. If you want to charge it up anywhere near 200V, you will need a somewhere near 200 V supply. It is a hazardous item when charged to high voltage. Burns and shocks and energetic sparks are all possible. At this energy level, small particles of metal may fly off during sparking. – user57037 Dec 27 '16 at 00:38
  • That makes sense thanks. I by no means want to charge it that far. I know better. I think around 20 volts should be safe – user2860253 Dec 27 '16 at 00:40
  • It is possible to charge and discharge and make sparks without getting hurt. But it requires knowledge and caution. For entertainment, you can watch some of photonicinduction's youtube videos. – user57037 Dec 27 '16 at 00:42
  • relates, if not duplicate: [How can I quickly and safely discharge a charged capacitor (small and low voltage; <= 42V)?](http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/28672/how-can-i-quickly-and-safely-discharge-a-charged-capacitor-small-and-low-voltag) and [How to safely discharge high voltage (> 42 V) capacitors?](http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/52289/how-to-safely-discharge-high-voltage-42-v-capacitors) – Nick Alexeev Dec 27 '16 at 22:20

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There is not much that you can supply with this in the supply it came out of it was probably intended to maintain its voltage for about 1/100 second. As a general rule use a resistor to charge or discharge capacitors for a 20V supply 10ohms should do. It will charge in less than one second.

If you could scavenge or buy a couple of more components say a mains to low voltage transformer and a bridge rectifier or four diodes you could make yourself a DC power supply. There are lots of resources on the internet for this.

Happy experimenting.

RoyC
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