Re: How to Recondition (Reform) Electrolytic Capacitors and Why

Wow, thanks, Momaka. I didn't realize the current through the resistor would diminish as the voltage went up. It makes sense, but I hadn't thought about it.
The power supply shows the amp draw, and when it is fully charged, it shows less than 1mA on all of them, even the potentially dead one, but I haven't put my multimeter inline yet.
What will the spark test tell me? Also, is it bad for them to do it before it is fully reformed?
Sorry for the dumb questions, I really need to learn more about electricity....

Re: How to Recondition (Reform) Electrolytic Capacitors and Why

So I've read a fair bit on here, and a bunch of other places on reforming caps, and while a lot of it is useful knowledge, there seems to be a ton of misinformation going around.
This thread was hugely helpful in setting me straight.
My use-case has been hard to pin down. I have 11 18,000uf 19v GE electrolytics (they're enormous, like mini soda can size) that I'm working on reforming. I want to make a battery tab spot welder with them, and they've been in storage for at least 20 years, according to the surplus...

Re: New Members - please post your introductions here

Howdy everyone. I'm a ham operator, and found this site while researching capacitor reforming. I have a handful of 18k microfarad electrolytic caps from the 1980's that I want to make into a battery tab spot welder.
Beyond that, I have been building and taking computers apart since I was 15 when I got my first laptop, a Mac Powerbook (the exact model has been lost to the fog of time; I think it was an 180c).
I'm looking forward to learning a whole lot!

Acer