Tant caps can be some dangerous critters, we had a small fire here at one
time, because a tant was installed backwards, and the unit in question was
left to burn in over the weekend with a cardboard "tent" over it.  Came in
to a real mess on Monday morning.  Tants burn very hot when they get going.
In another instance, one of the engineers tried to stomp out a tant that
popped off a board, ended up with a hole in his sole (pardon the pun!), as
the tant continued to burn while melting into his tennis shoe!

Thomas DeSmit
EDA Librarian/Sr. Engineering Tech.
IFR Americas, INC.

The opinions expressed are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of
my employer.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: TechNet E-Mail Forum. Raymond Klein <[log in to unmask]>
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, June 03, 1999 12:45 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [TN] Tantalum caps and the big bang
>
>
> Ron,
>
> In the past 20 or so years I've seen about 6 lots of tant caps the were
> polarity mis-labeled. They get quite hot and pop. One even smoked a trace
> on the PWB. (My fault for making it too thin).
>
> You can test caps by putting them directly across a DC supply at 1/2 the
> rated voltage. The supply should be able to supply at least 1 amp. If the
> cap gets hot in a few seconds its "+" lead (what ever its marking) is
> connected to the "-" lead of the power supply. Wear safety goggles as com
> caps can fail spectacularly. Also be careful touching them as they can
> raise a blister.
>
> Good luck - Ray Klein
>
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