Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: BOSS5 Where to plug the Geckos???

braidmeister said:

> Well I took the plunge yesterday and gutted the computer cabinet for
> the most part. I only had to cut 2 wires, which were soldered to the
> transformer buried in the bottom. On a side noe...can anyone tell me
> the right way to discharge those big capacitors??? I was sweating
> while disconnecting them fearing getting zapped. :)

Power supplies often have have drain resistors across the smoothing caps
that automatically drain them after the power has been disconnected for a
few minutes, but don't rely on that because not all supplies have them.
I've known people who just short the terminals with a screwdriver, but
that's not a good idea because it can damage them, not to mention burning
a chunk out of your screwdriver. The safe way to do it is to make up a
gadget from a pair of insulated multimeter probes connected together via a
small power resistor (a 10 ohm ceramic wirewound ought to do it) encased
in heat shrink tubing. Touch the probes against each pair of terminals for
a couple of seconds. Be careful to get the right terminals or you could
end up connecting the capacitor voltage to something that you shouldn't.

--
------------ Alex Holden - http://www.alexholden.net/ ------------
If it doesn't work, you're not hitting it with a big enough hammer