Charging a 350F Maxwell Ultracapacitor!

Charging a 2.7V, 350 Farad D-Cell Maxwell Ultracapacitor to 2.3 Volts. Charged with a small dc-dc converter module which takes in 12V and outputs 2.5V. It delivers a max. current of 3A. The charging current drops as the capacitor gets charged up. Then the capacitor is shorted for a short amount of time with a piece of wire just to see what happens. Since it is rated short-current of 840A it melts the wire right away.
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[@quantomic1106]

What exactly was the point of the music? Had to mute it.

[@SupremeMrRici]

Awesome video, guy! An ultracapacitor is very powerful and can be dangerous to unexperienced people.

[@ElectronicNutshell]

+SupremeMrRici Thank you :) and yes it can be dangerous as it packs quite a bit of energy.

[@rickvia8435]

Discharged from 2.3V to 1.7V after 3 dead shorts. Wow. And a power supply Cap of 3,500 uF used to be a lot of capacitance.

[@daand12]

I think you can even charge it on the iMax B6 Using Lead acid mode and just 1 cell config. Charge voltage would be 2,45v. Stil within the maximum voltage.

[@philipsommerton4280]

thanks for the tip. used this on my pulstec hobby charger just fine now

[@ElectronicNutshell]

Well, that is not specifically a charger but a DC-DC step down converter. You can find similar ones on Ebay.

[@markflierl1624]

When did they come out with such large capacitors. 25 years ago I saw a 1 farad capacitor and that was huge!

[@alokt7119]

Till recently it was all in micro farads.

[@ElectronicNutshell]

I ordered them from Digi-Key (US). Really nice caps btw.

[@VaupellGaming]

Tip: Dont try shorting them out like that. I had a 500F go pooop, smoke and electrons everywhere..

[@ElectronicNutshell]

+Eqvaliser but who doesn't like flying electrons? :)

[@electrobus5095]

Where did you buy these 500F capacitors ? Pls link

[@VaupellGaming]

HV and more Ebay and china :p #welcomeToTheInternet

[@electrobus5095]

+Eqvaliser I have already searched on the internet but sometimes these caps are fake and do not nearly have 500 Farads !

[@electrobus5095]

+Eqvaliser So where to buy real ones ?

[@dxdx666]

800 A discharging current can damage capacitor too

[@phantomrose1999]

I liked your music, what is it please ? needs to be really LOUD !! ha

[@preetheshkumar227]

Dear sir, Good day This is preethesh kumar from India I have already purchased 3000F, 2.7V x 18 pcs I connected it series I have technical query regarding some conditions while charging and discharging. Question 1 1) sir, what is the max charging current of this module. 165F ,48V.i have 50 ampere 48volt dc power supply source if I charge it directly will it damage the supercapacitor. If not possible to charge directly with 50 ampere can I use high wattage resister in series. For 165F, 48V supercapacitor module can you suggest the resistance value and it's wattage for charging my concern I need fast charging. Question 2 2) sir, once 165F, 48Volt supercapacitor got charged fully with 48V, 50 ampere power supply source if capacitor got charged fully if I keep continue power supply on to the terminals of the capacitor after fully charging will it consume current after fully charging and or will it damage any heating life decreasing plz check and inform me. Question 3 3) what is the full output current of fully charged 165F,48V ultra capacitors. Please reply for the above questions Thank you

[@Bartetmedia]

You should show a further view so we viewers can see the who thing and try to use color wires that represent positive and negative connections. Good video though.

[@davidbolha]

Hi, Nice video. Thanks ! 😆

[@dracwula]

Hope you add diodes to limit over shot of juice stored in the ultra cap energy (insurance vs high risk taker). They explode or fry circuits uncontrollably .. As you say we are not that stupid ..LOL! Because They are capacitors regardless they explode when used wrongfully where batteries they bursts with electrolyte acid steams. :)

[@MrClydieBoy]

I have a question for you. I have recently purchased 18) 2.5 volt 2600 farad maxwell super capacitors to power my car audio amplifier. I would like to wire 6) of them in series with aluminum buss bars sold on ebay then wire them parallel to get 15 volts. How do you wire them in series - 6) of them then parallel each of them 6 + 6 + 6 to get 15 volts? Also I bought some 12 volt led lights with 2 wire pigtails to charge them up, how do you charge them up with those led lights? Can you please help me out? Thanks buddy.

[@chemicalvamp]

What do you think about 6 of these in series in a car for car audio purposes?

[@sau002]

Some explanatory notes would have been good. Music is not needed.

[@depresskam]

charge is at 170A!

[@zackminor1674]

could you please give a description of the wiring going on here. I have a DC boost buck adjustable and when i set it to 2.7 V it quickly reads zero on the output voltage. I simply ran neg to neg and pos to pos.

[@ElectronicNutshell]

Hi there. The connection is just as you described. However, the problem might be your DC-DC converter, let me tell you why. The capacitor draws (or tries to draw) a huge amount of current as the supply sees it almost like a short circuit. If the converter has internal short protection it will turn the output off when it is forced a supply a current more than it can, so the output goes to zero. To avoid this problem you can wire a resistor in series with the capacitor as this will limit the current. So the neg goes to neg. Pos goes to the first lead of the resistor and other lead goes to the pos of the capacitor. The value depends on the size of your cap but around 10-Ohm should do the trick. Be careful to use a resistor with an appropriate power rating (say like a 5-Watt one) as it may burn. It should work this way.

[@SP330Y]

@Electronics in a Nutshell Are you saying (from the specs at 0.36)...that this capacitor can kick out a miximum of 170A? Is that right, so it would be max of 2.7V at 170A, is that what it can store and if you touched the connections with bare wet hands would it kill you? Maybe i could use one of these together with my car battery, just one connected across my + and - terminals wold this give it a boost to make it easier to start?

[@ChoudryArif]

when delivering more current voltage will go down rapidly

[@N.g.Chanal]

what is continuse currant rate of charge and discharge of 350f cap?

[@thewalkingtrade2678]

Good music

[@markflierl1624]

Can it kill you if you accidently short it with your hands?

[@electricsupercarsolarionic4070]

so what exactly parameters from your battery? 2.6 volts and 140 amps?

[@ZombieSlayerForLife]

Can someone please explain to me why super capacitors are so good compared to a regular capacitor. It seems that they take a long time to discharge when a normal capacitor is just one big spark and its completely discharged. Would a super capacitor be good for a emp generator Can they output enough current and enough volts to destroy something or at least knock it out.

[@JohnGallagher2560]

Well i'm not sure if you are still looking for an answer on this one, but I believe that the only reason this took a while to discharge is because the small wire which he was using to short it was of a high enough resistance to prevent the large amount of energy stored in the capacitor from draining at once. In this way, I supercapacitor is very similar to a normal capacitor, however it will have a much much larger capacitance while still being solid state (unlike a battery).

[@lezenfilms]

Is that 3 hours or 3 minutes?

[@ElectronicNutshell]

It is 3 minutes.

[@filter90280]

Where did you get your dc/dc converter charger? Might you have a schematic to build one?

[@ElectronicNutshell]

Unfortunately I don't have a schematic for that. I bought it from china and a module is like $1-2 if I remember right.

[@FREDDYMENDOZA]

how do you set up the dc-dc converter for the initial charge, I can see the output of your DC - DC converter is cero when start.

[@ElectronicNutshell]

DC-DC converter outputs a fixed voltage. The red meter is just a voltmeter reading the voltage on the capacitor. It was showing zero because it wasn't connected to the capacitor and when connected it showed 0.2V which was the initial charge. Then when the DC-DC converter was connected to the capacitor it started charging.

[@paristaladianos2209]

hello what device do you use to charge it?a battery maybe?

[@hamzaslimani4681]

Firstly im sorry for my english i just want to now haw what is the furmule i need to now to calcumate the time it's take to chage the supercap ,i just now before tha r*c*5 is the formul to now that and in this time i just think that esr is equivalant to the R of the formule and in this time esr=0.0032 ohms and RxC=ESR×C=1.12 second ×5=5,6 second that sayed way its take 3 minute to charge your supercap

[@eivis13]

Those gloves won't help you mate. Get some proper 1kv rubber gloves(or at least ones that provide a good amount of distance between you and the terminals) and not these meant for working under cars. From what i gather a good cheap way of charging these is with a 12v computer psu and a 5-10w bulb. Will take longer, but is going to be safer.

[@DrTune]

don't need gloves at all, this is a 2.7v cap.

[@yeshecan7]

wonderful experiment.....can you send me a diagram withat modefic volt meter attached with stepdown convertrr and with normal volt meter connection....PLEASE

[@danielong5334]

6 hours charging time????

[@filter90280]

I do have a question. What if you were to hook let's say 5 of the 350f maxwells in series? If each one is 2.7volts would the pack be 13.5volts? Would you still need to charge it with 2.7volts or would you be able to charge at 12volts? The reason I am asking all of this is because i am looking to power a 700 watt amplifier with a Xbox 360 psu. The power supply out put is 12v/16A so I was thinking of hooking up a 5 pack of the 350 maxwells in parallel with the power supply to take up the slack for when I have the amplifier crank up at high volume.

[@ElectronicNutshell]

If you connect 5 of 350F caps in series the total will be 13.5V and 70F. Technically it will be safe with the power supply you mentioned as its a lower voltage. You can connect this in parallel with it and indeed it will supply the surge current to the amp when needed. Ideally to protect the caps one needs to check the charge level on each cap as it may not be evenly distributed for each individual cap. I am using 5 of these is series to jump start the car sometimes and it works :) Your power supply has a fixed output voltage so the moment you connect it the caps will try to suck up a huge amount of current which may force your p.supply into short protection mode so you may want to limit the current for the initial charge.

[@filter90280]

Wow. Very cool. I will have to find a way to protect the psu so it doesnt overheat or burn out.The other cool thing about the psu is that in stand by mode it out puts 5v/1A in the off position so the pack should always be fresh and never drain..i did notice that the center peg on the maxwell cell is positive and the surrounding pegs on the same side of the cell are negative...the negative side of yhe cell is not located like it would be on a typical D cell battery?

[@ElectronicNutshell]

Your supply should be fine I think as they will draw a large amount of current for a short time but its best if you can limit the current. On the polarity, its the opposite you said, the center is negative and the surrounding ones are positive. The is quite opposite of what we usually see on normal caps. Be sure to connect them right so that you don't damage them. Good luck :)

[@alokt7119]

@@filter90280 I think two diodes in opposite directions can do this. In the charging direction introduce current limiter.

[@kayak347]

@@ElectronicNutshell 3

[@izzzzzz6]

Whats up with the timer? Seconds are very slow :D

[@markflierl1624]

It's a volt meter.

[@NikolaosLedZeppelin]

wire getting red hot??? hm not interesting for me... But I would be happy if you take some measures for discharge rate on some load

[@takeshi_yamato]

What's the power input?

[@jpmorgan187]

it's only 2.5V and he's wearing plastic gloves.... so pointless. the only thing to worry about here is getting burnt if your finger touches a red hot wire from a short... and those dumb plastic gloves will just melt onto your skin.

[@adam207321]

This think is creazy i know about these think only one danger think it can expload

[@youwilldiy471]

where i can find it!

[@BradyMcClanahan]

Where do order that charger

[@wiselonewolfkol512]

350 farad?!?!?!?!?!?!how much does this cost??

[@ElectronicNutshell]

About $15 :)

[@wiselonewolfkol512]

damn....thanks man.thats a VERY useful information.appreciate it

[@ElectronicNutshell]

Thanks =D

[@ElectronicNutshell]

miao mei Are you into Bitcoin? :)

[@SupremeMrRici]

+Electronics in a Nutshell ϟ ◄Check it out! Where are you bought ?

[@Quiquextroid]

Where do you buy those super caps?

[@JAKOB1977]

The Maxwell ones.. you can ask Elon Musk for them, but it ain't easy.. I do got his phone number from MKBH and I have written Elon many times on his personal mobile number about 1x 350F Maxwell supercap. And I'm almost there.. in the start he didn't answer, but lately, I got contact and he actually answered: "leave me alone your weirdo" But I will update when I'm a full circle with one...in the meantime you can look on Ebay..

[@ravemaster2000]

hi is the yellow one positive?

[@ElectronicNutshell]

Hi, yes, the yellow one is positive and the white one is negative. The center pin on the capacitor is negative and the three pins surrounding the center pin are positive.

[@swedensy]

Electronics in a Nutshell ϟ ◄Check it out! i have these, center is positive rest negative

[@ElectronicNutshell]

Artjoms Pugacovs Well, no, its the other way around. Center is negative and the others are positive. At 0:16 you can see that the outer pins are clearly marked as ++++.

[@ravemaster2000]

how do i tell which one is negativ and positive please answer asap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[@ElectronicNutshell]

Hi, the yellow one is positive and the white one is negative. The center pin on the capacitor is negative and the three pins surrounding the center pin are positive.

[@ravemaster2000]

thank you!! :) do you know where I can find a super fast charger or schematic for a charger for these?

[@ElectronicNutshell]

Christopher Rockman No problem :) Actually you can use any power supply to charge these. You only need 2.7V output so an adjustable one would be useful. The more current it can supply the faster it will charge. Say, if you can supply 15-20A you are good to go within seconds. You need a power supply with an output current limiter, not with a short circuit protection or it won't charge unless you limit the current with a resistor. Please see my reply on one of the previous comments left by Zack. China is a good source for this kind of thing with a low cost :)

[@nazyatai3202]

i can charge my smartphone with the help of supercapacitor ? my smartphne will charge in few minutes it is possible plz reply me

[@raykent3211]

yes, you can recharge your phone from supercap + voltage regulator circuit, but no, you can't recharge it amazingly quickly. The problem is not how fast the supercap can supply the energy, but how fast the lithium battery in the phone can accept it without overheating. So your phone has got built in battery protection circuitry which will only allow a certain limit on the rate of charge. Sorry, no magic! For this application I'd suggest buying a commonly available reserve battery unit for about 10 or 20 dollars. It has the (essential !) protection circuitry built in, or you risk wrecking your phone. These units use lithium batteries, if you knew enough about electronics to do it better and cheaper with supercaps then you wouldn't be asking this question... you'd be a millionaire. I hope you don't take offence, it's just that mass-market electronics is very complex, cheap, and generally the result of specialist engineers who have in-depth knowledge. Whereas a supercap is a "raw" component of very limited use without other circuitry.

[@nazyatai3202]

but u have any solution about how to charge phone in few minutes

[@nazyatai3202]

thanks

[@raykent3211]

Nazya Tai sorry Nazya, there isn't a solution to that, because of the built-in limiting in the phone, which is there to protect the battery from damage due to overheating. I don't have a smartphone, but I guess my tablet is similar. It will work fine when the internal battery is flat if I plug in an external supply via usb. Same for smartphone? The external units I mentioned are great - you recharge the unit from any usb charger and just connect it via usb to any device that can be powered via usb - I guess that includes smartphones. You don't have to wait for the phone's battery to recharge, you can use it immediately from this external power source. Leave it plugged in for an hour and it will recharge your phone's battery too, but as I said, you can use the phone immediately. Does that solve your problem? If not and you actually want to recharge your phone in one minute, then you'll have to re-engineer your phone, because the lithium batteries they have would get to 500 degrees C and melt down if charged that fast.

[@nazyatai3202]

Really thanks a lot

[@josephbabineau5495]

Boxing

[@fredborne90]

after you've filled it up turn up full your crappy music put the cap to your lips and drink it