Discharging Farad Capacitor

[Djkthegame]

I got a single Sub and Amp powered directly from the Battery through a 1/2 farad capacitor which i no longer want as part of my system. I have been doing my own systems for 10 years but this is my first one with a cap. I still have the transistor it came with so how do i discharge the farad cap?

[Shae]

Just unhook the power and let it sit, it will discharge it self within an hour, probably under 15 minutes, but an hour to be safe.

[Wes]

The "proper" method is to short the negative terminal and the pos terminal ONLY with a resistor in between. I have only bought 2 caps before, and both came with the required resistor and instructions on how to charge and discharge.

[gonzo4191]

just about wes....

just take the negative terminal cable off and hold it to the positive post while it the positive cable is still attached.

[Djkthegame]

well i already removed the cap, which i still need to discharge but i still have the resistor it originally came with. I pulled the fuse of the lead to the cap and unhooked the neg from the cap then i unhooked the pos from the cap and removed it.

[John Deere Boy]

I accidentally discharged a large capacitor once with a screwdriver...it was the last job that screwdriver ever saw.

[00Beast]

I accidentally discharged a large capacitor once with a screwdriver...it was the last job that screwdriver ever saw.

I bet you had to go change your pants after that too!

[Bugsi]

I once wired a commercial air conditioner's compressor capacitor backwards. When I turned it on, the cap exploded and shot about 30 feet into the air.

Yes, shorting a big cap with a screwdriver will discharge it. Quickly. And melt the screwdriver.

Just clip a (physically) large (electrically) small resistor across the terminals. If it came with one, just use that. Otherwise a $0.50 ceramic 10-ohm power resistor from Radio Shack will do fine.