How does one solder a capacitor ?

23 days ago by polotype to c/askelectronics

Hi, i have a quite beefy condensator which need soldering up, are there any precautions i need to take in order to not fuck it up ? Edit : Thx for all the feedback. Went well, did no die :D

vext01 13 points 23 days ago

Capacitor? With leads that short?

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polotype 3 points 23 days ago

Ah yeah, my bad, that a milk jug, wrong photo

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AI_toothbrush 10 points 23 days ago

Idk where youre from but in my native language its also basically "condensator" but in english theyre usually called capacitors. In some old compounds like condenser microphone you see the old form.

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DrunkenDuckling 2 points 23 days ago

Probably German or French

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kuneho 2 points 23 days ago

condensator gang rise

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AI_toothbrush 3 points 23 days ago

Okay but the problem is its spelled "kondenzátor" for us so yeah....

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Gladaed 10 points 23 days ago

Hot solder on the tip of the iron, coat the wire, touch hot wire to lead, done.

Be quick and heat everything but the cap. They aren't exceptionally difficult to solder. Just don't heat it excessively.

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polotype 1 point 23 days ago

Thx

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OwOarchist 9 points 23 days ago

Did you pull this off something used?

Typically when sold new, they have much longer leads, which makes soldering easier, and then you trim off the extra lead length you don't need.

With the leads this short, it would be very challenging even for an expert to solder this without heat damaging the capacitor.

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ignotum 4 points 23 days ago

I have bought caps like that that also came with really short leads, it's juust long enough to reach through a PCB

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cmnybo 3 points 23 days ago

That capacitor has snap-in leads. It's normal for them to be that short.

They are not hard to solder. Just use a big chisel tip and it will only take a few seconds per lead.

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Sendpicsofsandwiches 5 points 23 days ago

Just be careful of the polarity, and try to move quickly since the legs are so short

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hendrik 4 points 23 days ago

There's some YouTube videos on how to solder... For example this random one looks like the capacitor has been harvested and has very short leads: https://youtube.com/watch?v=iDtXq21bKYg

Basically: Get the polarity right, or it'll blow. Touch both the lead and the pad with your soldering iron, and after a second, add the tin solder, wait another like two seconds for it to melt and connect everything and you're done. Then check your work and see you didn't inadvertently short-circuit anything else. Shouldn't be too hard for a capacitor as the pads are quite far apart. And don't burn the capacitor by heating it up for way too long.

Pro-tip: Once you test the device, put the casing on to avoid touching mains voltage. Will also contain something like an exploding capacitor so you don't get it into your eyes. If it works you can tighten all the screws.

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polotype 2 points 23 days ago

Thx

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lime 1 point 23 days ago

oh god

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polotype 1 point 23 days ago

O_o

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