car audio

[BrianG]

A car audio cap of ANY size will not hurt anyone in the slightest no matter if it is 1pF or 1000F. It take current to hurt/kill, and ~12v cannot generate enough current through your body's resistance. A large cap will just take longer to discharge. The voltage is too low to do anything except give a good tingle if you put it on your tongue. And a cap can only be charged up to the supply voltage. Slim; now if you are talking about those "starter caps" you see on electric motors, or some found in CRT TV's (especially larger screens), then yeah, those can hurt/kill you because they are charged with voltage in the 100's.

Case in point. A long time ago, the shop where I worked had a spot welder that was basically just a transformer rated for 1.5v but at over 1000A. On a dare (because I knew what would happen), I put my finder in between the jaws and turned it on. Of course, nothing happened. The spot welder would be like putting 500 AA's in parallel. Actually, the open circuit voltage measured closer to ~5v unloaded IIRC.

[J57ltr]

At the voltage levels you are talking my all means that can kill you. If you have a 10 micro farad cap at 10,000V that is 500 joules. The voltage at that point is enough to overcome your body’s natural resistance, and that varies depending on a lot of factors. I have measured my own resistance as high as 19M and as low as 540K.

I have been shocked by a Punch 45 (circa 92’) on 1 channel and that's only about 10V RMS (little over 14V Peak 2 Peak). Yet the only time I have been shocked by a battery is when wrenching on the + terminal of a battery while sweating and wearing shorts with my legs on the bumper. It took me a few times to realize something sharp was not poking me. Not even working with small aircraft batteries (24V) have I ever been shocked. It takes close to 50V DC to give you a shock (less in some cases).

Jeff