Exploding 400V Electrolytic Capacitors on multiple devices - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Cyril.Anthony
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 24, 2018, 02:12:52 pm
content: Hey guys, today a super weird thing happened at my home. All the devices which has 400v rated capacitors failed at the same time with explosion and smoke. I live in asia so we use 220v. For some reason the voltage drops to 170v and spikes to 410v and it happens randomly. I noticed this yesterday. No heavy load is run in the same line. I asked my neighbor if he had any problem regarding electricity since both of our connection comes from overhead cable he said he had no issues. My theory is that my Neutral wire connecting to the overhead cable has come loose. Is my theory correct or is there any other way this could have happened.Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 24, 2018, 02:19:53 pm
content: Quote from: Cyril.Anthony on December 24, 2018, 02:12:52 pmIf your mains spikes to 410V then you have a major problem and the capacitors blowing out are actually the least that could happen - 410*sqrt(2) - 580V after the rectifiers, so no wonders the caps are blowing up.Call your electricity company, there is some serious problem somewhere. The faster it gets fixed the better - this could cause serious fires, injuries and damage.

author: Cyril.Anthony
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 24, 2018, 02:27:07 pm
content: Thanks for your advice. I have called the power company they said they will take a look. I wanna know if it is on the power line or bad wiring inside my homeSent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 24, 2018, 02:34:54 pm
content: Most likely will be at the power provider side, unless your property has 3 phase power loss of neutral means loss of power, while on the provider side loss of neutral means things go bang as whichever phase has the lowest load gets the highest voltage. Random loss points to the fault likely being at a pole connection somewhere between your house and the distribution transformer.The likely cause is a poor joint when some tap was made, which resulted in the neutral cable being broken internally, but still connected by contact, and with movement in the wind, load and time it arcs and goes open intermittently, leading to every house downstream of the fault having intermittent neutral connections. If you live in a block of apartments the fault could be in the central power room as well, loose neutral.Only thing is to have the power company come out and inspect, as all this wiring is their property.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 24, 2018, 07:33:11 pm
content: Do any of the devices work after replacing the capacitors?Yes it sounds like a poor neutral connection. Try measuring the voltage between neutral and earth: it should be under 1V.

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 24, 2018, 08:49:49 pm
content: At first I thought this was a treez thread, but as others said it sounds like a neutral problem. Depending on the asian country you are in it might be easer said than done to get an intermittent problem fixed.

author: Cyril.Anthony
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 25, 2018, 05:37:41 pm
content: Thank a ton guys. The power company confirmed that it was the fault in the neutral wire. Thanks SeanB for the information.Quote from: Zero999 on December 24, 2018, 07:33:11 pmI'm gonna get some caps and replace them. i will let you know what happens. The board with the burnt HK-PM01 , I replaced it and it works

author: BrianHG
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 26, 2018, 01:28:14 pm
content: Quote from: Towger on December 24, 2018, 08:49:49 pm'' or ''?I cant decide which...

author: noidea
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 26, 2018, 04:51:35 pm
content: Quote from: Cyril.Anthony on December 25, 2018, 05:37:41 pmIf the power company has admitted it was an issue on their side then you should be able to claim the cost of repairs or replacement from them. At least in Australia that is the case.

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 26, 2018, 05:32:19 pm
content: It just occurred to me thatExploding Electrolytic Capacitorswould be a good name for a heavy metal band

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 26, 2018, 06:34:36 pm
content: this is why you need movs connected to thermal fuses to break the circuit