Capacitor Question for You Electronic Gurus

SMITTY wrote:The battery for this unit is a 3v CR123 Lithium non-rechargeable battery. The solar panel charges only the capacitor. The battery kicks in when the cap is "empty".

Found a pic of the capacitor. Looks to be the electrolytic type if I'm not mistaken. Scroll down the page to see it: http://www.weather-watch.com/smf/index.php/topic, ... 90.30.html

Looking at the info in your link, makes the likely circuit design clearer. It's not an ordinary capacitor, it's a "super capacitor", one designed to store electrons like a rechargeable battery. It's also very, very likely you have the capacitance value wrong. It's likely 10 Farads not 10 micro Farads. There is a big, big difference, one million in fact. You need to verify the value. Also measure the length and diameter of the capacitor. I should be able to find a suitable replacement, perhaps even an upgrade.

Yeah I read that totally wrong and forgot to update - it is 10 Farads - NOT micro Farads. Thanks again Yanche.

I'll go up there in a bit & see if I can at least see the thing without having to dismantle the whole unit. If that's the case I'll get to it tomorrow .

Must be on the back side of the board - could see nothing on the front as seen in the pic. This thing hangs off the edge of the roof - not easy to work with while hanging on to the pole 30' up in the air balancing on a 10 or 12 pitch. I'll see if I have the motivation to tackle that tomorrow.

SMITTY wrote: Yeah I know exactly what you mean.

When I was at MMI, the first thing the instructor did on the first day of class was toss a capacitor out of a RD350 all charged up toward an unsuspecting student. Instinctively, you'd try and catch it & get one hell of a jolt. Since I was the guy from MA with the motor mouth & the funny accent, it got tossed my way.

Then I made the same mistake when I finally bought my own RD350 in '09. I didn't recognize that same capacitor buried under the flasher relay assembly. So I got lit up twice.

Back in the good old days when practical jokes were allowed and people were not so sue happy,

Most of the auto parts stores used to have metal covered countertops. It was common practice to have a few capacitors all charged up waiting for the unsuspecting customer to approach the counter. The counterman would touch that capacitor to the counter thereby charging the entire countertop !!!!! Who ever happened to come along and touch the counter....................... well it was always good for a few laughs !!!!!

Yeah I got bit a few times. I also watched others get bit as well.

Working on the old farmhouse I live in is quite the experience as well. Seems like my father in law wired the white neutrals through the on off switches. Why ?? I don't have a freaking clue !!! Every now and then I will go to change a fixture or something and will ASSume the power is off due to the switch position. Then I get reminded......

Rick

Now that's funny! I've got to find me a metal table just for that purpose. Yeah my house is the same way. I killed the breaker to install my ceiling fan back in '04 .. but while twisting the neutrals together, I felt a little "tingle". That ain't supposed to happen! One neutral went to the wall outlet, which was running a 13k BTU A/C unit at the time - don't know if that had anything to do with it ....

This capacitor thing is going to have to wait till warmer weather. Weather has been *censored* lately. Roof now covered with snow. I'll tackle this in April or May I guess.

Since I had such a successful mission repairing the Amtrol Boilermate circuitry, I've decided to finally get on this project. Not a moment too soon, as the display reads "low battery station 1" - just appeared a few days ago. Ain't it great how electronics all decide to fail at nearly the exact same time?

Just found some great info here regarding the installation of a second super-cap to help in low light areas. Figure this will be cheaper than buying batteries every 3 months. Should help lighten the load during the winter months, and will save the effort of shopping for a larger super-capacitor: http://www.archertradingpost.com/atp/index.php?ma ... ucts_id=68

My new soldering and DE-soldering irons should be coming in any day now. Just in time to get up on the roof in the 90°heat! Just 3.5 months ago, I was complaining about the cold LOL - welcome to New England! Actually the heat don't bother me one bit - it's my sneaker prints in the shingles ....

EDIT: Just ordered 2 of the stock 2.7v 10F super-caps. Going to solder the extra one in that extra slot there - hopefully this works better than the factory setup. A bit over $10 each with shipping. Cheaper than a new lithium battery every 4 months!

Mission accomplished!

Well .. I'll find that out for sure in 7 months - that's all I got out of the last battery. Having 2 caps in there should just about eliminate the need for the battery. We'll see I guess!

The de-soldering iron works GREAT! Man, did that save me a TON of time! Had this thing all done in about 15 minutes, instead of the 2+ hours it took with the Amtrol Boilermate board.

Turned out, that cap was hiding under that white cover shown earlier in the thread. I thought that was another "device", not just a cover. Pleasantly surprised.

While up on the roof, my leg locked up solid with THE WORST cramp I have ever had in my life. Don't know how I got off the roof without taking the fast route down ... that's the route that normally ends in a ambulance ride. Someone needs to invent chewable narcotics ...

SMITTY wrote:
While up on the roof, my leg locked up solid with THE WORST cramp I have ever had in my life. Don't know how I got off the roof without taking the fast route down ... that's the route that normally ends in a ambulance ride. Someone needs to invent chewable narcotics ...

Eat more bananas............ At least that was what I was always told about leg cramps. I hate when they happen. And always at the worst time and place.

But glad you got this fixed. Now move on to the next project !!!!!!!

Rick

Project ...S ! I was juggling 3 of them when I climbed up there to tackle this.

Yeah your the 4th person that's told me that. They said eat bananas and drink lots of water - that I was probably dehydrated. I sucked down one of those Ensure health drinks and felt better about a half hour after. Today no pain whatsoever. I was gimping around in pain all day yesterday. That was strange. Haven't had a cramp like that since I was in my early teens, when I used to ride a bicycle everywhere .. uphill, both ways!

Figured I'd update this, just to say it was a success. Here we are OVER 2 years later, and I just got the "Low battery station 1" message again.

Before fixing and adding the additional capacitor, a battery would last 6 months in summer, & ALOT less in winter. I can deal with 4-5x extended battery life!

Ain't it grande when a plan comes together!