Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!clyde.concordia.ca!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!galaxy.rutgers.edu!argus!ken From: ken@argus.UUCP (Kenneth Ng) Newsgroups: sci.electronics Subject: Re: Zap, fry, and sizzle Message-ID: <1580@argus.UUCP> Date: 2 Mar 90 19:05:42 GMT References: <799@gold.GVG.TEK.COM> <804@gold.GVG.TEK.COM> Organization: NJ Instit. of Tech: TEIES Project Lines: 12 In article , jeffc@ncr-fc.FtCollins.NCR.com ( Jeff Cook) writes: : In article <1990Feb24.225351.8797@chinet.chi.il.us> darus@chinet.chi.il.us (james wygralak) writes: : > Another note of caution: Beware of shrapnel from exploding capacitors. : I also doubt that the chemicals released will do your health any good. : In one school project I did long ago, I had an electrolytic capacitor : installed backwards. There was a loud pop, and I watched the casing bounce : off the ceiling. This was followed by a mini-snowstorm of fuzzy debris : from the cap's insulating material. Question: What was the fuzzy stuff? : Might it have contained asbestos or PCP's? Probably mylar and aluminium foil. The big (ie power line) capacitors may have pvc's in them, especially the older ones.