[Amps] We usually put a 33 Ohm resistor in series with the capacitor in these cases. (where relay contacts discharge a capacitor)

Jim Garland 4cx250b at miamioh.edu
Sat Oct 19 22:45:40 EDT 2013


	A .02 uF capacitor discharging through a 33 ohm resistor has a time
constant of less than a microsecond. That isn't long enough to arrest any
sparking that results from the stored charge on the capacitor. 
	Personally, I believe the notion that small bypass capacitors can
cause relays to stick is mostly an amp community's urban legend. The energy
stored in the capacitor isn't enough to do that. In any event, sparking
occurs when the contacts open, when the capacitor is already discharged, and
not when they close. RC snubbers can reduce that kind of sparking. I
remember using snubbers across key contacts  in the boatanchor era of
cathode keyed transmitters. 
73,
Jim W8ZR





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