AboutDave Nyce Expertise I have been an electronics engineer for 25 years. I can answer questions on analog and digital circuits and my specialty is sensors.
Experience I am the inventor on 23 US patents, and also some foreign ones. Developed sensors for over 25 years. Licensed private pilot (airplane and rotorcraft), have HAM radio license. I'm not an expert in computer networking.
Question If a filter capacitor in a full-wave power supply developes a DC short what would happen and why and also if the instantaneous voltage across the filter exceeds the voltage rating of a filter capacitor what would be the danger and why?
Answer If the filter capacitor shorts, a high current will flow of the amount that can be supported by the power transformer in a typical supply. If there is a fuse, it may blow. If there is no fuse, then the transformer will get hot. Maybe a rectifier diode will blow (open up).
If the voltage exceeds the capacitor rating, it may fail. There are several types of filter capacitors, but they usually fail to a lower resistance (and possibly, nearly a short).
