Capacitor discharge

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It's all theory. In practice capacitors do fully charge and discharge (as close as f*ck is to swearing anyway).
 
Nigel, there IS no existing context, the original poster hasn't provided a circuit surrounding this current source and it's capacitor or how it's switched (if it's charged and discharged switching is a requirement which makes the boot strapping question VERY valid) Especially in a discharge application like through a filament as G8RPI was trying to mention.... Mind you an inductor can be described as a current source. Upon a little more research on Wikipedia they're apparently used in Class E amplifier design as switched current sources. But once again we're digressing further and further from the insufficient information the OP provided.
 
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We are hungry for a schematic. Feed us!

Edit: You could also be forcing too much current through the cap. At any rate, a schematic or more info is needed. But at least use a higher voltage and beefier cap and that may fix it.
 
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The OP appears to be asking a hypothetical question, and has NOT cited an example where the "problem" occurs.

Therefore, the simple answer is, a small amount of the charge may be retained upon discharging, depending on the dielectric and the discharge time. When charging, the voltage on the second charge may be higher. But on the second and subsequent discharges the slightly higher voltage will cause a greater discharge current. This is self-limiting, generally at a total voltage near the original charge voltage (in this case 10V).
 
Sceadwian said:
(if it's charged and discharged switching is a requirement which makes the boot strapping question VERY valid).

You've added the word 'switching', and deleted the word 'constant' from 'constant current' which was in the meagre information we do have - those are important changes which still only give a tiny possibility that it's anything to do with switch mode. By sticking simply to the information that's been given, 'constant current source' and no mention of 'switching', it reduces that tiny possibility to zero.
 
I'm sorry Nigel did you actually read any of the posts that prasannan made? Not one of them has the word constant in it anywhere and he explicitly stated he was charging and discharging it using two seperate time constants and that the capacitor was burning out from charge accumulation which REQUIRES switching to occur... Why on earth are you still arguing about this?
 
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Sorry about that, I obviously 'invented' a 'constant' that wasn't there (but may well be anyway ).

But what he DOES'NT say is that he has ever burnt out a capacitor! (not that 'burnt' is a word I'd use), and I've always considered his fears were (and are) purely theoretical without any actual understanding of the theory involved. But, as always, we need to see what he's doing (or thinking of doing), however with a question based on such little knowledge it's HIGHLY unlikely he's making charge pumps or switchmode devices.

My answers were (and are) as accurate as possible with the meagre information supplied, whilst making the smallest amount of extrapolation on the original posts. Imagining charge pumps and switchmode designs is a MASSIVE leap from what we've been told.
 

Nigel.. it seems strange that you forgot he said that considering you quoted it yourself in a reply to him further stateing that it was impossible to have a capacitor charge above VCC...
 
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Sceadwian said:
Nigel.. it seems strange that you forgot he said that considering you quoted it yourself in a reply to him further stateing that it was impossible to have a capacitor charge above VCC...

It is with the information given, unless you make a wild extrapolation on the meagre information we do have.
 
Correction: dv/dt=I/C
 
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