I just tried pulsing high voltage out of an automotive ignition coil into a capacitor (350v/3300mf), thinking it would charge it however it did not. Should it work? Why didn't it?
The coil is outputting an alternating current, so it's alternately charging and discharging the capacitor. You'll need a diode (a high-voltage one) to rectify the output of the coil in order to charge a cap with it.
I dont know a lot so bare with me, its being pulsed from a 12v battery through a pulse width modulator, this I guess that makes it square wave? And as for the voltage well I cant measure it but I assume its in the kilovolts.
It was my (electronically ignorant) belief that I could charge the capacitor to its listed voltage (even with a higher voltage source) without trouble as long as I didn't go over?
Anyway I just put the diode in line with the positive lead (placed in the negative lead it was giving the cap a negative charge :/). Should I have used a diode bridge?