Ep 313: Capacitor Plague, Wireless Power, and Tiny Everything
Hosts Elliot Williams and Jenny List recap Hackaday Europe, detailing the logistical chaos of delivering 4 SAOs and badges, including customs delays and last-minute programming jigs. They analyze a retrospective on the 2000s capacitor plague, discussing how thermal design failures and electrolyte chemistry issues led to widespread component explosions. The episode also covers innovative uses of PCB spring connectors in resistance boxes and bendy PCBs, and explores the potential of extracting rare earth elements from century-old coal fly ash.