Connect the power supply to the capacitor without energy storage

Can a power supply be connected to a capacitor?

If you don't want to lose that energy, you can connect an inductor between the power supply and the capacitor. That's what switching power supplies do. The resulting loss can then be made very small (on the order of a few percent). But how is that possible, as the capacitor only pulls charge to do work as per the potential difference...

How do I connect a capacitor to a lab supply?

The easiest thing is to discharge the cap with a resistor, set the supply output to zero volts (or turn it off) and then connect the capacitor when both are at 0 V. Then you can turn on the supply and hopefully it will come up OK with the capacitor there. Lab supplies generally seem to do fine.

Can a capacitor trip a power supply?

Depending on your power supply, you might trip the overcurrent protection. The capacitor would need to handle the voltage from power supply. And both the cap and the supply must handle the surge current to charge the cap. So it depends on the capacitor type.

What happens if a capacitor is plugged into a power supply?

The capacitor will charge rapidly at a rate determined by the maximum current of your power supply, the ESR of the capacitor, and any parasitic L/R, whereupon it will act as an open circuit, with no further current flow. Depending on your power supply, you might trip the overcurrent protection.

When should a capacitor be connected?

It is fine to connect them when the output voltage of the supply and the voltage across the capacitor are close to each other. If they are not close to each other, you may get a spark at the moment you connect them. The spark can suprise you with the amount of energy it delivers.

Are capacitive power supplies short-circuit-proof?

In contrast to conventional designs, the capacitive power supplies are short-circuit-proof at the output. As the capacitor is directly connected to the power supply, very high demands are made on its reliability. It is therefore recommended that only X2 capacitors compliant with UL and ENEC are used for capacitive power supplies.