Will shorting out capacitors to discharge them damage or shorten their life?

Question

I found it amusing to short out large capacitors, as it makes a loud noise and large sparks. I'm always afraid that in doing this, it might damage my capacitor.

Answer 1

No, it does not. In fact, service people do exactly what you are doing before they have to service an equipment.

Be careful because large capacitor can store enough energy to hurt you.

Answer 2

it shouldn't. There may be some burning at the tipps of the electrodes if it is a very large capacitor.