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Fly Zapper Fun — Parallax Forums

Fly Zapper Fun

ercoerco Posts: 20,256
edited 2013-03-02 15:01 in General Discussion
Anybody with a $5 Harbor Freight fly zapper need a quickie science fair project, inspired by Benjamin Franklin himself? Static-sensitive ICs, keep yer distance!

Comments

  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2013-02-25 14:02
    Which led to this:
  • MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
    edited 2013-02-25 14:40
    Wow, this is one of the coolest science-fair-style projects I've seen in a while. Great job erco!
  • NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
    edited 2013-02-25 15:01
    Quite cool erco!!!! Just FYI, If you wait you can usually get the fly swatters on sale for $2.50. Normally about every other month!!
  • User NameUser Name Posts: 1,451
    edited 2013-02-25 15:38
    Wow! I wonder how many Harbor Freight fly swatters it takes to generate soft x-rays? Next time they go on sale I think I'll find out.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2013-02-25 16:06
    NWCCTV wrote: »
    Quite cool erco!!!! Just FYI, If you wait you can usually get the fly swatters on sale for $2.50. Normally about every other month!!

    This guy must have gotten that $2.50 price since he has twice the zappers:
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2013-02-25 19:20
    I still haven't pickup myself any of those bug zappers.

    If any of you try this stuff yourself, do something to protect your eyes!. My eyes burned pretty bad for a while after having my fun with sparks.
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2013-02-25 19:46
    That's awesome. I never would have thought of building those contraptions.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2013-02-28 01:07
    more fun
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61faXSh2ySc
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2013-03-01 20:02
    Humanoido wrote: »
    more fun
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61faXSh2ySc

    Every redneck's dying words: "Hold my beer and watch this!" :)
  • Beau SchwabeBeau Schwabe Posts: 6,566
    edited 2013-03-01 23:38
    That video reminds me of a leyden jar capacitor college prank....

    required items:

    Two Solo drinking cups ... One of them yours, and another one from unsuspecting person with a "conductive" beverage. :-)
    8 inches of 3 inch wide adhesive foil tape.
    High voltage power supply (such as an electronic fly swatter) ... or even walking across the carpet and transferring a door-knob spark will work.


    Directions:
    line your Solo cup on the inside with the adhesive tape allowing a tab of metal to stick out..
    Place the other unsuspecting persons cup inside of your cup.
    Charge between your metal tab and another lead temporarily in the "conductive" beverage.
    Carefully pull the cups apart and take your cup and charging equipment with you.

    As the person reaches for the cup, their hand grasping the outside of the cup becomes one plate of the leyden capacitor. Bringing the cup to their mouth to take a drink completes the circuit.


    DISCLAIMER: Use caution, you don't need a huge amount of voltage for this prank, A door-knob finger zap is more than enough for this prank. Don't overdue it !!!
  • User NameUser Name Posts: 1,451
    edited 2013-03-02 13:41
    Only 1500 VDC per swatter, if internet sources can be trusted. Alas, there are simpler and cheaper ways to generate 30,000 VDC than by buying 20 of these, and the D-cells to power them.
  • Beau SchwabeBeau Schwabe Posts: 6,566
    edited 2013-03-02 15:01
    Just an observation: The voltage must be more than 1500 V ... "For air dielectric capacitors the breakdown field strength is of the order 2 to 5 MV/m" ... That's about 22k to 54k per cm ... 1.5k would barely be half a mm. (0.68mm) .... perhaps it was missing a zero and it's likely closer to 15kV for the fly-swatter.

    Reference:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor
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