Ok well im new to this site and to electronics but I would love to be a part of both so try not to be to mean when I ask this question lol, even though it is a extreme beginner question im guessing.

Ok well I have a capacitor set up like in the link below. This link is the only thing I have that can help explain so here it is. I am also going to try to write it out in words.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/framed....ava/capacitor/

Below is the description of how it is set up but I want you to know first that it is set up just like that picture in the link but I have an LED where they have nothing hooked up. (where the charge out of the capacitor flows)

I have a switch with a toggle on/off(open)/on. On one of the "On's" I have a 9volt battery hooked up with the positive connection to the switch and when it comes back around to the "Open" I have a capacitor hooked up to the switch so the battery power runs through the switch and charges the capacitor. On the same side that the battery is connected to the capacitor, I also have another wire running out of the capacitor which then attaches to and LED and which in turn goes into the other "On" part of the switch.

So, I flip the switch to the first "On" and it charges the capacitor and then I flip it to "Off/Open" and then I flip it to the next "On" which releases the energy from the capacitor and runs through the LED which lights it up and then I think but im not sure that it comes back around into the capacitor to cancel itself out or something...Like I said im new. I know I should learn the basics first but I want to get this solved first then I will learn the basics.

Ok well now that you know my set up I can ask the question, this may sound like a retarded one and it pretty much is, but I am wondering as to why when I take out the LED and just hold onto wires that connect back around from the switch to the capacitor that I do not get shocked. I realize that current is running through the LED which makes it light up so why dont I get shocked or feel anything when I hold onto the wires that the current passes through.

I am very sorry for that sorry explanation of a schematic/set-up. If you would like me to clarify on a certain part of it please post a comment and I will do so ASAP.

 

9 volts is to low for you to feel anything. 1 milliamp will cause you to feel the shock, but since you only have 9 volts, the electricity can't flow through you, theres to much resistance, so you don't get shocked. i think you start feeling shocks over 50 volts, but that value varies due to the wetness of your skin, whether its ac or dc, if you have any cuts and the current. i think there is lots more variables, but i can only think of those at the moment.
understand?

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2. If it's mushy, It's biology.
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Well I understand the whole 9volt thing but i am running the current through a Capacitor... does the Capacitor only store 9volts because it is receiving 9volts? i thought it could charge off the battery completely... seeing as the Capacitor I am using is from a disposable camera and that was charged off a AA battery i thought that is how it worked. Also, I just ran the same exact layout but i had the Capacitor going into a Transformer though I dont know the exact specifications of it i can tell you that it hurt more running straight from the 9 volt instead of charging the capacitor then running that through. Actually, i could barely feel the shock at all when i used the capacitor. So im not sure why its not giving off a good shock.

 

the camera has a circuit built into it to step up the voltage to about 300 volts or so, thats enough for a noticable shock. but if you just hook up a capacitor to a 9 volt battery, it will only charge to 9 volts.

__________________
The 3 laws of science....
1. If it smells bad, It's chemistry.
2. If it's mushy, It's biology.
3. If it doesn't work, It's physics.
www.laserpointerforums.com A forum for disscusion of lasers and laser shows!
www.laserchat.org IRC chat for laser and electronic related stuff.

 

ok... I thought it might have been in the circuit... to bad i fried it lol... I have no clue how it happened it just like put in the battery and it started smoking and smelling for like 1 second, i couldn't even find what was burnt or anything. Well then my question is why does the 9volt battery alone hurt so much more through the transformer than the capacitor charged to 9volts does?

 

because when you pulse dc into a transformer it steps it up to a higher voltage, the capacitor is charged to 9 volts, which i said in my first explanation was not enough to feel, but when you pulsed the 9 volts into the transformer, it stepped it up to over 100 volts, but at a low current. Basically, you have made the same circuit thats in the camera's circuit, but the camera's circuit switches it automatically.

__________________
The 3 laws of science....
1. If it smells bad, It's chemistry.
2. If it's mushy, It's biology.
3. If it doesn't work, It's physics.
www.laserpointerforums.com A forum for disscusion of lasers and laser shows!
www.laserchat.org IRC chat for laser and electronic related stuff.

 

Hmmm... ok i guess im all done with questions about that, I was wondering then if you knew of any places to get explanations on how to make like shock boxes or whatever... Im not sure how this site works so if they dont like me talking about then go ahead and tell me and i will stop. It is just i cant get my hand on a good transformer really and I obviously friend the circuit board on the camera so i was trying to use the capacitor but i guess that isnt going to work. So if you know of any sites that could help me build a fairly decent shock box or have any schematics on one or just have any projects that would be good for a beginner to learn more about these things go ahead and send me a link or whatever. I appreciate your help a lot, thank you.

Oh and before i forget i have one more question, is there any way that you can add the power of two batteries together to make them stronger? like double their power? i know you can add them together in the sense that they will last longer but can you make them stronger together?

 

have a look in the "projects" forum, there is a schematic for a stun gun, if you haven't tried that already. People say that it is weak and only outputs a little shock, but i have had my share of shocks (100kv) this forum doesn't mind talking about this kind of stuff, as long as you don't go out and hurt or kill yourself from info suggested on this forum, which i highly doubt the stun gun is anywhere near lethal, but may be illegal in some places, so be careful

__________________
The 3 laws of science....
1. If it smells bad, It's chemistry.
2. If it's mushy, It's biology.
3. If it doesn't work, It's physics.
www.laserpointerforums.com A forum for disscusion of lasers and laser shows!
www.laserchat.org IRC chat for laser and electronic related stuff.

 

lol I wont kill myself... I dont think... Well, i looked at the stun gun and ummm... confused is a good way to put it lol, but i will just find smaller projects and try to work my way up. And also im not sure if you missed it or not cuz it was an edit, but did you see my questions about the battery. Thx again for all your help.

 

oh, about your battery question, yes you can wire batteries in series to get more voltage. say if you wire 3, 9 volt batteries in series, you will get 27 volts and so on. but don't go wiring 40 9 volt batteries in series, you will get 360 volts, and i can tell you it will hurt like hell. i don't know if it will be lethal, but i wouldn't take the risk. i saw a little "shock box" thing on the net somewhere, i'll try to find it.

__________________
The 3 laws of science....
1. If it smells bad, It's chemistry.
2. If it's mushy, It's biology.
3. If it doesn't work, It's physics.
www.laserpointerforums.com A forum for disscusion of lasers and laser shows!
www.laserchat.org IRC chat for laser and electronic related stuff.

 

Like i said i am new to this lol... so what do you mean by series? like could u just explain like negative to positive to negative to positive or whatever you do. And if you could find that shock box thing it would be great... the only one i really see on the net is the camera one and i screwed that one up already lol... i will need to get another they are only like 4 bucks.

 

series is positive to negative to positive to negative, and parallel is positive to positive and negative to negative. i'll try to find the project

__________________
The 3 laws of science....
1. If it smells bad, It's chemistry.
2. If it's mushy, It's biology.
3. If it doesn't work, It's physics.
www.laserpointerforums.com A forum for disscusion of lasers and laser shows!
www.laserchat.org IRC chat for laser and electronic related stuff.

 

the easiest way to make a shock box is to find another camera with a flash, and just pull the flash circuit out of it. what happened to your first flash circuit?

__________________
The 3 laws of science....
1. If it smells bad, It's chemistry.
2. If it's mushy, It's biology.
3. If it doesn't work, It's physics.
www.laserpointerforums.com A forum for disscusion of lasers and laser shows!
www.laserchat.org IRC chat for laser and electronic related stuff.

 

Ok here is what happened... it was really wierd... i got it all apart with no problems at all and then when i put the battery in to its little holder and i turned the circuit over i could see a little bit of smoke coming from near the capacitor... i didnt know what it was but i smelled it real quick and i knew something burnt lol... and when i saw a post earlier about magic smoke i started laughing cuz it seemed like that for me to, it just came from nowhere and then left. The funny part is the tutorial i got it from on metacafe even said you will burn at least 1-2 during the process and i was just like wow... I could have maybe put the battery in the wrong way for a split second or something but i dont know.

And also, is there anyway to put an image as your signature?

 

hmmmmm, did you use the same type of batteries the camera did? was there anything metal touching the circuit board? could you post a pic of where the smoke came from? did the smoke come instantly? i don't know if you can put a pic in your signature?anyone?

__________________
The 3 laws of science....
1. If it smells bad, It's chemistry.
2. If it's mushy, It's biology.
3. If it doesn't work, It's physics.
www.laserpointerforums.com A forum for disscusion of lasers and laser shows!
www.laserchat.org IRC chat for laser and electronic related stuff.