Hello, I am trying to find/make an alarm-based watch that will provide a mild electric shock to wake me up at the appropriate times. How difficult would this be? I don't need much other functionality from it, just a zap at a certain time.

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I've seen vibrating watches, never a zapper one.
You might be able to do it simply by mounting a largeish piezo transducer to the back plate of a watch and wiring the piezo in place of the existing watches buzzer. A piezo transducer directly against the skin is going to feel very similar to a zap. It'll should tickle at least.

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As soon as you or anyone invents an wristwatch alarm clock that has an electrical shock as the alarm, I'll but ten. I can't believe this hasn't been invented yet!

 

Get a watch with an electroluminescent backplane. It has a 90v inverter and you can use this to give yourself a shock.

Or buy a Tissot watch. Every time you look at it, it will give you a shock.

 

A kid did this years ago. The alarm went off and executed (electrocuted) him. I guess he didn't use current limiting.

If you build it, 10 mA should be plenty of current.

 

How about an alarm clock that puts your hand in warm water. Bet you stop sleeping in.

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They sell watches that have pager buzzers in them, but the company that does it charges too much for them and the batteries don't last very long. It's really the only option out there for someone that needs a virtually silent alarm.

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Got an actual reference for proof of that one?
I have to call full out BS on it other wise!

How do you electrocute yourself with a watch battery as the power source?
The energy required to stop a persons heart far exceeds what you could get from a watch battery even if stored up in a HV capacitor. The conversion and step up process would take most of the batteries usable power.
They are 1.5 to 3 volts and have terrible internal resistance. Stepping it up to the point of it even feeling painful would take all of the electrical power that a button cell battery can produce energy wise.

Plus a watch would have what tiny electrical discharge it could make focused into small spot on your arm. Thats no where near close enough to your heart to stop it.

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I'm afraid I'm gonna have to go with tcm on that willbe, there's no way an electrified watch could kill you, unless it was intentionally designed to do so, I'm sure there's enough energy there but point contacts against the skin would at worse give you a burn, unless he did something REALLY stupid.

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I got the impression this was not a wristwatch but an wall-powered alarm clock that would shock you to wake you up. Certainly enough energy there to kill you. (Not the OP's project, but the kid who supposedly killed himself with his own project).

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Tanaka Sensei (avatar) says: Please spell it "ridiculous" correctly! Not "rediculous". ^^

 

Now that's just plain stupid =O I'd LOVE to see confirmation on that from a news source or two that would be a guaranteed Darwin award winner in my book =)

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Surely that's got to be worthy of a Darwin award.

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Reminds me of the exploding alarm clock from a James Bond movie - "Guaranteed anyone who uses it will never wake up".

 

I'm guessing Willbe's pulling OP's leg.

 

Nah, it happened, but he was using a wall outlet. Perhaps his skin resistance on wakening was lower than when he tested it, if he tested it.

Or else he did know what he was doing, so his death certificate should have read "suicide" rather than "death by misadventure."

By now, this kid has been dead for decades.

For 120vac I'd use a minimum of 30K series resistance in series with a 1/100th amp fuse, if I would do this. . .which I won't. . .