good circuits for a noob to learn!

[mybuickskill6979]

i'm looking for simple circuits that i can put together and learn something from. i got the one that Len gave me and would like a few more simples ones so i can get the parts when i get paid( the 15th) and poke and praud around on it to learn something!! Thanx in advanced!! _Chris

 

[fingaz]

Hi,
There are literally hundreds of schematics on loads of web sites that are free to look at and learn from. here are links to a few sites

**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
http://members.shaw.ca/roma/
http://www.discovercircuits.com/list.htm

this should keep you busy for a good while, hope you find something of interest

 

[ljcox]

i'm looking for simple circuits that i can put together and learn something from. i got the one that Len gave me and would like a few more simples ones so i can get the parts when i get paid( the 15th) and poke and praud around on it to learn something!! Thanx in advanced!! _Chris

Chris, You don't have to necessarily buy parts, you can extract them from old radios, TVs, etc.

You can usually use virtually any transistor in simple circuits.

 

[mybuickskill6979]

len this is true. but i have limited things the i can tear apart to recycle the parts( i can look) but i'd rathr be able to get the parts i need and FOR SURE have them, and not have to worry if the parts are blown or got overloaded which cause them to stop working. that way i know if i part it together correct it will work and i won't be bashing my head through the wall like man i messed up only to discover that that transistor got blown you know what i'm saying. when i get better recycling will come in to play, but for right now its less hassle and less worry bout parts you know?

fingaz Thank ya. i will look at these and see whats crackalating.

i have a quick noob question. if i short out say a cap or something what is the worse that can happen. i've been messing with a cam flash circuit (two dif ones) and been shorting the cap to avoid shocks so if they burn will it spew acid all over me and i end up in the hospital or will it just pop and nothing to bad happen?

thanks in advanced!! _Chris

 

[Andy1845c]

i have a quick noob question. if i short out say a cap or something what is the worse that can happen. i've been messing with a cam flash circuit (two dif ones) and been shorting the cap to avoid shocks so if they burn will it spew acid all over me and i end up in the hospital or will it just pop and nothing to bad happen?

Caps don't contain acid. Electrolytics are metal and paper. There are some oil filled caps out there, but I doubt you will find any in consumer electronics. They are mostly for high-current and/or high-voltage.

I've never seen a cap pop from shorting the leads. They will pop if you put too much voltage on them, or over heat them when desoldering.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Caps don't contain acid. Electrolytics are metal and paper.

You missed out the most important ingredient - the electrolyte - the corrosive liquid that makes it an electrolytic!. It's probably not an acid, but it is quite corrosive and unpleasant.

However, it's not a "hospital" visit! - it's a "wash your hands" visit!.

 

[mybuickskill6979]

awesome lol cause i flinch everytime they short lol. its like contact- POP- ahhhhhhh!! lol! awesome a little peace of mind. thanks!!

cool. is it a possibly wash your eye out visit?

 

[audioguru]

Electrolytic capacitors explode if they are connected with backwards polarity to a high current power supply. The bigger they are then the louder is the explosion. High current AC will probably blow them also.

 

[Andy1845c]

You missed out the most important ingredient - the electrolyte - the corrosive liquid that makes it an electrolytic!. It's probably not an acid, but it is quite corrosive and unpleasant.

However, it's not a "hospital" visit! - it's a "wash your hands" visit!.

Okay.... I think i'm about to learn somthing new here too....

Do some have enough liquid to splash out? I was dumb enough to never even think about there being liquid in electrolytics. I guess since I have never had it run out, I never thought about the paper being soaked in it until I just looked it up.

I guess bottom line, Chris, listen to Nigel and Audioguru. They know what they are talking about.

Edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolytic_capacitor scroll down to safety. It talks a little about the electrolyte and what it is made from.

 

[mybuickskill6979]

lol andy no prob. we all learn new things every once in a while. when you get to the point when you think you know everything and have nothing else to learn, and think your perfect, try walking on water lol!! we all learn, just some of us have done it more, on particular subjects.

Did that sound like i meant it to sound. it was supposed to be a positive thing! but okay!!

 

[ljcox]

I once worked with a bloke who had an electrolytic blow up in his face.

Metal bits went into one of his eyes.

They took him to the eye and ear hospital and fortunately (it was Xmas eve) there was an eye specialist there who operated immediately and saved his eye.

They investigated why the cap exploded and found that a short circuit had caused a voltage greater than the cap's maximum allowable voltage to be applied across the cap. So they prevented a possible reoccurance by specifying a higher voltage cap.

I once heard an electrolytic explode. It had been inserted in reverse, but fortunately, no-one was near it at the time.

I also heard about someone who flicked solder into his eye.

 

[audioguru]

try walking on water lol!!!

It is simple when it is frozen.

 

[mybuickskill6979]

LOL audio. use electrical circuits to do it?lol!!

Len that sounds like it might be painful. i had three sand grain size pieces of glass in my eye last time i drilled my buddies' tank. i should know to wear goggles by now!!

 

[Gaston]

whenever i power up a circuit with electrlytic caps in if for the first time i always wear saftey glasses. i hooked up a huge power supply filtering cap backwards by accident onetime. it was inside the case when i turned it on. it looked like a genie was coming out of my supply. it was purple smoke and a lot of it. i opened the case and it was still shooting out like a smoke bomb. i have seen them explode too but it wasn't my doing.

 

[Andy1845c]

When I was a kid, my dad got an older DC power supply of some sort (I can't really remember) but anyway, upon trying to power a small DC motor with it, a capacitor blew up. I don't know what type it was, but man did it smoke and SMELL. I remember my mom getting mad as the whole house just reeked, lol. I wish he still had what ever it was, I don't think it ever got repaired

 

[mybuickskill6979]

that happened to an OLD stereo component type stereo i had the amp and tuner hooked up to the sound card on my PC. i urned it off at night came in the morning turned the comp on then once windows loaded i powered up the stereo stuff and PUFFFFFFFFFF the cap blew all over the circuit board. smelled like burning electronics and i forget what color the smoke was. but yeah it lasted a while. i think i might still have it too. i'll have to look maybe i can repair it. that would be awesome because it was my dad's and he died when i was 2. it has sentiment!! if learning could in the process bring it back. That would be AWESOME!!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I also heard about someone who flicked solder into his eye.

Paul who works with me did that, back in the 70's - do you know what the hospital did? - THEY SCRAPED HIS EYE WITH A SCAPEL!

 

[bryan1]

Paul who works with me did that, back in the 70's - do you know what the hospital did? - THEY SCRAPED HIS EYE WITH A SCAPEL!

Back when I was an apprentice I got a metal grinding spark in my eye. Now not thinking it was a big thing I left it, 4 days later my eye was really hurting so I went to the work clinic where the doctor got a needle and went digging in my eye to find the metal that had welded itself in my eye as the quack told me. Now when I use a grinder not only do I use safety glass's but also a face shield.

 

[Gaston]

i heard of a guy changing the drum brake shoes on his car without the proper tools. he was trying to get the springs off with a screwdriver, well it slipped and went tward his face and plucked his eye right out . i am always carefull when it comes to my eyes. especialy when my dad lost an eye to a slingshot when he was 13

 

[mybuickskill6979]

OUCH!!! took out his own eye with a screwdriver? OUCH!! dude i always use pliers when taking the retaining springs off. has used a screwdriver as well but i don't see how it got to his eye.
dude all these eye balls horror stories got me like OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWEEEEY!! lol