Potato cannon spark

[Hero999]

D1 is a DIAC, it doesn't have a sign, it's bidirectional, you could use an avalanche diode but they're less common than DIACs.

Take the circuit out of a disposable camera, remove the large capacitor and replace it with my circuit.

Turn the flash on and it will spark within a couple of seconds. Ther circuit is triggered when the voltage on C1 exceeds about 250V, you don't have to trigger the camera flash.

Here's a simpler way of doing this but it has the disadvantage of needing to switch >250VDC with a push button.

 

[da007man]

D1 is a DIAC, it doesn't have a sign, it's bidirectional, you could use an avalanche diode but they're less common than DIACs.

Take the circuit out of a disposable camera, remove the large capacitor and replace it with my circuit.

Turn the flash on and it will spark within a couple of seconds. Ther circuit is triggered when the voltage on C1 exceeds about 250V, you don't have to trigger the camera flash.

Here's a simpler way of doing this but it has the disadvantage of needing to switch >250VDC with a push button.

perfect! This is exactly what I needed, the button to set it off. Thank you