Prank Shocker

[soccermid717]

Hey, I got really bored and decided to try to make a shocker. It didn't
work . I then looked up how and have a few questions on the design.
I have a 9v battery and connector hooked up in series to a SPST momentary switch I need a transformer to make a mild(and safe) shock to my buddies. Then I use a bolt for a electrode. I'm in 8th grade so keep that in mind that I don't want a too painful shock and wont understand a complex design.
P.S. Someone said a capacitor would work instead of a transformer.

 

[Andy1845c]

This is really not a good project for many reasons. Do a search on these forums for prank shockers, there are MANY tpics like this.

A 9v does not have enough voltage to shock anyone. A transformer only works with AC (alternating current) a 9v battery is DC (direct current).

You would need to convert the DC to AC to use the transformer to get a higher voltage. Then you would need to convert back to DC to charge a capacitor. If you want an idea of how this works, look at a strobe light power supply circuit. But keep in mind they are too powerful to use as a shocker.

There is a fine line between a harmless shock and a dangerous one. If you don't know how to calculate component values, you could make it dangerous.

 

[soccermid717]

Can you help me make one thats safe then I really am confused about this.

 

[Andy1845c]

Theres not much to be confused about. Its not a very good project.

Get a piezoelectric igniter from a gas grill. That should give a small shock with no circuit at all.

Do a search here for "shocker", you'll get a bunch of topics all saying what I just said.

 

[soccermid717]

Ive tried a piezo igniter but its not strong enough.

 

[Sceadwian]

Piezo igniters are intrinsicly safe (they can't put out enough current to kill someone unless it's rediculously large) The same can't be said for any electrical circuit that generates voltages that high (in the range of 10's of thousands of volts)

 

[ericgibbs]

Hey, I got really bored and decided to try to make a shocker. It didn't
work . I then looked up how and have a few questions on the design.
I have a 9v battery and connector hooked up in series to a SPST momentary switch I need a transformer to make a mild(and safe) shock to my buddies. Then I use a bolt for a electrode. I'm in 8th grade so keep that in mind that I don't want a too painful shock and wont understand a complex design.
P.S. Someone said a capacitor would work instead of a transformer.

Do any of your 'buddies' have a weak heart

Any type of shock can kill certain types of people, its not just a matter of the amount of electrical current flowing in the human body,
its simply the effect of receiving a shock, that will get the job done!

Look around for a more worthwhile project.

 

[Leftyretro]

Yea, "Don't tass me bro...."

You need to take our feedback with the correct attitude. Many of us may have done the same kind of thing in our youth but most of us have learned from either personal experience or indirect experience that what may seem like a harmless prank can sometimes have dreadful unanticipated consequences.

Let this idea pass and move on to something less dangerous to others.

Lefty

 

[audioguru]

Little kids like to electrocute others. Instead of doing something useful.

 

[mnboy]

A friend in college made one with a 9v battery and a bunch of SCR's that actually worked. Dangerous, yes. The biggest mistake he made was in testing it. No one in college would let him test it on us. So... He took it home over the weekend and tried to convince his wife to be the tester. She naturally turned him down. Well, he waited till she fell asleep and shocked her leg! Needless to say he spent the rest of the weekend sleeping on the couch!

I would not recommend trying to build this. He was lucky and did not hurt anyone. But the danger is real.

 

[Andy1845c]

Well, he waited till she fell asleep and shocked her leg! Needless to say he spent the rest of the weekend sleeping on the couch!

He's lucky thats all that happened!

Not to egg the topic along, but how do you make one with SCRs?

 

[ThermalRunaway]

A technician started work with us recently and, during some conversations with him, I asked him about previous jobs. He told me a story about how he was asked to repair some overhead wiring and, while at the job, he found the feed for all the earthing straps that the girls wore for soldering. He had a 1KV insualtion tester to hand so he decided to hook it up to that and shock all the girls on the line. Apparently one girl in particular freaked out and had to take time off for stress!!!

I'm not too sure how true that story is, but he seemed pretty serious about it. He also seemed quite oblivious to the reasons why everyone got so worked up!

Some people.

Brian

 

[Helder Ferreira]

Shocker

If you find an "ancient" electronic ligter, before the piezo type. I had one that was powered by a 12v battery "remote control type", all it had was a very small HV transformer a 220mF capacitor and a little change over switch. The normally closed contact kept the capacitor connected to the battery and when the switch was pressed, it discharged the capacitor across the transformer, creating a spark on the secondary winding. It gives quite a shock and it's not so dangerous sinse it's a small pulse and does not repeat itself.

 

[JimB]

He had a 1KV insualtion tester to hand so he decided to hook it up to that and shock all the girls on the line. Apparently one girl in particular freaked out and had to take time off for stress!!!

He also seemed quite oblivious to the reasons why everyone got so worked up!

And I wonder why he does not work there any more!
If I were his boss, I would have sacked him on the spot.
A for "assaulting" fellow employees.
B for damaging company property. (The circuit boards zapped by the 1kv insulation tester).

This guy is a complete prat.

JimB

 

[Stellarcore]

I remember building a circuit like this in high school.. not sure how it worked, but it was actually a class project that everyone built. It was a game where you had a loop of wire and you had to pull around a bent coat hanger that was twisted in a sort of obstacle course. If the loop touches the coat hanger, you get a shock from two electrodes on the handle of the wire loop.

If I recall correctly, it ran from a 9V battery and there was a small (note: small) transformer that would bump up the voltage (there must have been some sort of oscillator or A/C conversion going on).

I also recall getting shocked (several times) in high school from a tesla coil connected to a jacobs ladder. We were playing with the jacobs ladder by putting pieces of paper between the electrodes and watching the arc lite the paper on fire. I was holding a piece of paper to be lit, and someone bumped my elbow and my whole hand went in to the jacobs ladder.. quite a shock, probably not one of my smartest moments...

 

[ThermalRunaway]

And I wonder why he does not work there any more!
If I were his boss, I would have sacked him on the spot.
A for "assaulting" fellow employees.
B for damaging company property. (The circuit boards zapped by the 1kv insulation tester).

This guy is a complete prat.

JimB

I could tell you some more idiotic stories about this guy Jim - one's that I've experienced first hand actually! He's not working with us anymore either

Brian

 

[Hero999]

A technician started work with us recently and, during some conversations with him, I asked him about previous jobs. He told me a story about how he was asked to repair some overhead wiring and, while at the job, he found the feed for all the earthing straps that the girls wore for soldering. He had a 1KV insualtion tester to hand so he decided to hook it up to that and shock all the girls on the line. Apparently one girl in particular freaked out and had to take time off for stress!!!

I'm not too sure how true that story is, but he seemed pretty serious about it. He also seemed quite oblivious to the reasons why everyone got so worked up!

Some people.

Brian

If someone where I work told me that they have pulled a prank like that in the past I would have had a go at them and passed the story on to the boss.

 

[ThermalRunaway]

The most astonishing thing was not what he'd done, or that he'd freely admitted to it, but that he was completely oblivious to the upset he had caused. He said himself that he couldn't understand why everyone got so upset about it.

Later I realised he was stupid, as well as socially disfunctional. I can forgive him for the latter, but not the former

Brian

 

[ThermalRunaway]

Slightly on topic, I remember one time he was doing some fault finding on a small product that generated a very dangerous 4000V. He was always a terrible fault finder so I trundled over to see how he was getting on. He had the main board out, and he was using a set of self-made test leads to put 3.3V onto the board, presumably to power it up whilst it was disconnected from the rest of the unit. The main board was where the 4KV was being generated. I said;

"How do you know the H.T. side isn't being powered up then? You know, the potentially lethal 4000 volts?"

"Well" he said, "I touched the H.T. connection and I didn't get a shock."

I took him off the job and put him on something less dangerous.

Brian

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

You should have left him working on it! - it sounds like removing him from the gene pool could only be good for the human race!