How can I build a device which delivers a small, harmless electric zap?

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Traxx

Limp Gawd
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I'm building a project for my senior studio class which is quite literally a "tower of pain" - red acrylic cubes, angry, sterile aluminum edges, an LCD showing a variety of painful images, etc. It all goes along with the thematic element I'm going for this semester, which is how color influences emotional responses on a pureley visual level.

So, I'd like to have something interactive for this tower. Something that actually causes pain when it is touched. I'd like to give a small electric zap to whoever touches it, the only thing is, I'm an artist, not an engineer :D

How do I build something like this? I can hide wires and boards and batteries and the like inside a sheet metal cube, so don't worry about making anything too bulky. It has to fit in a 12x12x12in cube, though. Thanks!
 
2 things you can do (that I can think of quickly anyway).
1 - a big capacitor. That's all you need. Have the person touch the two leads and if it's charged...they'll get a jolt they won't forget if it's a cap of any decent size.

2 - a cheap stun gun can provide some fun. Some 50,000 volt versions go for as little as $20 some places. Harmless for the quick touch. Harmless if the idiot just holds onto the leads (they'll just get knocked out in 5-7 seconds depending on their size). NOT HARMLESS IF THE LEADS ARE ATTACHED NEAR THE SKULL. I hear that causes real damage :p

stun guns are fun for a lot of things (besides deviant art). You can explode earthworms with as little as 50,000 volts. Shock yourself a couple times to know how it feels (just ignore the tingling sensation in that limb you shock for the next 30-90 minutes). perforate paper, etc. Plus most run on a single 9v battery.
 
You could always copy the mechanism they use in those fake sticks of gum and similar you can find at a gas station. Don't remember what they do off the top of my head though.
 
tons of guides on the internet for making one from a disposable flash camera. google it
 
some kind of static electricity generator (google it!) will cut down on lawsuits and angry people waiting outside to kick the living shit out of you.
 
yep, thats all you need, don't worry, the capacitor will charge itself :rolleyes:

nst6563 said:
2 things you can do (that I can think of quickly anyway).
1 - a big capacitor. That's all you need. Have the person touch the two leads and if it's charged...they'll get a jolt they won't forget if it's a cap of any decent size.
 
I'll say this again...

A GRILL LIGHTER!!!!


It is completely self contained, all you gotta do is push the button and you get zapped.
 
be EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY, *EXTREMELY!!!* careful building these circuits. There's not much difference between making a circuit that can shock someone and a circuit that can kill someone. Or let me rephrase: DON'T BUILD THESE CIRCUITS.

The piezo lighter idea is relatively safe if you just want to walk up to someone and zap them. Just remember that if you hold it in your hand (holding the ground) connector you'll both get a shock.

If you want something that doesn't involve pushing a button, get a tickle-stick kit:

http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=TS4
 
gee said:
be EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY, *EXTREMELY!!!* careful building these circuits. There's not much difference between making a circuit that can shock someone and a circuit that can kill someone. Or let me rephrase: DON'T BUILD THESE CIRCUITS.

The piezo lighter idea is relatively safe if you just want to walk up to someone and zap them. Just remember that if you hold it in your hand (holding the ground) connector you'll both get a shock.

If you want something that doesn't involve pushing a button, get a tickle-stick kit:

http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=TS4

Is that a kit I could easily fab into doing what I want to do? I've never ordered a thing such as this, so I have no idea what I'd be buying.
 
Static electricity is the way to go if you don't use the kit. I forget the name of it (too much fun in college) but my HS physics class had a metal ball that would throw arcs of what amounted to lightning for up to about a foot. It used 100,000 volts, but the amperage was so low that it didn't and couldn't hurt anyone.

The capacitor plan and the stun gun are both law suits in waiting.
 
Actually, the capacitor assembly out of a disposable camera would work pretty well- just make sure no one in your class has a pacemaker or other vital electronic before you bring it in. It's not painful, just unpleasant- and the electricity involved will cause no long term damage. Plus, it's pre-built! Just open up the disposable camera, take out the flashbulb, and wire the leads straight to two sections of your metal case. If someone touches both sections at once, he'll discharge the capacitor into his/her hand(s).
 
superkdogg said:
Static electricity is the way to go if you don't use the kit. I forget the name of it (too much fun in college) but my HS physics class had a metal ball that would throw arcs of what amounted to lightning for up to about a foot. It used 100,000 volts, but the amperage was so low that it didn't and couldn't hurt anyone.
You're thinking of a Van de Graaff generator. Probably not easily integrated into his current design, but fun nonetheless.
mavalpha said:
Actually, the capacitor assembly out of a disposable camera would work pretty well- just make sure no one in your class has a pacemaker or other vital electronic before you bring it in. It's not painful, just unpleasant- and the electricity involved will cause no long term damage. Plus, it's pre-built! Just open up the disposable camera, take out the flashbulb, and wire the leads straight to two sections of your metal case. If someone touches both sections at once, he'll discharge the capacitor into his/her hand(s).
I really have to disagree with the references to the camera flash units. The do have the potential to be dangerous, whether it be the shock itself (electrically or burns) or involuntary muscle movement cause you to hit your hand or arm.

The 'tickler' kit mentioned above would be easily integrated into your project and is of a voltage and current level that will be safe.
 
Traxx said:
Is that a kit I could easily fab into doing what I want to do? I've never ordered a thing such as this, so I have no idea what I'd be buying.
basically you hook up a 9 volt battery to it, and it puts out a current-limited pulsing 70 volts. You'll need to connect this to two surfaces that the mark has to touch simultaneously.
 
Agent420....hmmm, how come your memory isn't shot?

Thanks for the assist on that one.

Since this project is going to be publicly demonstrated and primarily as art, not as a science demo most if not all capacitor-type zappers are too much. He wants/needs to create mild discomfort without having to require that people viewing his piece sign a freakin' waiver.

It's basically one of those, "if you have to do the math to know if it is safe, it's probably not safe enough" situations.
 
damn you guys are sadistic, I would be so pissed off if I touched something and got a painful shock, especially if someone else intended to inflict pain.. and that other guy made a good point, getting shocked will make you pull your arm away very quickly which could cause you to slam it into something or someone else, not fun.... that tickler device sounds like the best bet
 
superkdogg said:
Agent420....hmmm, how come your memory isn't shot?
I do sometimes forget to remember that I have one... somewhere :D

Btw, if you're ever in Boston, check out the Musuem of Science... The Theatre of Electricity houses the world's largest air insulated Van de Graaff generator and puts on multiple daily shows. 2 million volts! It's really quite an experience!
 
get one of those automatic dog zapping anti barking collars or a grill lighter.
grill lighter uses peizo crystal instead of battery do it can not generate enough power anywhere in the circuit to hurt much except CMOS IC chips
 
I think the grill lighter idea is a good one. Have a button on the panel, and make it so the switch top is two metal plates that are not connected together, but are sitting next to each other and almost touching. They are connected up to the electrodes of the lighter. Mount the piezo switch so it gets pushed by some kind of rod/linkage when the mark :p presses the button. Seems nice and simple, and not dangerous. This all assumes the lighter can actually cause some pain, I've never tried it.
 
all you need is a plastic 2 leter bottle filled almost to the top with water. Then close the cap on the top and stick a nail through the top so part of it is touching the water. then do the whole rubbing feet across the floor/baloon rubing on the head thing to your self and touch the nail to charge it up. (you have to do it a bunch of times)
And there you have it... a big homemade capacitor.
 
elbarto said:
all you need is a plastic 2 leter bottle filled almost to the top with water. Then close the cap on the top and stick a nail through the top so part of it is touching the water. then do the whole rubbing feet across the floor/baloon rubing on the head thing to your self and touch the nail to charge it up. (you have to do it a bunch of times)
And there you have it... a big homemade capacitor.
This won't work - leakage through the water is too great, one of the electrodes is way too small, and the gap is way too large.

Leyden jars on the other hand, do work... here's a random site:

http://www.alaska.net/~natnkell/leyden.htm
 
Traxx said:
I'd like to give a small electric zap to whoever touches it, the only thing is, I'm an artist, not an engineer :D

Exactly, so stop the insanity and PLEASE DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING THIS ANYMORE. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Come ON everyone, I cannot even believe that you're giving this person actual suggestions. This is a horrific accident waiting to happen. I can see the headlines now...
 
mavalpha said:
Actually, the capacitor assembly out of a disposable camera would work pretty well- just make sure no one in your class has a pacemaker or other vital electronic before you bring it in. It's not painful, just unpleasant- and the electricity involved will cause no long term damage. Plus, it's pre-built! Just open up the disposable camera, take out the flashbulb, and wire the leads straight to two sections of your metal case. If someone touches both sections at once, he'll discharge the capacitor into his/her hand(s).
ummm it touched the terminals of a CAP from a camra flash that for some reason was fully charged(checking to see if it was safe to touch). yea there was a large nasty spark and part of the screw driver melted, would u touch it?
 
Man...this is freaking hilarious. Anyone actually suggesting to use a disposable camera's flash mechanism is completely retarded. Has anyone making such a suggestion actually tried to disassemble a disposable camera? When they first came out I thought I would pry one open to see how they work, etc. BAD IDEA.

Not only did my heart skip a beat when i discharged the cap...but it left wicked burn marks on my thumb for weeks.

While this scared the shit out of me...for others, it will scare the LIFE out of them. DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!!!!

P.S. I also pissed my pants.
 
I heard of people using Capacitors to shock others. They get these large capacitors from old TVs. Then they charge them...i heard they used AC current, though i would think a DC current is required to charge a capacitor properly. Then they put them under their sleeves with two wires (of course) sticking out. Then they walk up to a person and zap them and that person does not know what hit them because the wires can be easily hid back. :p
 
I think this has gone far enough in ways of describing things that can hurt people.
 
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