Camera flash circuit safety?

Question

im trying to electrify my doorknob, and a camera's circuit would be good, but wll it kill if you touch it? if so, if i add some resistors, would it be safer?

Answer 1

Being mean to trick or treaters probably won't kill but it will give an extremely painful shock. I can't see that the police would find it very funny, neither would the courts.

Answer 2

Secondary effects from the shock could be harmful, which you would still be responsible for. The current available from most small 9 volt or less battery powered camera flash units is going to be very small. While 200 volts is about right, that voltage doesn't carry enough amps to really kill anyone. You have to figure the battery current, and the step increase ration. 6 volts stepped up to 200 volts, the current is going to be small, but the shock is still going to be painful. I would not recommend it, since if the victim is hurt in any way, you are the one who will be sued. It isn't worth it.

Answer 3

It will not be safe. If you want a novelty shocker that is safe, you need to go out and buy one. They make ones that you can conceal inside your hand.

Homebrew circuits can kill you.

Answer 4

NO NO NO

It can kill you. Adding resistors will not change that.

You are playing with dangerous voltages. Do you want to die or spend years in jail? Then find a different toy.

Any voltage over 40 volts has the potential to be lethal, and that circuit puts out over 200 volts.

edit, despite other (incorrect) answers, the unit has enough current to kill. It only takes 20ma (0.02 amp) to be lethal.

Answer 5

I'd have to agree with the other posters that camera flash circuitry is not ideal, but (legalities aside) their warnings may be a little exaggerated.

The main danger with cameras is that they store the charge in a large high voltage (~330v) capacitor which "can" provide a high enough current to kill if you present a low enough impedance to the circuit. eg. Try shorting one out onto a metal pole (BANG!).

That said, In my experience, touching the leads usually costs no more than a few pennies in the swear jar, but connecting it up to a large conductive doorknob could be far more dangerous... Cool idea, but not worth the risk.

Instead, I'd try cannibalizing the circuitry from an electronic shocking game. They are designed to safely shock people and believe me they can deliver a punch!

Here's a link with some examples..

http://gadgetz4all.com/index.php?cPath=2...

Good luck!