Capacitor Question.

[Baske7Cas3]

Ok well im new to this site and to electronics but I would love to be a part of both so try not to be to mean when I ask this question lol, even though it is a extreme beginner question im guessing.

Ok well I have a capacitor set up like in the link below. This link is the only thing I have that can help explain so here it is. I am also going to try to write it out in words.

https://www.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=capacitor.htm&url=https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/java/capacitor/

Below is the description of how it is set up but I want you to know first that it is set up just like that picture in the link but I have an LED where they have nothing hooked up. (where the charge out of the capacitor flows)

I have a switch with a toggle on/off(open)/on. On one of the "On's" I have a 9volt battery hooked up with the positive connection to the switch and when it comes back around to the "Open" I have a capacitor hooked up to the switch so the battery power runs through the switch and charges the capacitor. On the same side that the battery is connected to the capacitor, I also have another wire running out of the capacitor which then attaches to and LED and which in turn goes into the other "On" part of the switch.

So, I flip the switch to the first "On" and it charges the capacitor and then I flip it to "Off/Open" and then I flip it to the next "On" which releases the energy from the capacitor and runs through the LED which lights it up and then I think but im not sure that it comes back around into the capacitor to cancel itself out or something...Like I said im new. I know I should learn the basics first but I want to get this solved first then I will learn the basics.

Ok well now that you know my set up I can ask the question, this may sound like a retarded one and it pretty much is, but I am wondering as to why when I take out the LED and just hold onto wires that connect back around from the switch to the capacitor that I do not get shocked. I realize that current is running through the LED which makes it light up so why dont I get shocked or feel anything when I hold onto the wires that the current passes through.

I am very sorry for that sorry explanation of a schematic/set-up. If you would like me to clarify on a certain part of it please post a comment and I will do so ASAP.

 

[things]

9 volts is to low for you to feel anything. 1 milliamp will cause you to feel the shock, but since you only have 9 volts, the electricity can't flow through you, theres to much resistance, so you don't get shocked. i think you start feeling shocks over 50 volts, but that value varies due to the wetness of your skin, whether its ac or dc, if you have any cuts and the current. i think there is lots more variables, but i can only think of those at the moment.
understand?

 

[Baske7Cas3]

Well I understand the whole 9volt thing but i am running the current through a Capacitor... does the Capacitor only store 9volts because it is receiving 9volts? i thought it could charge off the battery completely... seeing as the Capacitor I am using is from a disposable camera and that was charged off a AA battery i thought that is how it worked. Also, I just ran the same exact layout but i had the Capacitor going into a Transformer though I dont know the exact specifications of it i can tell you that it hurt more running straight from the 9 volt instead of charging the capacitor then running that through. Actually, i could barely feel the shock at all when i used the capacitor. So im not sure why its not giving off a good shock.

 

[things]

the camera has a circuit built into it to step up the voltage to about 300 volts or so, thats enough for a noticable shock. but if you just hook up a capacitor to a 9 volt battery, it will only charge to 9 volts.

 

[Baske7Cas3]

ok... I thought it might have been in the circuit... to bad i fried it lol... I have no clue how it happened it just like put in the battery and it started smoking and smelling for like 1 second, i couldn't even find what was burnt or anything. Well then my question is why does the 9volt battery alone hurt so much more through the transformer than the capacitor charged to 9volts does?

 

[things]

because when you pulse dc into a transformer it steps it up to a higher voltage, the capacitor is charged to 9 volts, which i said in my first explanation was not enough to feel, but when you pulsed the 9 volts into the transformer, it stepped it up to over 100 volts, but at a low current. Basically, you have made the same circuit thats in the camera's circuit, but the camera's circuit switches it automatically.

 

[Baske7Cas3]

Hmmm... ok i guess im all done with questions about that, I was wondering then if you knew of any places to get explanations on how to make like shock boxes or whatever... Im not sure how this site works so if they dont like me talking about then go ahead and tell me and i will stop. It is just i cant get my hand on a good transformer really and I obviously friend the circuit board on the camera so i was trying to use the capacitor but i guess that isnt going to work. So if you know of any sites that could help me build a fairly decent shock box or have any schematics on one or just have any projects that would be good for a beginner to learn more about these things go ahead and send me a link or whatever. I appreciate your help a lot, thank you.

Oh and before i forget i have one more question, is there any way that you can add the power of two batteries together to make them stronger? like double their power? i know you can add them together in the sense that they will last longer but can you make them stronger together?

 

[things]

have a look in the "projects" forum, there is a schematic for a stun gun, if you haven't tried that already. People say that it is weak and only outputs a little shock, but i have had my share of shocks (100kv) this forum doesn't mind talking about this kind of stuff, as long as you don't go out and hurt or kill yourself from info suggested on this forum, which i highly doubt the stun gun is anywhere near lethal, but may be illegal in some places, so be careful

 

[Baske7Cas3]

lol I wont kill myself... I dont think... Well, i looked at the stun gun and ummm... confused is a good way to put it lol, but i will just find smaller projects and try to work my way up. And also im not sure if you missed it or not cuz it was an edit, but did you see my questions about the battery. Thx again for all your help.

 

[things]

oh, about your battery question, yes you can wire batteries in series to get more voltage. say if you wire 3, 9 volt batteries in series, you will get 27 volts and so on. but don't go wiring 40 9 volt batteries in series, you will get 360 volts, and i can tell you it will hurt like hell. i don't know if it will be lethal, but i wouldn't take the risk. i saw a little "shock box" thing on the net somewhere, i'll try to find it.

 

[Baske7Cas3]

Like i said i am new to this lol... so what do you mean by series? like could u just explain like negative to positive to negative to positive or whatever you do. And if you could find that shock box thing it would be great... the only one i really see on the net is the camera one and i screwed that one up already lol... i will need to get another they are only like 4 bucks.

 

[things]

series is positive to negative to positive to negative, and parallel is positive to positive and negative to negative. i'll try to find the project

 

[things]

the easiest way to make a shock box is to find another camera with a flash, and just pull the flash circuit out of it. what happened to your first flash circuit?

 

[Baske7Cas3]

Ok here is what happened... it was really wierd... i got it all apart with no problems at all and then when i put the battery in to its little holder and i turned the circuit over i could see a little bit of smoke coming from near the capacitor... i didnt know what it was but i smelled it real quick and i knew something burnt lol... and when i saw a post earlier about magic smoke i started laughing cuz it seemed like that for me to, it just came from nowhere and then left. The funny part is the tutorial i got it from on metacafe even said you will burn at least 1-2 during the process and i was just like wow... I could have maybe put the battery in the wrong way for a split second or something but i dont know.

And also, is there anyway to put an image as your signature?

 

[things]

hmmmmm, did you use the same type of batteries the camera did? was there anything metal touching the circuit board? could you post a pic of where the smoke came from? did the smoke come instantly? i don't know if you can put a pic in your signature?anyone?

 

[Baske7Cas3]

Well lol, even if it wasnt ruined when i took off the capacitor, it is now cuz my solder gun is extremely old and it doesnt really have a tip, its like a loop so that killed the circuit... its really no big deal they are only 4 dollars. But as for the smoke and stuff, what happened is i put in the battery and the second i put it in i saw smoke coming from what appeared to be the bottom of the circuit board so i turned it over and saw smoke either rising from the bottom or right underneath the capacitor, but it was gone to fast for me to even check. Also, i used the battery that came with it and there was no metal touching it, i was holding it in my hand so i know for a fact there was nothing. The only possible thing it could have been was me putting the battery in backwards, but i dont even know if that would do it. And as for putting it in backwards i had no clue which way lol so i guessed... i still dont even know which way haha.

And also i was wondering if you could give me a quick explanation of hooking things up in series, or just a link would be fine.

 

[things]

i wonder if polarity matters?????? i have gone through lots of camera circuits, and all of the ones that smoked, the smoke came out from under the capacitor. amazingly even after the smoke, one of them still worked!!! i think it would be the transistor that smoked. did you have the soldering iron across the capacitor leads when it was going? those camera circuits are very fiddly

 

[things]

oh, abut the series and parallel, here is a good explanation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_and_parallel_circuits
just think of the resistors as 9 volt batteries or something.

 

[Baske7Cas3]

actually lol... it was really hard to use the soldering iron because it was so big and i was trying to unsolder something so small... i pretty much had to kill the whole top left of the circuit board until i could get it lol. and since im new to soldering and unsoldering it was more of a practice than a doing.

Thx for the link.

Ok i looked at the link and it gave a perfect explanation.

"As an example, consider a very simple circuit consisting of two lightbulbs and one 9 V battery. If a wire joins the battery to one bulb, to the next bulb, then back to the battery, in one continuous loop, the bulbs are said to be in series. If each bulb is wired to the battery in a separate loop, the bulbs are said to be in parallel."

That makes sense in itself, but i am still wondering as to how you would set up batteries in a series, would u like connect the positive to negative? and then have a wire or whatever coming from a positive from one and a negative from the other?... i feel bad about taking your time to answer such trivial question, but i promise you once i learn something i wont forget it.

 

[things]

well i would think that you probably made a solder bridge between some of the components, causing the transistor to fry. i think that once the smoke comes out, the circuit or component is bad. if you really want to continue this project, you might have to get another camera flash circuit , i think if you asked a place that does processing of film for camera's, they might give you a couple free! sorry to tell you that if you do get another circuit, pull it straight out of the camera, and hook it up to a battery, short the two switch terminals together, and the thing should still flash. if it does, just solder 2 wires to the capacitors leads and you should be right. sorry about that.