Design for a mains-powered rat zapper circuit

I'm guessing, so may be mistaken, that it's not safe for rats to play with.

Mike.

BTW where rats can go, little fingers can follow.

Mike

owkaye said:

Or is your assumption of unsafety based simply on the fact that I have asked about a rat zapper?

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You got it. If you have to ask about doing something like this, you shouldn't be choosing this as a first project.

What even makes you thing a neon sign transformer is capable of killing a rat? I have been bitten by them many times and am still alive. It, the sign transformer is high voltage not high current, and current is what kills.

shortbus= said:

What even makes you thing a neon sign transformer is capable of killing a rat? I have been bitten by them many times and am still alive. It, the sign transformer is high voltage not high current, and current is what kills.

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That was my reason for the post I made. Somebody has already done all of the engineering for you, plus made the device
as human-safe as possible.

shortbus= said:

You got it. If you have to ask about doing something like this, you shouldn't be choosing this as a first project.

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I have to agree.

Rats are also pretty smart. If you don't kill it out right, just shock it, they don't come back for a second try. Also I don't know what it would take to kill one with electricity. I can remember seeing insulation chewed off of the romex in my uncles barn, 120V chewed on by rats, never saw a dead one any where near the wires.

We had a barn full of rats and mice. I got a mother cat that was already pregnant she had 8 babies. Babies because adults cats killed all the rats. We have not seen a rat or mouse in a whole year anywhere on the property. Don't feed cats very much let them eat the rats.

something nobody thinks about.... if you have two strips of metallic tape (like the "window foil" used for alarm systems) and apply 12Vac to them, it will give enough jolt to a rat to scare them away. if you have an area you want to protect from rats, and use this as a perimeter, the rats will learn to stay away. if you have small children, 12V isn't going to hurt them, and it isn't a safety hazard. you could also use a higher voltage, as long as there's a series resistance high enough to keep the current below harmful levels for a human. since the rat is much smaller, the the voltage and current requirements for pain are a lot lower.