Rat-Zapper?

'"Rapid decapitation" Hee, hee, hee. CHOP!
Quickly remove the head then who knows what it is scared about?
It might be still thinking about lots of nasty things. Or thinking about lots of good things.

Hero999 said:

60V to 70V is really too low to electrocute a human .

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i would not try it with an arc welding machine

in my school lessons we where warned that it could be potential fatal

Robert-Jan

i used with sucsess the plates wit gleu

you buy them here in the supper market if the rat steps on it its gleud

verry effective to catch it then you can kill it how you want

just quick

Robert-Jan

Hero999 said:

60V to 70V is really too low to electrocute a human (I don't know about a rat) unless the skin is really moist so I wouldn't worry about it. A friend of mine touched the output terminals of a high powred LED constant current power supply; he barely felt a tingle and it's open circuit voltage was 75VDC.

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A study in China found electrocution deaths in welders attributable to voltages as low as 47V DC (Peng and Shikui, Forensic Science International 76(1995)115-119).

John

But was their skin dry or moist? I bet they were pretty sweaty.

I didn't say that it is impossible to be electricuted from 60VDC to 70VDC, just that it probably won't happen unless the skin is very moist.

Dry skin is a pretty good insulator and can hold off surprisingly high voltages, upwards of 75V. As soon as the skin is moistened, much lower voltages can cause a shock, possibly below 40V.

We use 48V battery systems at work and I've felt the odd tingle from time to time but most of the time it doesn't give me a shock at all.

Hero999 said:

But was their skin dry or moist? I bet they were pretty sweaty.

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Don't know. They were dead.

My comment was to emphasize the point made by rjvh (Robert-Jan) that we tend to get pretty casual around DC of 48 to 70 volts (I date back to the common use of B batteries in that voltage range and used to wet my fingers and touch them just as a test).

Yet, many arc welders operate with OCV's in that range and deaths from electrocution while using them are not all that rare. So, just because it is only 50 to 70 volts, you should still be careful, particularly if it is capable of high current or you are a sweaty Floridian.

John

Good will Hunting !

Harv, thanks for the pics only wish you had a better system. Your thoughts they were looking for water may be because of the poison ?

Remember that they know where they were by the sent trail they left before (clue) it is likley that he will attempt the same entry ?

killivolt said:

Harv, thanks for the pics only wish you had a better system. Your thoughts they were looking for water may be because of the poison ?

Remember that they know where they were by the sent trail they left before (clue) it is likley that he will attempt the same entry ?

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I'm thinking they are looking for water, because it's been hot and dry past few weeks. Everything is dried up. Neighbor has a small Koi pond, but might have it screened to keep out cats and birds. Plus, the ******* ate the hose on my washing machine.

Had a visitor last night, but it didn't spend much time in front of the camera, just out of my view, occasionally poking its head past the camera enough to let me know it was still there. Seemed to be just hanging out watching a cockroach eating a poison block I set out at night. Must have been waiting to see if the roach lived or died...

The rat zapper doesn't seem to be of interest. Going to lower the high voltage/bait section, since it doesn't arc past about a 1/4 inch.

Spring traps aren't working, but very limited on where I can place them outside. My dog is just to big to put a cover over them. If he smells a treat...

Been looking for a small, simple, and cheap DVR, but nothing I liked yet.

Going back to the capacitor based rat-zapper. At least seemed to be a deterrent. Very much won't to get a solar charger for those big caps. Wouldn't care if it took a week or two to fully charge. Found that a neon bulb needs minimum of 90 volts to strike, and about 50 volts after, use about 20 ma, and need a current limit resistor, or they blow. Article didn't elaborate on if there would be flying shards of glass, or just fail to light... Been looking around for an inverter circuit, but a little more complex for what I want. Thinking about trying a 555 to drive a 12 volt transformer in reverse. Probably not that simple, but can't hurt much. Got a hunch I'll need more then 160 ma from the solar panel.

Harv listen if he wants water give it to him. Drill a hole thru the bottom connect the anode and add a drip system around the bowl providing wet ground. The minute he puts his tongue to it boom lights out ? Some mammals can detect voltage maybe off the whiskers I don't know for sure.

The rats still keep coming... So far three confirmed kills, one suspected. The classic snap spring trap got 2, and one in a $30 electronic trap from Home Depot. The fourth, I just smell the odor, but might just be a phantom from the first kill (didn't check the traps for about a week).

I bought 4 x 0.5 @ 1 amp solar cells, and made a 2 volt panel. A little much, fried the disposable camera flash, hopefully just the transistor. Going to work on it over the next week (vacation). Hopefully, I can replace it with something a little tougher.

While digging through my boxes of 'treasures', looking for some of those old ignition coils, I found 2 long lost neon sign transformers. Think I never used them because they are kind of weak, 7500 volts @ 30 ma. Not sure if that's enough to kill a rat, but might be good enough to wire up a section of fence. Going to try the sticky paper first. I can see their eyes as the run a long the top rail of my fence. Pretty consistent, definitely coming from cat-man's property. Going to move the ratcam out to look down the fence line, maybe I can track down the nest.

Definitely going to stop using the poison (least near the house), and check the traps daily. Putrefied rat doesn't smell too good...

Those sound like the body counts from one of the other wars we lost. Should we call you Westmorland or McNamara?

Please keep us updated. John

How well trained is your dog?

Is he a good tracker?

Maybe you could use him to track down the nest and kill them all.

Hero999 said:

How well trained is your dog?

Is he a good tracker?

Maybe you could use him to track down the nest and kill them all.

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Jake is only one year old, pretty you for a Lab. Mostly, I just work on the basics, but he still has a lot of growing up to do before I can start on skills. He definitely has an aptitude for it, just a short attention span. I does pretty good with 'Where's the cat', but not quite quick enough. I hide treats around the yard, but he only finds about 5 out of 8 on his own. Getting pretty good at reading my hand gestures when I tell him where to look. I think he knows the rat scent, as I go out every morning and check for damage and the traps, he looks around too. Maybe next dead rat, if its fresh... Might see what the dog does when I ask him to 'find'. Wouldn't expect much for another year or so, too much puppy play in him for actual work.

The Victor electronic trap is working out to be a good investment. Wish I had bought two that day, price jumped to $39.95 in only about a month. Got two rats today. One was in the trap when I got up this morning, and a second I found around 10:00 AM (daytime rats?). Uploaded a couple of pics of the last one. Total of 7 rats since starting the fight. Found the poisoned rat on my roof while installing a 12 watt solar panel. Anyway, the Victor trap has gotten 4, used a piece of pepperoni flavored dog treat for bait, not even a nibble out of it.

Made a new rat-zapper electrode, it's two hard drive platters with a poison block sandwich in between. About a 1" gap, and the rat will need to get most of his head in there to feed. Going just hitch up the camera flash for now, but need to either build a pulse circuit, or some sort of capacitive sensor. I've got a 12 volt battery solar charging to play with (emergency lighting during Hurricane season).

Damn! I think I found their home. Follow a small mouse sized one along the fence, went under the concrete slab. Tried flooding with water, but it must be a huge hole. Found some more holes under a walkway. Figure on filling them in with concrete, but pretty sure they'll just dig new holes. Might try some smoke bombs first, July 4th is coming up. Doubt it will kill them or chase them off, but might show me more holes to fill.

Anyway, looks like I've gone from invasion to infestation. Need to find a more aggressive solution to traps.

Damn! I think I found their home. Follow a small mouse sized one along the fence, went under the concrete slab. Tried flooding with water, but it must be a huge hole. Found some more holes under a walkway. Figure on filling them in with concrete, but pretty sure they'll just dig new holes. Might try some smoke bombs first, July 4th is coming up. Doubt it will kill them or chase them off, but might show me more holes to fill.

Anyway, looks like I've gone from invasion to infestation. Need to find a more aggressive solution to traps.

If their home is too small for your dog, you could safely feed them something yummy. Lots and lots of it.

I love this thread. Don't let it die.

Have you thought of biological warfare? Probably illegal, but
Sialodacryoadenitis Virus (SDAV) sounds like a good prospect (
**broken link removed**).

John

The only problem is they might become immune to it, then what are you going to do?

i'm thinking microwave oven transformer with a few extra capacitors. no need to paint your shed if you place it right.