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From: grege@gold.GVG.TEK.COM (Gregory Ebert)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Zap, fry, and sizzle
Message-ID: <799@gold.GVG.TEK.COM>
Date: 21 Feb 90 22:03:18 GMT
Organization: Grass Valley Group, Inc., Grass Valley, CA
Lines: 70

Does anyone out there have some firsthand experience in destroying various
electronic items for sick-minded amusement ? I would like to share some of
mine and hear from others.

CRT's	: From TV's/monitors. Wonderful implosions if dropped into an open
	manhole or thrown inside a storm-drain tunnel. Vociferous THUD. Must
	drop on face. 25" color tubes are the best ! Once i chucked one into
	a concrete ditch, face-first, with 1-1/2" water. IT DIDNT BREAK !

Light bulbs & tubes : Similar to above, but have short POP followed by
			tinkling sound of glass. Sometimes emit small cloud
			of sparks if done in the dark. Light bulbs can be
			subjected to perversely-higher-than-normal voltage
			which results in the 'Xenon Effect'. Can also apply
			normal voltage, allow to heat, and dunk in water;
			makes a good 'Splort' sound.

Fluorescent tubes :  Best if thrown like a javelin. Very loud if stood
		     upright and allowed to fall on hard surface.

Capacitors	: Alltime favorite. Just make sure the applied voltage
		(usually 120 VAC) is 3+ times greater than the WVDC of
		the victim. Nice sparky explosion with smoke. One
		drawback to large (>1000uF) caps is that they pop the
		circuit breaker. Especially nice if you have 220/50A
		service. DON'T USE 'AC' CAPACITORS UNLESS THEY ARE
		MARKED 'NO P.C.B.'S'. Polychlorinated Bi-phenyls (PCB's)
		are an extreme environmental hazard.

IC's		: Nice pop with good orange/blue flames. Static memory
		chips are the best.

Batteries	: If you are patient, alkaline and zinc-carbon cells are
		quite amusing. Best to use a variac rated at 10+ amps and
		adjust from 0-120 VAC. Fresh batteries smoke and sizzle,
		while 'dead' batteries put-out nice green/blue/orange
		fireworks along with ample amounts of smoke. One victim
		popped out of its case with a loud 'suction-cup' noise.
		Still to be investigated are lead-acid and NiCd species.

Resistors	: Up to 10K-ohms and under 1 watt are susceptible to 120VAC.
		Depending upon value, they will heat-up, discolor, smoke, and
		flame-out, sometimes with a pleasant 'Bzzzzzztttttt-Phuffff'
		sound.

Motors		: No luck so far. Have tried running 60hz 3450 RPM motor at
		about 190Hz (~11000 RPM). Really screams. Desired effect
		was to cause armature to fly apart. Problem is that higher
		frequency operation requires higher voltage. To be
		investigated further this summer.

		Special case: Vacuum cleaner motors can be placed over a
		shallow pan of gasoline and energized. Can get 6-8 foot
		flame tower. Water and salt-water doesn't produce desired
		effect.

Speakers	: Ignite while playing music by Twisted Sister. Can also
		connect to lo-freq (5-20Hz) oscillator and use as a 'shake
		table'. Once, while 'inebriated' in a microprocessor class
		at UCLA, I filled it with wine-cooler and gawked at the
		various patterns while the speaker was driven by a radio
		tuned to KMET (Ah, yes, the MIGHTY MET 94.7, now defunct
		thanks to yuppies).

Transformers	: Remove iron core, unwind and tie one end across street.
		Hold bobbin with screwdriver, et-al. Wait for car. Good
		vibrating WIZZZZZZZ shakes your whole body while it unwinds.
		Leftover 'E' cores make so-so judo stars.

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