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From: levinesw@clutx.clarkson.edu (Steve W. Levine, ,,)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Zap, fry, and sizzle
Message-ID: <1990Feb22.021543.10205@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>
Date: 22 Feb 90 02:15:43 GMT
References: <799@gold.GVG.TEK.COM>
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From article <799@gold.GVG.TEK.COM>, by grege@gold.GVG.TEK.COM (Gregory Ebert):
> 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.
> 
> 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.
> 
    I have also had some fun with capacitors.  A few friends and myself once
made a kind of 'cannon' that had a capacitor mounted in one end.  When the
cap blew, the metal can would fly out like a projectile and go about 20-30
feet.  Destructive and wasteful, but fun. 

> 
> 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.
> 
    I find that resistances around 100 ohms are optimum.  The larger the
wattage, (up to about 1 watt), the longer the wait, but the more spectacular
the results. 
    I'll have to try the old batteries ....

--Steve
levinesw@clutx.clarkson.edu