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Phil23
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Joined: 27/03/2016
Location: Australia
Posts: 1664

Posted: 06:34am 04 Mar 2020

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Hi All,

Few weeks back my Bug Zapper died. It was destine for the bin, then YouTube inspired me to play around with it.

MW Oven transformers did get a mention.....

Ended up ordering a couple of Neon transformers off eBay.
(Drivers maybe; quite small & light & not like the original copper tranny).

First to arrive was a 3kV one, which worked & zapped bugs & then stopped putting out HV for some reason. (Zzzzt first $12.00).

Second arrived today. 5kV one & $22.00.
Haven't connected it yet, but given that the first one died, I wondered if a nice juicy bug overloaded the 1st & fried it.

Is sticking a 40W Fluro ballast in series a good idea, (or necessity) to prevent big current spikes when the big bug flys in?

The guy on YouTube with his MW oven mod had some type of series ballast, but would need to watch it again to see if he added more detail.
(Don't recall it though).

Thanks

Phil.
Edited 2020-03-04 16:35 by Phil23

Grogster

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Joined: 31/12/2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 9051

Posted: 09:08am 04 Mar 2020

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Careful with those, Phil!

Even as little a 1mA or so @ 5kV could be fatal.....

Yes, bug COULD represent a low-impedance path for the secondary, WHILE THE BUG IS BEING COOKED. IE: in the cooked state, it will partially liquefy, and that will represent more of a short-circuit condition for the secondary.

I would simply add a 1M 1W resistor in series with the HV and see if that helps.
Isolate well!

....please be careful with those HV transformers - their bite can be extraordinarily bad....

Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops!

Phil23
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Joined: 27/03/2016
Location: Australia
Posts: 1664

Posted: 10:29am 04 Mar 2020

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Yeah Grog,

I understand that 5kV 30mA is way beyond the realm of getting bitten by a spark plug lead with a much higher HV.

I did also do a few HV test's with my HV probe (Long blade of grass in the 1000V pliers... Maybe those actions contributed to the death of the first tranny.

Phil

Phil23
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Joined: 27/03/2016
Location: Australia
Posts: 1664

Posted: 11:49pm 04 Mar 2020

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Will See what ratings I've got.

V�/R gives me 25W.
Might grab say some 5M's & parallel them up.

So is the ballast on the input a useless idea to have as well?
I've got a spare one sitting there & requires one wire to add.

Had no zapping last night for fear of blowing another PS.

Phil.

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