How to build a taser for free

This is a very easy, very fast and not to mention FREE way to build a "taser".

Step 1: Parts

Parts:

- Disposable Camera - You can get a free*, used disposable camera anywhere film is developed

Optional:

- Soldering Iron
- Copper wire
- Electrical tape

*I've gotten all of mine for free, but I've heard of other people spending up to a quarter for each camera.

Comments

[messmaker]

that doesnt just give u a tingle that thing is deadly. i tried it on my mate and he was on the floor for 5 minutes. like his joints were soldered together.dont try this on ur self. it is seriously deadly with a 1.5v battery (AA) 9v battery... screw that myspace.com/timmywazere

[aldude999]

1.5 Volts or even 9 Volts aren't going to hurt you. In fact, electricity wont even flow through you! You can get some sparks from touching it on metal, but it is completely harmless.

[adamnsmith]

where can you get a "FREE(=" disposable camera i cant find any

[mykiscool]

Costco film department.

[O_Kodama]

Walgreens could work, in the past I used Walmart to get what I needed just by going to the camera section and asking for the used disposable cameras. This only worked for me at one store, the rest of the locations told me I couldn't have them. Good luck!

[charchar97]

i think that you can ask around at like walgreens and places like that unno

[tswannell]

hey could u or someone show me a simplised circut like so u dont have to go buy a 15 dollar camera to make this cause i got a capaciter and a battery and some wire and some other stuff

[mykiscool]

Get them free from costco film department.

[mrwaffles2]

Wow I built one of these after doing a little research and I must say they work great! Even though I am (defiantly) below the age where I can legally buy a taser I am guessing that this is almost as good.

[Shawster BG]

I havn't tried it yet. Though it would obviously work, I havn't been able to find a ***FREE*** disposable camera.

[Aron313]

Buy a compacitor form radio shack instead.

[andy_the_circut_man]

a while back you said u couldn't find any free camera's, i went to walgreens, and asked for disposible camera's with no film, or that they took the film out of , just say your going to recycle them, and u can get some, i got 18 free with my first try, go about once a week, although i had 18, only 5 actually worked for making tasers with, and only the kodak ones, but if you press the flash button before u even open it, and hear it charge, that's a good idea that it will work. just dont take forever soddering something, because it messes up the board, and all it will be good for then is getting the battery out. :-) cheers!

[Aaamazzara]

(removed by author or community request)

[Aron313]

Haha if you dont want it to spark you can use your finger.

[ryan289]

u can make these without even taking them apart

[Aron313]

Make an instructable on it!

[hellstudios]

ummm.....HOW?

[ryan289]

i use to do it all the time let me experiment and see if i can remember

[tubbychick3n]

are you talking about just breaking the flash bulb out and soldering wires onto those contacts? because a few comments up, someone was talking about that.

[ryan289]

no when u take the paper off of it there are 2 holes on the bottom and i know you stick a paper clip in each one

[hyunwoolim]

man that is soooo cooool an electric camera! i should add that on my prank list.

[superduperdrew]

so it's a bad idea...

[superduperdrew]

dude, those really hurt...

[tubbychick3n]

oh, well i guess that works too.

[Tobor 2.0]

your kidding me right. I disabled a dis. camera with the same data board to make an E.M.P. generator and i got shocked by it. it didn't hurt at all!

[Aron313]

Buy a bigger compacitor for radio shack!

[geckomage]

an e.m.p you say? you can make small range ones with capacitors and coils of wire. but true e.m.p's with any range require a large amount of capacitance, at a high voltage, and call for a coil to be suspended inside a metal tube. then at the moment of discharging the charge through the coil an explosion must take place. at one end of the tube. thrusting the coil down on the tube one turn at a time in rapid succession, creating a short circuit and forcing the magnetic wave of energy into a smaller and smaller space. compressing it. until the last coil touches and it explodes from said device carrying a large amount of energy and covering a fair distance. transferring its energy magnetically to wires and components in electronical devices (most of them are shielded so any real damage would take a lot of energy) causing voltages that are too high and currents to flow wrong ways. destroying said devices :3 you might be able to get it to knock out those little pocket games you can get at target though :D

[Tobor 2.0]

I didn't say it worked I was prototyping an E.M.P., honestly people stop jumping to conclusions

[ToddisI]

i think ill just go to radio shack and buy a compacitor... and a double A holder

[Aron313]

Haha thats what i did!

[hellwarrior]

The proper way to discharge these capacitors is to create a little jig out of 100k thru hole resistor. Take a pair of INSULATED needle nose pliers and bend the leads down like you were going to put them thru a pcb. Next step is to match up the polarity of the leads. The longer lead is the positive on the resistor. The capacitor should be marked on the can. Next holding the resistor gently with the pliers carefully touch the leads of resistor to the leads of the capacitor and keep them their for about 15 seconds or until your comfortable. You will know it works if the resistor is hot. I have found it helps to do this with the camera partially dissassembled in a panavise junior. This way you can concentrate on just keeping your hand from shaking the first time you do this! Sparking the cap with a screw driver while pretty and cool is very bad for the capacitor. Not to meantion you could hurt yourself or fuse the screwdriver to the lead on the capacitor! Hope this helps!

[acrane4]

I knew to discharge it so I did and it scared the living daylights out of me it sounded like an m-80 firecracker going off.

[Ben Mighall]

How do you increase the power of this?

[tswannell]

im a bit late but all u do is get a bigger capacitor the long brown thing that looks like a mini battery and u might need a bigger battery but be warned dont go anything doubled the size cause u will put holes in meta we put a hole clear through a blade on scissors

[dliang]

I was taking this apart and got shocked. Ow.

[adamnsmith]

well no duh of course you'll get shocked

[O_Kodama]

If you go ahead and discharge the capacitor by touching the pos and neg end with a screwdriver then you shouldn't, Just play safe kids.

[assassin867]

Me too. :(

[lolcat360]

Hook it up to Kipkay's "TickleBox"... that would be AWESOME.

[charchar97]

oh yea

[jbuckland]

Try using a digital camera...
The capacitor's the size of a aaa battery!

[ghayden]

can i take the flash out of the circuit an it still work i'v rigged it up to 2 1.5 volt battieries an its well good

[rvǽdyā]

Don't they just have, like, a simple circuit of it? It would rather be convenient that way.

[Scragoe]

When I tested it on myhand that thing hurt! don't use it as a prank.

[yawgmoth1]

Ok, for all of you thinking, "hey! I'm taking this to school!" PLEASE stop and think. It may not kill anyone, but they WILL consider it a weapon, you can be expelled, even face criminal charges. Trust me! I made one of these many years ago and the school wanted me put in jail!

[One.]

wow, nice... I tried it and its great!

[AbaddonSpirit]

Another one, showing the cap blowing holes in stuff...
http://www.lucidscience.com/pro-camera%20flash%20taser-1.aspx

[RGM La Paz]

i recomemd you dont make this because i made this and took it ti school and got expelled i got a ticket too

[natospec]

I made mine in school when i was bored during woodshop, i had the parts with me and the soldiering iron, my principle knows i do this stuff and doesn't care as long as no one gets hurt and i dont start any fires. But i do all of the schools audio so if i go there screwed six different ways.

[Tommyhzy]

Whoa I was going to take mine to school... Oh well I'll just take it everywhere except school. Well Good luck with the expulsion. :o

[A good name]

It takes a special kind of stupidity to bring an improvised weapon into school and not expect to have it confiscated.

 

[g3thig4chri5]

Agreed el oh el

[Cryptonat]

Taser = Shoots projectiles attached to wires. Missile

Stun Gun = Weapon has to make contact with target. Melee

[rrrmanion]

then you could you make it a Taser by attaching wires to the contact points and throw them?

[seadonkium]

yes but you would have to through them in such a way that you don't touch both leads, or you would zap yourself.

[rrrmanion]

perhaps you could insulate it a part to form a handle? another interesting thing would be t try and hack a nerf dart to have a capacitor embedded in it, but dunno what the leads would d in flight, risk of bending

[lllalllo]

I used to connect the capacitor to a power cable add throw it to people...

[Hades di Angelo]

where do you get a soldering iron

[Compgeek789]

from radio shack, home depot, lowes

[FuzGuy433]

Um... when i put the battery in mine automatically charges. What should i do?

[aldude999]

Your switch is probably shorted, check your wiring

[mikmkt93]

You can make both tasers with one camera. just make the second one with the wires, then use that to charge the capacitor and u can use the capacitor for a fast, very painful taser, and the charger for a less powerful, but steadilly shocking taser.

[robotman3]

i got shocked and it was 330 volts!it hurt so bad!

[dume]

omg it is like the crazyest thing but i chage it and no mater wat it just shocked me where evere

[JakeBrake]

i just built a taser and i didnt know wat i was doing and i touched the curcit board and it shoked the living crap out of me

[More power!]

Same! (doesn't hurt as much as the mains though, believe me!)

Smaller version requireing more skill here: id/How-to-build-the-Worlds-Smallest-Electronic-Shock/

[JakeBrake]

i just joined and this site is cool

[electricalman123]

OK, here's an idea. Could I make a switch, then hook the switch to a battery and a capacitor, then just turn on the switch, charging the capacitor, and turn off the witch, and discharge it on someone like say..my annoying neighbor?

[JakeBrake]

i think u could just use a toggle swich

[tech know all]

nice instructable but this is not a tazer its a stun gun as a tazer can fire long range shots

[Puck13]

boo

[GianniMora]

come on, its a pretty good instructable.

[slow-dial-up-user]

OK I admit i wasn't being smart. As was making one of these i put my finger on the capacitor and i got a good jolt. i was tingling for like 10 minutes lol. and dang i did the week before on a tv that i was repiaring i jumped like 3ft in tIhe air. another thing we do is take grill ignigtors and run around out side shocking each other. I wonder what a 3 million volt taser would feel like:-)

[fingerlikingood]

volts dont hurt....amps hurt

[toogers]

there is an old saying, volts hurt, amps kill.

[ATG]

hahah....they surely do....damn amps....

[laci37]

Like 3rd degree burns

[Colonel88]

you would get paralysis(momentary) because high volatage capacitors are decigned to shock someone and stop such as the ones the tasers use. if you have an electrila appliance and you shock it u can probably fry it.....

[LILhazY]

hey um ima a bit of a noob at this but if i wanted to could i just solder sum wires onto the capicitor contacks and and stick it in a plastic case with the wires hanging out and zap them that way?

[fingerlikingood]

yup

[omnibot]

I just built a small electric fense like that. Works fine.

[cbarryboy]

http://www.instructables.com/id/SF515G5FUVSG4XK/

[pie R []ed]

hey I found its possible to rip apart the flash bulb and solder wires to the metal at either end and put the thing back in the case and make a stealth version

[555mst555]

i got tazered by a strobe light.........one that u see in hollywood movies when the cop is chasing the bad dude in his undercover car then the cop puts a blue strobe light on the roof .........yeah...that thing.....i have one.....i got shocked quite bad......

[sexyrexy222]

I touched the compassitor without draining it out of any curent, so it shocked me so bad it brought me to my knees it was pretty scary

[cbarryboy]

your a poon lol i built a handheld one that put out almost 3000.. then touched it....

[RGM La Paz]

how would i do this without a capacitor

[awang8]

You can't, the capacitor is the component stepping up the voltage.

[NetReaper]

I'm pretty sure that is the transformer because without the capacitor it still ups voltage.

[Richiepoo]

Yes, but the capacitor stores all of that voltage from the transformer and releases it very quickly, making the shock.

[NetReaper]

even without the stored voltage it still stings. i found out....

[Buster108]

Hey i made couple of these for igniter,anti-sister room gurdian r/c,and couple other cool stuff nut i never happened to try to shock some one i solder wires to the bulb cotacts and rip out the bulb..will that increase the volts or amps?and i read that it knoked out some1 so im not sure if its wont rely do something bad to whoever i shocked some1 tell me plz,and what vots and amps does it discharge since i dont have a voltometer..and when i rip the bulb out and solder wires to contacts the swich doesnt work and it doesnt charge up with the wires conected so i have to charge it up ten conect the wires(or put them onto skin)to get a discharge...... tanx in advance

[hellstudios]

no, this type of thing cant make someone pass out... i modded an operation game with one of these and had someone play it...then i watched the sparks fly :D

[TyMan210]

I should try that! You lose! *ZAP!*

[difflock]

I have built several of these style stun guns... Some of them, the discharge from the capacitor is just a zap...other ones can induce a spasm...And thats just the disposable camera ones. If you want to build a really compact and powerful version, get a camera flash that fits via a shoe plate (I used a Hanimex CX330) The entire unit is around 3 inches square and 2 inches thick, and I fitted 2 bolts as the capacitor probes... The capacitor in it is 2 to 3 times the size of a disposable camera one, and will leave burn marks with a small imprint in steel scaffolding pipe... The other method to produce a very powerful (AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS) version, is to wire several capacitors in parallel... Have fun, but be safe....it hurt a lot if you get it wrong...

[slientbob]

watch it it will blow up in your face

[lawtondannyboy]

It did me or a little it sparked all over! :)

[dragossh]

If I use a 9V Battery will it be strog enough to shock someone through clothes? I really need a strong taser to protect myself from gypsyes on the streets. I live in a country near the Black Sea with many gypsyes (i'm not telling the name but just ask the Italians where gypsyes come from and you'll know) so I can't buy a real taser...

[billbillt]

Maybe you can buy a real one on Ebay.

[Madrias357]

I used to do this while leaving it as a camera. Made much more sense to me that way in that I could zap someone in self defense (Upped the voltage to 4.5 and charge like usual) and them not see it being a 'tazer'

[sir-zeke]

Hi, I Just Created an account, I have been Browsing The Sight For Awhile though, This Was the First Instructable i read, i built it and attached it with some wires to a Metal gift box, Thank you for posting it!

[kashish0711]

thing thing is not just a joke, gives serious shock I made this then couldn't stop myself from trying it on my arm and I got a burm, this thing produces a lot of heat and the worst thing I had a very old bulky camera who capacitor was of higher rating that these disposable cameras.

[shocking]

hey are these tasers strong enough to make someone fall on the ground?

[awang8]

No.

[NetReaper]

could you add more capacitors?

[babbs1st]

make a bank of capacitors maybe even more powerfull i don't know

[ranga333eie]

can you tell me why cannot we measure current at nutral point

[joinaqd]

(yawn)...yet another tazer..pretty boring..go and check out PLASMANA's "world's smallest shocker"..that thing is awesome!!!!!

[RGM La Paz]

what type of capaciter

[awang8]

330v, the ones found in flash cameras to power the xenon tube.

[nicklowry]

hey, how do you discharge this thing

[awang8]

Take the battery out and touch the contacts with a insulated screwdriver.

[amando96]

OMG i made one from canon prima BF-80
http://images.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/normal/144/product-2144.jpg
Thats a pic... it use 2 AA bateries

and it's super strong! i havent tryed it on living things but it melts the copper wire when it discharges lol should i shock someone or how can i remove some power?

[amando96]

can i use any capacitor? and charge it up with a battery and some wires directly to the capacitor terminals?

[amando96]

when u mention battery in the third step. wich battery are u talking about? the 1.5 volt battery?

[malckdaddy]

I've using these disposable camera shockers for about a year now, never found a gag that makes me laugh quite as much as this one! Here's the deal though, I want to get a tad bit more juice from this, and although I know there are other ways of doing it, I want to hook two of these circuits together. I was thinking, maybe, I could have two positives (one from each circuit) and a shared negative. Three output terminals altogether. Possible?

[Pie Ninja]

Why not just wire five capacitors in parallel?

[zvillesurfer]

is it possible to make a continuous shock like a real stun gun? if you bypass the capacitor would that happen? my guess is if u bypass the capacitor it would be a lot smaller shock. could u then put like a 9V battery in it? would it still work with a bigger battery?

[RGM La Paz]

this is crazy man i made mine with a triple a battery and it burned my screwdriver

[shocking]

hey is this powerful enough to make someone fall and roll on the ground like a proper taser

[tubbychick3n]

no.

[pimpfuu]

another way to make it more like an actual tazer, its to break of the flash bulb, and solder two wires to the two contacts where the bulb was conected, then you can tape the contacts of the capacitor, so there is less risk of shocking your self chuz it hurts like a bitch, but anyways, the two wires that you sloder to the flash bulb contacts are now the tazer wires. you can also now make a box around the tazer, if you wat to get fancy, i used the plastic cover of a notebook for the casing, and hotglued it, i then cut a hole where the charge button is so i coulde easily press it. lead the two wires out of the box you created, and strip about a quarter of an inch off of the wire ends, and you are done you now have a greatly lessond chance of shocing yourself, and your tazer looks great too :D

[That Hurt This Time]

I wonder if i can hook this up to my door...

[kiss my donkey]

use steel wool to get the paint off

[hellstudios]

unfortunately, no. the door knobs are coated in a anti electrical paint, so unless you strip the door knob of its paint you cannot do this.

[yellow elephant]

i dont have solder iron. can i use electric tape to put wires on?

[hellstudios]

yes

[carpenter]

CAN YOU GET A FREE DISPOSABLE CAMERA AT A WAL-MART DEVELOPING CENTER

[hellstudios]

yes....

[tokune13]

i passed out be cuz of that,thathurt like bithc thank for this i got to give a rog electrict shock

[livesteamfan]

Someone else made a taser in glove form .

[bigfootduck]

someone please tell me. Is this really safe? my dad needs answers from a few people saying yes and no answers saying no to let me make this. Please answer and give an explination that may convince him. Thx

[macruadhi]

It is save unless the "mark" is wearing a pacemaker and the shock comes near the actual pacemaker. For the rest of us, it do smart a little when you get bitten by one.

[McNostril]

It takes 36 mA across your heart to kill you, and the amperage coming from this thing isn't near enough. I myself have been shocked by this (and a bigger one with 15 capacitors in parallel) many times. It hurts but it wont come close to killing you.

[Derin]

I think i will see this sign on grocery stores: Instant Tazer Just Add Salt Water

[Derin]

i found a purpose for the bulb...get 3 bulbs connect them to 380VAC and behold:a strong lamp

[nobull]

I have never killed anyone with this i shocked my own face( not on purpose) I'm alive it pretty safe not a chance you could kill some one with this if any one has proof of someone dieing responded i don't mean a story I mean like a article not theory or little facts.

[mikedoth]

Stupid question, but could this type of a thing be applied as a pocket welder, I often find projects where I don't want metal to come apart, expoxies don't always work, etc.

[DeathByPancakes]

Note: Do not use taser on someone taking a bath. 0_o

[pps]

hello ,I am new in instructable and any way I don't like to post comment telling people to be careful ,it's so much fun to play with explosif or hv,but on this one various of my projecte bring me to learn more about the lethality of electricity,the minimum ampere you need to kill somone is 30 mA,if it's passing by the hart (from one hand to the other)any capacitor iven the smaller one can deliver more than that when shortcircut,may be not for long but steel ,now ,when the voltage is low,let say 12 volt ,no risk ,the body as part of an electric circut respecte electric rule,like:i=U/r (i is ampere U is volt and r is the resistance of the body)the resistance varie from one persone to an other and iven from one circonstance to the other(sweting ,weet,what ever )I made the test with my litle brother mesuring his resistance from one hand to an other (dry hand)and meking the calculation ,it's apear that to qill me 3000 volt or so whas needed while for him only 360volt might have been enouph ,the capse that are use in this teaser load tipiqly at 300 volt,if my brother have weet hand an is not lucky ,this machine might just kill him.in fact a normal teaser is working by sending 30000volt or so in the boby of the persone ,posibly arking over close and plastic but the ampere is very low (around 30 micro ampere )and therefore can not stop an hart.sorry for this intrusif comment ,but please keep your self and your friend alive

[MadScience#1]

dang that is long i am not even going to read it

[sanity]

Yes, I think you are right, it is potentially dangerous to think of this as a "Taser" (c) NASDAQ: TASR ie. TASER International. The Taser puts out about 300 kV at a very carefully current limited 36mA 60hz A/C current. A Capacitor on the other hand, slowly charged to 300VOLTS then discharged at 100+ AMPS DC, has the potential to burn small holes through your body.

[antennas]

Nope a Taser is 50,000 V and it uses pulse shaped technology at 19Hz or so and 0.0026 A in an X26. You are very correct about the capacitor of course, instantaneous high current indeed. Be careful!!

[sanity]

I believe TASER did produce a potentially lethal M-26 model operating at much higher amperes, they have been around for a while now and did not always have careful digital pulse controlled and power limited versions. Earlier versions were potentially lethal, although not as lethal as the current from a 300V fully charged electrolytic. Do the ones that operate at 50,000V produce the nice WARNING, BACK OFF arc of electricity between the electrodes?

[antennas]

You bet it does. It is the CONTACT mode where you simply push it onto the person you want to make comply. It hurts a lot. I had it done to my shoulder. If you want to fire the probes you then need to put the cartridge back onto the Taser. Thanks for your info.

[Bubbapopadopolis]

how am i supposed to get a soldering iron for free like you said you did? and where would i get copper wire?

[ladiesman247]

he made it sound liek the whole thing was free. but yah he did say it was optional and that you didnt need it!!!!

[CapnTac]

He didn't get the soldering iron for free, he got the camera for free. And apparently you don't even really need the soldering iron.

[zoneman]

thanks for the instructible. this thing rocks! im not sure if i would ever touch any one with this thing fully charged, cuz i am getting 700 volts out of this thing! is this odd? did i get a fluke camera or is that just how powerful they are? well i put mine in a altoids tin... it looks awesome! :)

[zoneman]

here is some pics of what mine looks like.

[cool!]

WOW.... Thats awesome!

[awkrin]

not original though. someone made an instructable about the use of this as a detonator-here

[Pikachu4life]

OUCH!!! I got my taser working and it gave me 1000 volts... :( Man IT WAS FUN THOUGH!!!:) and u should see, when it touches metal the 1000 volt short made a REALLY big spark!

[Pikachu4life]

mine dsnt wrk... :(

[schmidtty]

the disposable camera capacitors are only 3300 microfarads, which is decent but i just went to radio shack and got a 4700 microfarad. This isn't a tazer, it is and quick shock, a taser is continous flow of voltage using a step up transformer. this is just a pulse, but enough to hurt.

[cheezydog100]

how bout some frickin sweet packaging

[nf119]

Hazards are present in the step(s) or the product(s) of this instructable. For your legal safety and the safety of others please include the following: 1) A clear warning of the high voltage hazard 2) A clear warning of the medical dangers Note: I believe that it is extremely dangerous for you to leave the capacitor in the circuit. The flash capacitor are made to rapidly release their charge and the amperage they can output + their voltage rating have a extremely high possibility of causing heart failure as well as many other harms. The device will still produce quite a shock if used without the capacitor.

[eggman]

how do you figure it would shock without the cap? without that, not only is it an incomplete circuit, but it's essentally just a AA battery

[nf119]

The capacitor in the circuit is only used to store the charge so that it can be quickly discharge with a high peak current. Without it, the charging circuits will output a continuous 300V across the terminal, but will provide only a minimal amount of current. If you remove the capacitor, the direct output of the charging circuit will be equivalent to the shocking gags found in stores. Although it will not be as painful, it will still deliver a nasty shock. Its still very very impressive but not as dangerous. PS. Although a AA is still just a little battery, the power output is several watts. The regulation states that a AA must be able to deliver 1.5 Watts without any significant heating of the battery.

[struckbyanarrow]

sounds fun!

[divindavid]

this is WAY better than the way that ripping apart a disposable camera i did that and i got shocked even with the battery's out those capassaters hold a Lot O Shit

[ARMED N HAMMERED]

wOULD THIS BE A GOOD TRIGER FOR A POTATO GUN?

[sempri_fi]

if you had a proper way of maintaining the spark gap it would work... try a spark plug, like from a car, you can gap them pretty close and then open the gap until it stops sparking, then bump it back a bit and you'll have the maximum gap.... though there is a chance your fuel wont allow for a gap that is that big, in which case you would need to make it smaller....

[chalky]

excellent idea ARMED N HAMMERED

[ARMED N HAMMERED]

Thx I figured if you wired it up in a long series of gaps like the "spark strip" in one of the other Instructables you would get a reliable and consistent shot every time!.....and if you get the right disposable camera you would even get a cool high pitch charge up noise before you fire!!!!

[autonomousoperations]

If your going for continuous shocks you might check this out http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Taser/ I know it can ignite lighter fluid because i used it in a physics project as an ignition source a month ago so it would work for a combustion potato canon. The trade of is the parts aren't as abundant as disposable cameras so it may cost a little.

[McNostril]

I bet it would, it makes a really nice spark when the wires are close together and unlike flint triggers it will still work when it gets wet.

[ARMED N HAMMERED]

Thx, I'm gonna try it out......ill get back 2 ya ...CHEERS

[bleachworthy]

DAYUM those are alot of comments. I made one of these for an electronics class in high school. needless to say I was arrested for posession of a consealed weapon, and assault with a deadly weapon. the teacher had OK'd it, but it was not ok with the police, or administrators. the reason I was arrested (and suspended for 10 days) was because I knocked the teacher unconsious, by having him touch the contacts, one to each of his arms. this can HURT. on another note, if you want to kill someone with these, you can buy 1 (or higher) farad capacitors (be sure to check the voltage, or you might have an accident) and replace the current capacitor with the deadly one. yes, I said deadly. it will kill you. it will kill you dead. even with its capactior that it comes with, it could very well kill you if your hands were wet, and you had a weak heart.

[incorrigible packrat]

Funny how the police get to carry real ones around, and even use them to kill Polish immigrants in airports for no apparent reason.

[martinoheat]

hey, if your hands were wet, wouldn't that give the electricity more to work through and reduce the shock. Water is a relatively poor conductor of electricity and therefore touching the contacts with dry hands would send the current straight to the person and give a more painful shock..... ?

[bleachworthy]

that's what you would think, right? it's the opposite, it has less resistance than your body, making a good contact point. it hurts quite a bit more if your hands are wet. here is a simple experiment, that will prove this theory. take a fully charged 12 volt car battery, and two pairs of pliers. in each hand take the pliers, and squeeze the battery's leads as hard as you can. nothing, right? now soak your hands in water and try it. amazing huh? you should feel a little bit of the current going through your arms. another easier, less risky trick. take a standard 9 volt battery, and touch the contacts to your skin. nothing. now touch the contacts to your tongue. sure, your tongue is more sensitive, but it really isn't much of a factor, as the moisture is. ever wonder why it is advised not to handle high voltage electronics (hair dryer, corded shavers, hair straighteners) with wet hands and/or feet? water is more conductive than most think. now distilled water on the other hand, absolutely no conductivity.

[tysonscott2002]

in the process of making this, i pulled a stupid, and shocked myself not knowing it, it freaked the shit outta me, it was funny, cuz it buzzed a lot, then it hurt for a little bit, then i was good, it was good times..

[silverpapermaker]

dude me too i did it 20 minutes ago and im still shaking after it happened i threw the peice of crape at the wall and smashed it (i have a bad temper :( ) and now i regret doing it but ow crap!!!!!!!!!!! i totally made another one and took no risks

[pyro-jim]

if you had a camera that needs developing could you take it apart and just give them the film?

[silverpapermaker]

holy crap i was taping the camera thing up and it zapped me

[bryhd1974]

yeah you can.. i did it before but not to make a taser. just tel them you stepped on the camera and salvaged the film..

[McNostril]

yeah, it would be just like turning in film for a normal camera

[nobull]

I just go to vons or walmart any where they sell them ask for already use ones they look at you funny ask and say why say science project they give you it and you walk home or drive

[youkneephsycle]

please help me someone!! i have wanted to make one of these for ages but i didnt want to spend $20 on a disposable camera just to pull it apart(yes the cheapest 1 i could find was 20 bucks). anyway a friend @ school was making some 2 and he managed to get some free ones and he came to school and gave me one. we tested it out and it worked fine so then i said " ok run me through it and let me try so i know how to charge it and all that" so thats what we did. after i discharged i discovered that the little transistor had blown!!! now it doesnt charge or work , how do i fix it???

[Rubber Binder]

I did this once, but the flash bulb exploded when I tried to shock my friend.

[pyro-jim]

i went to a place where they develop photo and asked really nicely if could have a used one and they said no because they're dangerous and they have to be thrown away

[pyro-jim]

how can i reduce the amps to make it safer

[pyro-jim]

are you sure people just give you the used ones free? Also i read the back of one of my cameras and it said the parts will not be given back

[McNostril]

Ive gotten as many cameras as ive wanted at walgreens and meijer for free, but i have had friends go in and not get anything or they had to pay 25 cents each. The moral is be nice when you ask

[Mr.anonymous]

• were do we put the battery too chage it??

[kleinton]

Hey Kids ! Wanna have some real fun ? !

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/circ/hv/stungun/stungun.html

[Mad Hatter]

Dude this thing ROCKS! Plus, I went over to my local grocery store (they develop film there) asked the service desk guy for used disposable cameras and he handed me an entire paper sack full FOR FREE!

[wolfybrie]

Yeah... didn't believe my friend when she told me how much it hurt... but we took them apart in physics class and did it. We weren't supposed to be doing it though... :D

[Loveofchaos]

ive heard that you can desolder the capacitor leads and solder 2 wires in that lead to up to 4 capacitors. Im sure that if you want to use this as a stun gun, you might not want to test it on yerr self or family or another human being, or course it wouldnt be nice to an animal either. id hook it up to a voltmeter, but im pretty sure you'd get a nice reminder to not mess with the person who shocked you. or maybe ud just wanna kill them lol. i dont take any respondsibility for what happens tho. im just covering myself if a capacitor explodes for some reason lol have fun

[brian2012]

this guy did what u were talking about the 4 capacitors and even showed pictures of a half inch hole in his arm

[Loveofchaos]

well, you can hook up as many as you want. make sure they are in parallel and add another set of wires from the leads with a switch. after that yerr good.

[ibuildthings14]

Ah that stings!I used the free diposable camera that i got at my 8th grade dance a long long time ago.

[ghicken]

Ya I used a kodak on mine too.

[coffee-bot]

haha that was awsome, i built one but shoked myself a few times by mistake. I'v now put it into a snazzy holder! Looking forword to shoking my sister...

[ShellShock]

this things crazy... i didnt know it was charged and it shocked the h3ll out of me... then i put it back int the camera and attached some wires and shocked my friend... it was fun.

[andradope]

awsome!!! but if my dad found out he would kick my arse my mom and uncles one the other hand would laugh and try it on each other

[brainiac]

not bad my brothers crying in the corner

[carpenter]

AH THATS MEAN MAN (GOOD ONE)

[truk]

Actually, I've heard of these being wired into a couple super soakers. As long as both guns were on target it would shock. I'm not sure that it didn't use a bit more of a voltage, and it may depend on the conductivity of your water too.

[arnoldtheduck]

burn baby burn it ruined my stealth thorpe park keyring lol!

[arnoldtheduck]

ouch this baby hurts

[megadanny1]

this is a very good idea i you get a disposable use it get the film out (don't worry you will NOT lose any images idid this its so cool

[rubberbanddude]

can anyone help me build a circuit to charge and discharge a compactor with only "bare bones" parts(so i can use a bunch and put it in an altiods gum box ) please p.m me

[Scissorman]

I used to 'work' in a camera shop. We made stun guns by putting a couple of bolts through the side of the camera and soldering wires from the bolts to the capacitor. The camera made a great enclosure. So much fun , so many jolts. Also made a cattle prod by attaching longer wires and having the bolts taped to a bit of bamboo. It was great. Paid for playing 8 hours a day.

[che567]

i tried this but i forgot to take the battery out and i put a screwdriver across the poles and it blew up ha! ha! ha!

[Canookian]

Must...Electrocute...ANNOYANCES!!! Oooh! I cant wait to get me a disposable camera!!!

[Spl1nt3rC3ll]

This is kind of realated to the instructable, but I just have to say it. I JUST BAUGHT A SHOCKING VIDEO IPOD! Its like one of those shocking pens only more people will fall for it. you press the button that "turns on the ipod" and you get shocked!. I'm having so much fun with it.

[mgalyean]

Very resourceful design. However, to be accurate, this, and other home built items often called "tasers" are NOT tasers. They are "stun guns". Tasers work by pulsing high voltage, but VERY LOW CURRENT, at a very specific frequency that jams/overrides the nerve signals to the muscles near the surface of the skin. Tasers are very safe with the only reported problems being with people very high on drugs, particularly amphetamines and derivatives who could easily be going into cardiac arrest because of the drugs. Tasers do not work deep enough with enough power (voltage and current) to affect the heart. The device here could certainly stop or damage the heart while the taser could not. Not trying to pick, just trying to clear up some FUD out there about tasers and get the terminology correct.

[yellow elephant]

when taking circuit out, i accidently touched the capaicitator contacts and zap. i pulled back instantly. then i did it on purpose 1 more time. it hurts. we are having a school picnic tomorrow. i thing i will zap anyone who makes me mad.

[dabom]

holey S#!T my fingers hurt my hair tingles...

[cyndisansmerci]

Well i can see that this "tazer" has really gotten some guys in an uproar.. I have to say that if it is something you can use to scare the crap out of one of your friends.. i like it.. and, bonus, it is simple.. i might just start ripping some cameras apart. :D

[SciTeen54]

you would get a much harder shock if instead ofjust using the 2 capcitor contacts unsolder the flash bulb and solder 2 wires in its place and when you are finished with that just put the camera case back on so its completely safe unless u touch the ends of the wires sticking out ask about how to add a push button on it

[a_d777]

I made a taser of same kind and put it in an altoids box... Then, imagine what worst you can!!!!!!!! i charged the capacitor and by chance, the capacitor pins touched the metal box... whuff !!! what a wonderful "flash" it was... why do we use a special flash in cameras...i think altoids box would work pretty well !!!

[marc92]

maybe u could hook up the capacitor pins to the separate halves of the tin, make a switch for it so u dont get shocked, and hand it to some unsuspecting person........evil

[a_d777]

Yeah... dat is a nice idea... why dont we start a company named "good(e)vil" ??? we will manufacture shock instruments that kill a person in just one shot!! hahaha!!! llloooollllzzzzzzzzzzzz what do you say ???

[irwinner]

no one has done an instructable on it becuase its not a real tazer, first of all it only runs at 300v not the 100,000 to 300,000v of tazers, second it cant provide a constant spark (or any spark at all for that matter). a real tazer can provide a constant spark because it uses a high turns transformer. you camera flash tazer has to charge before it can be used, you could have at least told people to connect an engine coil to it so they could have at least gotten a spark, i suggest you rename this "taking apart a camera flash"

[robodud3]

aculy if he took off the cap he would have a constant flow around 1000v from 1.5 batt the cap ai ther 2 store a longer charge at a higher apmerage to set off the zenon flash tube its better 2 take off the cap this circit also can withstan up 2 9v ive tried

[irwinner]

wrong the capacitor stores 330v then it is discharged trough a second transformer and bumped up to 1000-3000v.

[robodud3]

yes but when u make the out puts ot the "taser" the cap outputs ur discharging arund a 1000v on some1 correct?

[irwinner]

no what happens is, the 1.5v from the battery is oscillated and run through a transformer. that transform takes the 1.5v and bumps it up to 330v, which is stored in the capacitor. when the camera flash is activated the 300 v stored in the capacitor is dumped into a second transformer which bumps the voltage up to 1000 - 3000v. the only way you could get the 1000 to 3000v output is by leaving the capacitor in place and and connecting your "taser" leads to the flash bulb. what this isntructable is showing you how to do is how to remove a capacitor and put two wires in its place

this site might clear things your if your still confused

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/camera-flash.htm

[robodud3]

ok thx now that makes sens i was thnking that becuse the cap was gone it was puting more voltage into the circit insread of holding the chargin the cap thx 4 clearing this up

[benhudson]

Please, consider using punctuation apart from commas every now and then. You are giving me a headache.

[Action_jack]

(removed by author or community request)

[irwinner]

im sorry this is probably the third one of these ive seen here in the past few days, but seriously this is sad its a god dam camera flash it not heavily modified or anything. now if he had hooked it up to an engine coil and actually manged to get a decent spark it might be worth posting on this website but otherwise its just a waste of everyones time

[scripkiddie]

Who are you to decide what is 'worthy' of a few kilobytes of space on a server which you do not pay for? Is he wasting your bandwidth by forcing you to view this instructable? If this is a waste of your time then why do you continue to waste MORE time by uselessly complaining on an comment thread. Honestly, how can you even be complaining about how 'heavily modified' this device is? In my opinion, being redundantly complex is a BAD thing...

[irwinner]

i never once said he was wasting my space or bandwidth i simply said he was wasting my time. don't put words in my mouth commie. with i site this big it becomes annoying to browse past articles when theres three or four of the same thing. "If this is a waste of your time then why do you continue to waste MORE time by uselessly complaining on an comment thread." you tell me your complaining about me complaining you are no better than me. when you say being redundantly complex i guess you are referring to the fact i told him to connect it to an engine coil. have you ever seen what happens when you connect a camera flash to engine coil? ill tell you, you get huge plasma arcs like 2 inch arcs, way more impressive than this

[scripkiddie]

I never said that this was wasting my time, yet YOU are the one complaining how 'I'm putting words in your mouth'. It's also very interesting how you succumbed to calling me a communist. Seeing how that has nothing to do with what I had to say, I can see that you do not even know the basic underlying principles of communism, yet like 80% of Americans automatically assume that anything that does not directly contribute to capitalism is evil. I do not blame you for being ignorant, nor do I blame you for your arrogance, but please, next time, use capitals and periods a little more often.

[Silas]

Actually it can make sparks, if you place the trigger wire, from the xenon bulb, in the middle and the 2 others on the opposite sides, very close say 0,5mm or less, with equal spacing it will be able fire. Somewhat of a spark gap.. Other than that, yes i agree this is crap..

[McNostril]

Its free and takes about two minutes. Don't be picky

[twisted]

The sparks from my camera tazer not only light up my room.... but they are loud to. I used this exact method to (cause me an Mcnostril designed these together.) They are pretty fun.... i took mine and put it inside of a toy gun. it gives a constant 330 volts. I also hooked one up to my door knob, thats always fun.

[Weissensteinburg]

You designed them? You just took apart the camera and called it a tazer. The steps literally go from take apart camera, to charge it up,

[twisted]

..... We took apart a camera, and figured out how to get a constant stream of 330 volts at low amps froma camera curcit. Yes it was easy, but you dident post an instrctable on it. why not?? hmmm? Ya it was easy, but now other people will know how to do it. I could find you tons of other instructables which are easy to build, but do people go around trashing those.... nope.

[Weissensteinburg]

Because all my friends makes them already.

[LasVegas]

Guys! It's "McNostril and I" or "twisted and I." Grammar isn't that difficult. This is one of those mistakes that make an immediate impression on others...

"Me and Adele," immediately gets the impression, "Early's got out of his trailer agin!"

[rocky13]

not mine

[fd93]

That is dangerous as hell i used a knife to discharge it and it looks like it has just been soldered and it is burnt and warped good taser!

[snipeallot]

How did you hook it up to the doorknob?

[Pyrossian]

Does it have to have a flash cause they wont give me a camera at my local foto fun* so i got 1 for 99cents but got no flash!

*I know Foto is spelled Photo but that is the name of the thingy

[thebluemartyr]

kodak cameras are impossible to use for tasers, because after you bridge the capacitors or use the flash circuitry, it recharges auomaticaly.

[Nirjuana]

What if you would replace the AA battery with a 2 or 4 AA battery case and perhaps adding an extra Photoflash capacitor?

[jinventive]

I have made one of these and managed to shock a few people by de-soldering the capacitor and putting wire in its place. Then I attached one piece of tin foil to one wire and another piece to the other wire. I then stuck them to a door handle (our ones are non-conductive so I had to use tin foil)and just wait until someone comes along and tries to open the door! I've also tried it on tap handles as well.

[Shark500]

i've made tons of tasers like this (only better) lol

you attach wires to screws nd put the screws through the side of the plastic
and either use nuts to hold them or superglue. also, you can use the
unused space (the 2 compartments on the sides for the film) to make a
make-shift capacitor bank.

it's also a good idea to bypass the charging button and put a switch
inbetween the positive (or negative) battery lead and the pcb.

this can be easily accomplished by using a peice of cardboard with two
peices of aluminium foil tape ex:

---

wire to switch ^{foil foil} wire to switch
^cardboard
you can wedge that inbetween the tab for the battery and the battery.
if i had a camera i'de show you myself

[twisted]

Nice idea... and it would strill look like a camera! lol. I build one into a toy gun, so you pull the trigger and you get a constant 330 volts comming from the muzzle of the gun. Its alot of fun.

[Shark500]

so you bypassed the capacitor altogeather?

[twisted]

pretty much. at least... i did.

[Shark500]

i obviousily am not to farmiliar with the special chars. of instructables

[eviloverlord]

Hate to be picky but this is an electroshock weapon, not a taser. Apart from the fact Taser is a trademark of Taser International, a true taser fires darts with wires attached at the victim and then sends a shock down the wires. It is designed to penetrate clothing that would provide insulation from a normal electroshock weapon. That aside though, a very cool instructable. Thanks for sharing your electroshock experiments with us.

[highmeat]

I did the same thing with a add on flash for a 35mm. I put it on a closet pole with straightened curtain hooks for contacts. I actually was able to blow holes in the side of pop cans. Bright and loud the sparks are. It can be very intimidating. If it doesn't work just beat them with the closet pole!

[dogsrcool2me]

How did you measure the amps? Please don't tell me you just touched the multimeter to each side of the capaciter!

[jcpoczatek]

Ummm... I'm not sure this is really that safe, partly because I remember burning a hole in my thumb with a disposable camera capacitor.

[McNostril]

Me and twisted have shocked each other dozens of times and i've only gotten burnt once. The only other side effect is being a little twitchy for an hour or two.

[irwinner]

its safe its like 3 joules, it takes 120 to kill a person it will give you a shock but nothing else

[westfw]

Camera flashes run up to about 7 Joules (0.5 * 350^{2 * 120E-6) Electrostatic discharges are considered potentially fatal at around 10 Joules (Moore, "Electrostatics") (though those are generally higher voltages.) Current doesn't exactly come into play for momentary discharges like this, but instantaneous currents can be very high indeed (capable of smoking 1/2W resistors, etc.) You probably won't hurt anyone too bad with the small distance between cap leads, but you really do want to be careful not to take a discharge across the chest (hold here, touch there with other hand...)}

[dogsrcool2me]

Amps is what kills.

[Silas]

State the obvious..

[icanryme2002]

um one word REPOST see
Tazer
Tazer Glove

[Sgt.Waffles]

Ditto.

[McNostril]

Oh... I probably should have looked into that a little more

[Williz]

Better variations( some safer too.) can be found on tha internet lol plus video's on how to.