Electronic Wart Removal - No Blood! Little Pain.

I had a problem with wart removal over the years. The results have been anything but spectacular. I have tried most of the 'normal' methods,   

Burning - turns out the vapors are not good for you. I still have a scar on my hand from a doctor removed wart during childhood

                Chemical – Compound-W

Freezing with liquid nitrogen – Dr Scholl’s Freeze Away

Even doctors cryosurgery (freezing). 

I just couldn’t do the ‘wack-it-off’ method seen on some Instructable.

 

Still nothing worked to permanently remove the warts. 

 

I have wanted for many years to build a circuit I saw on the internet.  The claim: close to 100% effective, even large warts.  The circuit is very effective with warts on the hands which are the hardest to remove.  There is minimal discomfort during the process, and no scaring.

 

It is the Wart Zapper by Thomas Scarborough. 

 

As requested by the Webmaster – I will not print the schematic or their PC board here. (They are wrong and will not work anyway! I will only show my corrections here.  You will have to go to their site to find the rest of the circuit.)

 

You can find it here the Wart Zapper by Thomas Scarborough

 
Another similar circuit is here macroware wart zapper

And if you would rather just buy one, check out:  wartabater

  
 

The article for the Wart Zapper is great.  Listing the history of electronic wart removal, and how the circuit works. 

 

I was skeptical!  An electronic circuit, on the internet, that is supposed to remove warts – and runs off a 9Volt battery?  The professionals are using cryosurgery (freezing), if this other method really works why aren’t the professional also using it?

 

The circuit is very simple, but over the years I never made it as I was having a somewhat difficult finding the parts from one source – and cheap as I am, I didn’t want to pay for shipping twice.

 

So that is how it stayed for several years, my warts just getting bigger and in the back of my mind a circuit that ‘might’ work – still unmade.

 

I would just try some other ways like Dr Scholl’s Freeze Away just a few more times trying to keep this one somewhat small.  I also went to the doctor’s office, but still nothing would get rid of them.  Sometimes I would hide the big one with a Band-Aid.

 

Well I finally had it!  The warts kept getting a little bigger and bigger.  I couldn’t take it any longer.  Skeptical or not – I had to see if it worked.

Step 1: Parts:

I found I could get the parts needed through Jameco Electronics.  Jameco does have some minimum part orders, but they were for the smaller items. So it was still cheaper than going to Radio Shack.  (Other sources are available; I just found Jameco somewhat easy to use their internet site).


I’ll only give the part number on the parts I couldn’t scrounge around for.

 

Part Number    Qty    Part

1          Copper clad board (2.25" x 1.8").  I still had a big piece of this lying around.

1          9V PP3 "matchbox" battery

11280              1          Battery clip for battery - or suitable case with internal battery terminals

                        1          Panel mounting on-off switch.  I found a great one on an old toy fire truck.

18914              1          Suitable ABS plastic case approx. (4.875" x 2.5" x 1")

                        1          1 meter (1 yard) plastic shielded wire for the electrodes.  I used a shielded audio coax cable.  I used the shield for the conductor. 

                        1          15 cm (6") long brass tube for the dispersive electrode.  I used ¾” diameter brass pipe from Lowes (hardware store).

                        1          Needle sharp tip filed off - for the active electrode.  I used a tapestry needle.  The tip is already rounded – no filing necessary!

                        1          Etchant if a PCB needs to be etched. Radio Shack sells some for about $10.  (See instructables for some cheaper methods)

                        1          Solder

 

Semiconductors

782823            1          6.8V Zener diode (¼-Watt is adequate)

                        1          Green LED (no other color) 

151247            4          1N4148 signal diodes

670207            1          IRF610 power "logic" MOSFET (alternatively IRF510, BUZ11, BUZ22)

51140              1          7555 CMOS timer IC

 

Resistors

690865            2          1k ¼-Watt carbon or metal film

691260            1          47k ¼-Watt carbon or metal film

691104            1          10k ¼-Watt carbon or metal film

255573            1          470k or 500k potentiometer, carbon track Linear taper.  This is really not needed.  I leave it full on all the time now.

                        1          Knob for potentiometer. Scrounged from some old equipment at work.

                       

Capacitors

332427            1          680pF polyester or ceramic

15272              2          100nF (.1 uf) polyester or ceramic

25541              2          220nF (.22 uf) polyester or ceramic

94432              1          100µF electrolytic 16V or higher

 

The parts only cost around $23 including shipping.  Extra parts added a little more.  With scrounging you could possibly do better.

 

 My order was in.  I had the parts in 2 days.  I was off to make my PC board.

Step 2: The PC Board

I have not made any PC boards for about 10 years so I wanted to try one of the ‘free’ PC board making programs.  These programs are mainly for those who want to order the boards over the internet and have them made and delivered.  You get very professional boards make this way.   I was hoping that I could print out the board’s art at home and make it here.  A little less professional, but it is fun to do.  I still had some of the transfer pages left over from the last time (Press-n-Peel PnP-Blue, TEK-5) so I wanted to give it a try.

 

The program I decided to use is ExpressPCB and ExpressSCH.  Why, I had downloaded it years ago and never gave it a try.  These programs help you draw out the schematic, then create a PC board.  The ExpressSCH came in very handy as it allow you to check your PC board connections against the schematic.

 

I wanted to make my ‘own’ design for a PC board.  I didn’t like the one in the article as I really hate jumpers on boards, and I needed it to fit in the box I got. 

 

I made a board using the program, and it did print it out in the correct orientation for the transfer pages.  I was ready to make the board.

 

I read a great PC board making instructable and I wanted to try it.

 

Sponge + Ferric Chloride Method -- Etch PCBs in One Minute!

As luck would have it, I sped read the article a few weeks before.  The day I needed it – my internet connection was down.  But I tried it anyway.  It worked.  Not as fast as One Minute, but since I didn’t read it again, I’m sure I did something wrong.

The board came out great! 

I installed all the parts, hooked up power and ground to the battery.  I checked for proper operation, as described in the article.   Remember, I was very skeptical. 

I used my DVOM and oscilloscope.  I found the oscillator running but the output voltage was only 4.5 Volts, not the “over 26 Volts” the article stated.  Something was wrong!

Step 3: IT DIDN'T WORK - Yet!

I never like the looks of the ‘tripler’ part of the schematic.  It just didn’t look right to me and poorly drawn.  I’ve never been really good at multiplier circuits so I had to do some research.

 

I found the sight: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electronic/voldoub.html

 

This sight shows voltage Doubler circuits through Voltage Quadrupler.  Comparing the circuits I could tell the original was not right. After redrawing the circuit, I could tell that C4 was not connected correctly.  The PC board shown in the article is also wrong!  The left side of C4 should be connected to the other side of C3, not connected to IC1 pin 3 and TR1-g.

 

Here is the corrected part of the schematic.  All the other wiring is as in the original article.

This also seems to be a Voltage Quadrupler and not a Tripler as stated in the article.  I will leave it to someone who knows more about electronics to verify this.

 

Luckly, it was a simple rewire on my original board to make this change.  Powered up the circuit and the output voltage was at 27+ Volts!  I took some spray enamel and sealed the copper side of the board.

 

I have made corrections to my pc board files and include them here.  These are in the ExpressPCB and ExpressSCH format.

 

Step 4: Installing the Parts

I attached the pc board to the bottom of the box.  Added the switch, led, and pot to the cover and wired them together.

 

For the probe, I use an old mechanical pencil.  I removed all the mechanical parts.  Drilled the opening a little bigger for the needle.  Solder up the probe, and glued it together at the length I wanted the probe (about ½” long).  A little foam was used as a strain relief in the upper end.

 

Pictures of the box and probe here.

Step 5: Using the Wart Zapper

I started on one of the small warts first.  I put the copper pipe under my arm and pushed down to make good contact. 

 

I felt nothing for the first 30 seconds, then a sharp, heating type pain.  But as the article states “you must endure the pain until it is gone” I did.  After about 3 minutes the pain was definitely receding and the wart looked different.  The probe had pierced it and some ‘white’ puss like innards as oozing, bubbling next to the probe.  I left the probe on for a full 5 minutes.   The wart had changed.

 

I repeated this process for the next two, saving the large one for last.

 

I could feel where I treated the warts for the next 8 hours.  Which is very similar to using the freeze method.

 

After a day, the two smaller one turned black.  The larger one did not turn quite so dark.  I treated the big one again after a few days, as the article said, “…large ones may take more treatment.”

 

As of today, the large one has started to flake off and it looks like success.  The two smaller ones are still black, one with a big hole in the center.  I think that they could have used a little less time, maybe 3 ½ minutes? 

 

So it looks like it works!  I have started treating others and they are in various stages of ‘healing’.  If I didn’t get all the first ones, I know it is a quick treatment to get the rest of it.  This circuit has done more than the past three “Real-Professional” treatments that I have used.

 

As for the pain encountered, you do have to grimace a little.  Only once did I jump when that first shot of pain hits.  It is like the feeling of sticking yourself with a needle with a little electric charge on it.  Knowing that the pain will pass, and is necessary, makes it a little easier to take.  I believe that the amount and intensity of the pain is less than any ‘freezing’ method that I have used.

 

I don’t seem to be able to feel where I have treated the warts as long now.  At most, about one hour of feeling.  It might be that the battery is a little lower in output now.

 

Step 6: SAFETY!!!

'''WAIT'''

Please read and follow all the safety precautions listed in the article!  I am not responsible for any accidents that happen. 

 

They are in general:  Don’t put the probes (both) where current would flow from one probe to the other across the head or heart, use during pregnancy, or use by a person using a pacemaker, or use by anyone with history of epilepsy.

 

In short –don’t be stupid!