I need help designing a circuit that will take power from a 6v DC battery, and change it to an extremely high voltage, but extremely low amperage ZAP!, to discourage raccoons from destroying a piece of equipment I own, without doing any permanent damage to the raccoons. I think the proper circuit will use electronics to make an artificial sine wave, so that the shock has the desired effect.

Think electronic dog collar, as far as the kind of current specs I want for output. Or you could think micro-horse fence. I have seen some devices on the market designed to do similar duty, that state they have an output of 10,000 to 20,000 volts, but they do not state the amps.

I would buy something ready made, but I need to make it fit inside the compartment that all the rest of the equipment's parts are in, in order to protect it from weather, and the critters.

Ideally, the completed device will be about the size of a deck of cards. It MUST be powered by a 6 volt rechargeable battery, that is recharged by a solar cell elsewhere on the equipment.

The ground output lead from the device will attach to a cage I will be putting around the equipment, and the positive lead will be wrapped around plastic parts that are several inches, to a foot from the cage. A critter reaching through the cage will reach for the object they desire (debris on the automatic corn spreader), and brush against the positive lead. They will then receive a surprising shock, as their arm completes the circuit between the cage and the positive lead wire.

I can not stress enough that this must be non-lethal. As annoying as these little banditos can be, they are not doing anything unexpected... they are just foraging. I even think they are cool creatures - but they are ruining my equipment, and preventing me from my purpose. After they get jolted a few times, they will learn to forage elsewhere, and everyone is happy.

I have built, and even designed a few simple circuits. Nothing fancy, and I had help each time. Once I had a schematic for the circuit, I was able to order parts online, and assemble them on my kitchen table.

At the moment, the biggest unknown is how many volts/amps output to design the circuit for. Once that is known, I can start trying to figure out how to size the electronics for the job.

Anyone care to help out?

Thanks in advance.

 

There was a story in the local press about a guy who made his own electric fence around his swimming pool. His son was swimming in the pool and upon reaching the side of the pool grabbed the fence. That was the last thing he grabbed. You can save a lot of time, trouble, and money, not to mention the life of a racoon or a person if you by a commericaly made electric fence charger.

The fence charger below costs $36.01. That doesn't leave much room for cost savings by building your own and it greatly reduces the serious risk of unintended consequences. Just an opinion.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-ACRE-Dare...492296&hash=item2108303de9:g:gM4AAOSwKtlWjpiv

 

There was a story in the local press about a guy who made his own electric fence around his swimming pool. His son was swimming in the pool and upon reaching the side of the pool grabbed the fence. That was the last thing he grabbed. You can save a lot of time, trouble, and money, not to mention the life of a racoon or a person if you by a commericaly made electric fence charger.

The fence charger below costs $36.01. That doesn't leave much room for cost savings by building your own and it greatly reduces the serious risk of unintended consequences. Just an opinion.

View attachment 131831
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-ACRE-Dare...492296&hash=item2108303de9:g:gM4AAOSwKtlWjpiv

I thank you kindly for taking the time to provide well considered, useful information.

Alas, the nearest 110 receptacle is nearly a half a mile away, and I would have to gain permission to use it.... were it simply a matter of plugging something in, I wouldn't even be considering this little project. But the source of power has to be 6 volt DC. Could a 6 volt battery even supply enough current to kill a human, under any kind of reasonably possible circumstances? (There is no pool or other body of water near this operation.)

Even if the 110 receptacle were within a reasonable distance, there would still be the issue of getting the extension cord(s) wet, or the critters deciding to snack on them. Also, it all has to be completely portable, as the feeder gets moved, frequently.

Finally, the device you linked to is quite a bit larger than I have space for.

• Dimensions: 3" x 7-1/2" x 5-1/2"

That's more like 4 decks of playing cards.

Does anyone have specs for an electronic dog collar? I know that is much smaller than a fence charger, and also puts out a safe amount of energy. If I could reverse engineer that, I'd be awfully close to what I need. Those are expensive, or I'd consider tearing one apart, and making alterations.

Thanks again for your help!

 

Could a 6 volt battery even supply enough current to kill a human, under any kind of reasonably possible circumstances?

Yes it could, if it drives a boost converter (which is what an electric fence energizer is).
A search for "electric fence schematic" will give you plenty of battery-powered circuits. Be aware of the hazards of high voltage circuits.

 

Farmers supply stores have fence zappers of various sizes and powers, and some are DC powered. That plus ebay should get you something useful.

ak

 

Yes it could, if it drives a boost converter (which is what an electric fence energizer is).
A search for "electric fence schematic" will give you plenty of battery-powered circuits. Be aware of the hazards of high voltage circuits.

I'll keep looking. As I said, I am not an electronics genius, rather, an amateur hobbyist. Some of the schematics I have seen assume too much of the viewer. I'll be needing help figuring out what specs to put on the individual electronic parts.
Thanks

Farmers supply stores have fence zappers of various sizes and powers, and some are DC powered. That plus ebay should get you something useful.

ak

Been there, done that,
The ones I have found "ready-made" were either:

• AC powered (I have no AC available for 1/2 a mile.)
• 12 volt powered (Must be 6 volt, as that is what I have in the equipment.)
• Too large to fit in the equipment housing. (Have to get it out of the weather, and away from the critters)

The ones that are too large look like they are either designed for very long fences, or have mostly poured plastic/epoxy solid bodies, to protect the works, or prevent disassembly. Some of the devices in the small pictures are actually as large as a box of Ritz crackers.

I don't need something built on a PC Board. In fact, it could be a bundle of (well insulated) loose wires and components, making it easier to insert into the equipment. Of course, I am open to any configuration that will squeeze into the equipment housing.

I really think the best route is going to be a DIY device. I just need help with circuit design, for the most part. I am respectful, though not afraid of working with a high voltage circuit. I have rubber gloves, and I know how to use them. Once I have a schematic in my hand that I understand, I will proceed carefully and methodically to completion of the build.

I'll keep looking for a ready-made schematic, in the mean time.

BTW,
I've seen a hack that takes a disposable camera, and uses the electronics for the flash to make a squirrel zapper. It's powered by 1.5 volts, and the squirrels sure look silly when they get shocked. This tells me, that unless the hack is a scam (but, I've seen almost identical hacks in 5 different videos,) what I want to do is certainly possible. I'm just not inclined to use dirt cheap throw-away parts to build something I want to get many years of use from.

Thanks for your help!

 

It is not hard to build one from scratch The one I designed used a12VDC SLA battery , Have you considered a 12 V solar charger?

 

It is not hard to build one from scratch The one I designed used a12VDC SLA battery , Have you considered a 12 V solar charger?

The timer-initiated equipment that is in place is electronically controlled, by a 6 volt solar recharged system. I don't really want to start tearing all of that apart, to modify it.

Any chance you would share your schematic with me? I would consider modifying it to be powered by 6 volt.

Thanks

 

The one I designed was loosely bassed on one I built as a teenager. There is a funny story that goes with that on, I postedthe designt around10 years ago , give me time to do a search...

 

https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/electric-fence.28061/#post-172645

Inever built this version, though my confidence is high it woul work. Until I recover from this stroke. my building days are done,thhe key to the design is the 120vac:6.3vac transformer, They used to be readially available from radio shack. witch is defunct. The one I built sent a single pulse down the line and was very simple. wish I had that design. We had a cow when Iwas ateen that was a fence jumper she knew she could tear up fences to go through them. Eventually we ate her.I had just finished this simple projectwhen she tore up our fence next to the drive wayDad let me try it out with a spre car battery.The cow couldn't belie we replaced the damage with a single wire shoulder high.Every time she tried to go under she would gt shocked and back off to look at that single wire, We gottired of watching her an started to work on the garden.We heard a loud woof and came bake to find her sitting on her haunches like a dog, something cows never do.I figure she licked the wire, she left it alone after that. good thing because she burned my crude project out.

Fence chargers are boarder line on our TOS (Terms of Service). they can be very dangerous. please be aware of this when using one.BTW , I used to be Bill. The post I pointed to was mine.

 

(Some text removed for clarity.) Eventually we ate her...

That's a novel solution to your problem!

 

I was going to say it was a practical solution - LOL!!!

When my dog misbehaves, I take him over to look in the freezer at the frozen meat... J/K!

Safe IS important to me. Not only for me when building the device, and for any humans that may be near, or servicing the equipment, but also for the critters. I really do like raccoons, but they are too greedy to give free reign.

I think what I had in mind, and what folks think I mean, are two different things. I've been watching youtube videos of squirrel zappers made from disposable cameras, and tazers made from electric fly swatters. These look pretty simple, but I am not savvy enough to know if they are real, or, if they ARE real, whether of not they are safe to build/use.

I've seen a self contained voltage step-up on ebay for 8 bucks for two pieces that claims to take a 6 volt battery to 400,000 volts. (But I have seen reviews that claim it's more like 15 or 20,000.) That looks pretty simple, if I want a steady charge on the line, which will drain the battery fast. I'm assuming a clock chip would allow 150 to 200 milliseconds per second, and still get the message across....but I'd need help figuring that out.

I just want something that gives them a poke when they get their fingers where they don't belong, and I want the electronics to last longer than I would expect a disposable camera's circuits to. It's becoming clear to me that either this is a lot more complicated than I expected, or I don't know how to ask the question in such a way that I get a simple answer.

Nonetheless, your input is very much appreciated.

The search continues...

 

I you would like I can come with a simplier safer design. In my other Imake a burst up to 1secondof120vac, Asimple spike wouls do. We jury riigged a simple fence usung an ignition coil and a car flsher ru a kenelWe had to give it up when the og ,who was quite determined to escape got stuk under th hot wir. He tried to ignor the shock until he worked his way under the wir. and magedto get past his fur tointimate contact with his skin. His yelp matched the car flasher exactly. It is important to not that some a nimals if determaned can ignore th pain and ttry to push through it. fur is a pretty good insulator.In our dogs casehis fur allowed him to no feel th shock until the hot wire worked under his fur by his going backwards.
The dumber the animal the more likely a fence charger will work. A human can ignore the light shock a go around it.Spme animals it has to be painfull enough to get their attention.

The duration of the shock for my oyher device bothers me a single pulse is safer and more energy efficient. want me to try gor adifferent design?

 

I was going to say it was a practical solution - LOL!!!

When my dog misbehaves, I take him over to look in the freezer at the frozen meat... J/K!

<snip>.

Dogs are like humans he would drool over all that primo food. Ithink dog are borderline sentient . others will disagree I've seen thier humor and practical jokes, I really like dogs. I like coons too but when I caught them in my hen house at night I shot to kill.

 

To Blank stare,

I assume you are a novice to electronics
But can read schematics?
Have we met on Major Geeks severalyears ago, Something about you being a master mason?

 

I will be brainstorming designs in a new thread Lets talk aout fence Chargers. I have also brought fence charger s up for moderator revew for TOS interpretation.

 

want me to try gor adifferent design?

Any help is appreciated. Please remember the critical design considerations:

• About the size (volume) of a deck of cards, maximum, for the finished device.
• Simple enough that a rank amateur can follow the schematics, and solder it together without a PC board.
• Powered by 6 volt DC, outputs AC, or what "feels" like AC. I have seen 10,000 tp 20,000 volts specs
• The output of the shock should be somewhere around .05 Joules, as that is what I am finding in horse fence chargers.
• It would also be helpful if the shock is "on" for something like 150 to 200 milli-seconds per second, to save power.
• NON-LETHAL to anything larger than a chipmonk, no matter what!

Thank you very much!

 

To Blank stare,

I assume you are a novice to electronics
But can read schematics?
Have we met on Major Geeks severalyears ago, Something about you being a master mason?

Yes, But I have been dabbling for close to 40 years.
Yes, But I often have to look the symbols up, while I study them. I mostly get how the pieces behave, I just can't always remember the written language, so to speak.
Probably, but more like 6 or more years ago, when I was solving virus problems for friends that could not resist the more, shall we say... "salacious" websites?, and...
Maybe.... how old's your grandmother?

You have a scary memory!

 

I will be brainstorming designs in a new thread Lets talk aout fence Chargers. I have also brought fence charger s up for moderator revew for TOS interpretation.

I'll check it out.

 

I prefer a 555 chip,are you comfortable with that little gem. Here is my old avatar.



Ihad to chage it. If you are interested I explain it here...
Introduction and PaintCAD

I have always felt the need to help folks, part of the reason I wound up moderator here.