Hi, I'm new to the forum and looking for help. I am trying to make a homemade bug zapper using a 15kv 30ma neon sign transformer.
I have a store bought one but it's too small to do the job on a bell hornet problem I have. At night, they come around the other to gobble up the mosquitos and other bugs but are too big to get into the grid. My wife has been stung by one and it wasn't pretty. anyway, my first attempt was to use a wire grid similar to the store bought ones, but making the holes large enough for a hornet that size to enter. Problem was it kept arcing to itself everytime I turned it on. I had to make the distance between the two grids about 3" to stop that but now it's too far apart for the critter to draw and arc when it enters. So I scrapped that idea and have set up a system using 3/16 brass rods spaced about 1 1/2" apart. It doesn't arc on power up, but when a bug enters and the arc starts, it won't stop!! I'm new to this kind of electrical frontier but I have been in electronics for about 30yrs as a technician. Just no experience with HV low current and air gaps. Is my transformer just too big for the job? I feel like I'm missing something here and just can't wrap my brain around it. How can I get this thing to zap and then stop the arc when the job is done? Thanks in advance.
PS it does make an awesome Jacob's Ladder though!!
I have a store bought one but it's too small to do the job on a bell hornet problem I have. At night, they come around the other to gobble up the mosquitos and other bugs but are too big to get into the grid. My wife has been stung by one and it wasn't pretty. anyway, my first attempt was to use a wire grid similar to the store bought ones, but making the holes large enough for a hornet that size to enter. Problem was it kept arcing to itself everytime I turned it on. I had to make the distance between the two grids about 3" to stop that but now it's too far apart for the critter to draw and arc when it enters. So I scrapped that idea and have set up a system using 3/16 brass rods spaced about 1 1/2" apart. It doesn't arc on power up, but when a bug enters and the arc starts, it won't stop!! I'm new to this kind of electrical frontier but I have been in electronics for about 30yrs as a technician. Just no experience with HV low current and air gaps. Is my transformer just too big for the job? I feel like I'm missing something here and just can't wrap my brain around it. How can I get this thing to zap and then stop the arc when the job is done? Thanks in advance.
PS it does make an awesome Jacob's Ladder though!!