On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 12:51 PM, Poppy Miles <poppyspys at yahoo.com> wrote: > Hi, > I have been thinking about making a zapper myself, but your email is > discouraging. There was a zapper at a shop I worked at in Boston that > seemed to work quite well. It was made by an engineering student for a > rebuilder there. I'm wondering if this is the same thing as the doorbell > zapper. I certainly don't want to use a tool on any piano that will damage > it! I hope that this tool will send a low enough voltage through the pin to > slowly iron the bushing. When I used it, it seemed to do just that, and I > was able to get 4-6 swings. Please look over my instructions, and let me > know if it is similar to what you have built. > Thank you, > Poppy Miles,rpt > > components: > Transformer - 6.3 volt @ 10 amps > Resistors - 0.25 ohm @ 15 watts or more > Beeper - 4.5 volt beeper > > > 1) A screw terminal you can just screw down on the wire. > 2) To a lug you connect a wire and solder it. > 3) Two wires you twist together and solder. > > Wires to your probe should be of heavy electric cord, as heavy as you'd > find on a toaster or blow-dryer. Look for it in a hardware store electrical > section, where they will have it on reels. > > Power In > 1) Connect one side of power cord to one "PRI" lug of transformer (or wire, > if it has those instead) > 2) Connect other side of power cord to other "PRI" lug (or wire) of > transformer > > Power Out > 3) Make a chain of the three resistors by their wires, so the current flows > through them all, one by one. > 4) Connect a wire to one "SEC" lug (or wire) of transformer and run it all > the way to one of the probes. > 5) Connect the wire of the first resistor to other "SEC" lug (or wire) of > transformer. > 6) Connect a third wire to the connection you just made, and run it to one > of the two lugs or wires on the beeper. > 7) Connect a wire to the end of the third resistor and run it to your other > probe. > 8) Connect a third wire to the connection you just made, and run it to the > other lug or wire on the beeper. > > > > ------------------------------ > Hi Poppy, > It sounds like a very (unnecessarily)complicated version of what I described. Why one would need such heavy duty wire or the resistors is beyond me. I have an old house that actually uses one of these for the purpose intended. It is wired into a circuit using 14GA wire(similar to that of a lamp wire & plug) and the wire running from it to the doorbell is about 18GA, slightly thicker than the wire that runs from my garage door button to the opener. The whole point of the transformer is to "transform" AC current to DC current which is much less dangerous to the human body. Most of us have at one time or another had a little zap from a DC circuit, as long as the AMPERAGE is low, which most doorbell transformers are, hence the small diameter wire used for same. Stepping it down by .75 ohms with 3 resistors then through a 4.5 volt beeper(?) complicates and weakens something that wasn't that powerful at the getgo. Kind of like taking a studio piano and converting it to a spinet, it probably could be done but why would you want to? As I said in my original post, I found that good old acohol and water works better, it may not be as fast but it lasts longer. The results of the Zapper are, IMHO and experience temporary. Mike > -- > > It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought > without accepting it. > > Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) > > Michael Magness > Magness Piano Service > 608-786-4404 > www.IFixPianos.com > email mike at ifixpianos.com > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100303/78606f80/attachment.htm>
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