Homemade Bug Zapper

You've all seen with plastic racket bug zappers right? They're pretty cool huh? Have you always wanted to make one but didn't know how? Welll you have come to the right place Follow these steps to make your own, homemade, bug zapper

The way this instructable will show you how to power the bug zapper won't work. You will either have to modify it, or try using the flash circuit from a disposable camera. Sorry for the inconvenience.

THIS DEVICE USES HIGH VOLTAGE. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURIES/DEATHS. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

FRAME:

1. Piece of 2 x 4 (10 inches, more or less)
2. Bare copper wire
3. Duct tape
4. Optional: spray paint for decorating

ELECTRONICS:

1. AC Adapter( PREFERABLY INPUT : 120V, OUTPUT : 9V)
2. 9V Battery
3. Two short pieces of stranded wire (about 5 inches long)

Tools :

1. Hammer
2. Screwdrivers
3. Bandsaw or similar
4. Drill with large wood bore and 1/8 drill bit
5. Sharpie (or other writing utensil)
6. Wire cutters
7. Knife
8. Jigsaw
9. Sandpaper

Draw a raquet shape with a handle on your 2 x 4. Make sure that the handle is about as wide as your adapter. Cut out the shape with your bandsaw etc.

Next, cut along where the blue line would be on your board, with your saw. Go down until it's only 1 inch thick.

Now, draw a circle inside it about an inch away from the outside edge. Using your drill and a large wood bore, drill a hole in the center. You will probably want to put the piece in a clamp first.

Next, get out your jigsaw and cut out the circle.

(Please excuse my not-so-pretty cutting job, you can probably do better)

Sand.

Along both sides, drill 2 rows of about 9 holes, spaced about 1 hole length apart.

Do the same with the front and back, using only 8 holes.

Sand.

To get the high voltage we need, we need to take the transformer assembly out of the adapter.

1. Pry the top off ( Or unscrew if screwed on ) - to do this, first poke a thin screwdriver into the groove, then pound the top of it with a hammer; then pry upwards until loose; repeat until you can pry the top off
2. Pull the transformer out of th plastic casing
3. Loosen the knot in the output wire
4. Cut the output wire right at the plastic piece
5. Strip the rubber coating off the top of the output wire, about a centimeter, with a knife; also split the black and white wires apart for about an inch; twist the wire strands

Cut the wire into 36 pieces about 6 inches long. You will also need to cut 32 pieces about 9 inches long ( or a bit more than the length of the frame ). Hammer them straight if you need to.

Wire the bottom first. See pictures. Thread the wires through the holes and then bend them over. Do the same thing the other way. Repeat for the top frame, using the top holes. I ran out of copper wire, so I used haywire to finish. Trim the wires that are too long. Make sure that none of the wires from the top frame are touching the bottom frame and vice versa. Duct tape all the sides except for the one by the handle.

Squeeze the wire frames close together, but NOT touching!

Surround the front of the transformer with duct tape. Place battery and transformer on handle as shown. Tape the black output wire to the positive lead on the battery and the white wire to the negative lead. Wrap duct tape around the transformer and the battery, connecting them to the handle.

Get two short pieces of stranded wire, strip the ends and twist them. Attach one to the right prong of the transformer and the bottom frame. Attach the other wire to the left prong and the top frame.

You have finished! Now go electrocute some bugs (in the summer). Thanks for reading! Any questions?