ELECTRi-FRiED II RE-building a Bio-ElectroStatic Generator Materials Needed: 12VDC Negative Ion Generator Model SBH-9VAS: enclosed 9v battery holder

er w/switch 9 volt battery or several A23 12V batterys 1 Reed Switch Medium sized Neo-Dymium Magnet Velstretch Velstraps or Velcro One Wrap Heat Shrink Tubing or Electrical Tape Metal clip of some kind Soldering iron, solder, and a modicum of soldering skill Once again, I want to give props to the author of the "Pikashoes" website, from whom I got the inspiration and knowledge to do this project. I've seen similar projects on the web, even plans for sale, but until I saw that site, I didn't realize that all you really needed to get the job done was just a negative ion generator ! Even cooler, he now links back to me. Tanks, d()()d ! As in the first project, the entire device is based around a 12VDC negative ion generator, such as the one sold at Electronic Goldmine. This alone constitutes about 90% of the project, fortunately. This model has an output of roughly 15 thousand volts ! The only other items necessary are a power source(battery(s) !) and a switch, a magnet, some wire, some comfortable straps, a clip, and some heat shrink tubing. Oh, and one other thing: The rather hard to find SBH-9VAS; an enclosed 9volt battery holder with a switch, available in the US from Batteryspace.com. The switch is handy, it functions as a master kill switch for the whole thing. That's a must have. Here's a direct link: http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp? PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2127

Well, I still have not found a suitable project box for this thing !! All three newer boxes that I recently bought were still not deep enough ! Once again I resigned myself to having parts that would be more or less exposed, somehow or other. Okay, obviously, the big difference between this version of the project and the last, is that

I've moved the components from off my waist, tossed the cell phone case, and mounted them directly to a Velcro Velstrap, which is a 27 inch, 1 inch wide elastic strap, which has one side covered in loop material (ain't that neat ?) I can secure this comfortably around my shin/calve, and with the matching velcro pieces glued on the backs of the IG and the battery holder, I'm ready to rock ! It ain't real pretty but it works, and overall I like this method much better than the previous one. The switch for this project is a typical reed switch, available from any electronics supply, even eBay. It completely changes the way the unit is activated and deactivated. It works entirely hands free and covertly. A reed switch has two tiny flat metal contacts which are just slightly separated and encased in a very small glass tube; exposure to a magnetic field causes the the contacts to close, allowing an electrical current through. You can't see it in the setup because it's covered in electrical tape, but it's in the bottom left corner. I placed the switch inside a small plastic tube (normally used for connecting glow sticks together !) to help protect it, as they're very fragile.

Going back to the basics, the overall general design is pretty simple: It's essentially just a loop, from one terminal of the battery, to the switch, to the Ion generator, and back to the other terminal of the battery. There is the addition of a "ground" or reference wire, which I chose to run from the positive terminal of the battery; this serves to provide a point of reference for the High Voltage output line of the Ion Generator. This wire runs down my pant leg to a quick disconnect which has been crimped on; the wire is then continued by the other half, which is mounted in my shoe along with the quick disconnect mate. The importance of the ground wire cannot be overstated !! Without the ground wire, your unit will have no consistency or guarantee of working ! The ground wire needs to be a well insultated wire, because it runs alongside your bare leg, and it will constantly shock you if it isn't well insulated - remember, it's relatively zero volts, and your body is charged at 15,000 volts ! Good rubber soles or something to provide insulation is key here; you want to separate the two electrical sides of the generator as much as possible.

The high voltage wire, also known as the Ion Antenna, is what makes direct body contact and provides the charge, making your body, in essence, one plate of a virtual capacitor, storing a charge up to 15,000 volts, but passing very little current.

The floor and immediate surroundings are the other plate of this virtual capacitor, and your rubber soled shoes act as the insulating dielectric. Here's the gist of how it works it's magic: The High Voltage wire, attached to your body, charges your body with excess electrons, giving you a potential difference (voltage) of somewhere in the neighborhood of negative 8 to 15kv, relative to your surroundings. You are insulated from your surroundings by the rubber soles in your shoes, for a short time (maybe half a minute ? I haven't really timed it). So, effectively, you become one plate of a virtual capacitor, and the ground, floor, and surroundings become the other, oppositely charged plate, so to speak. Your shoe's soles are the insulation, or "dielectric". In touching someone, they are in effect, providing a path for a brief electrical current (discharge) in which the two desparate charges can travel and balance each other out. Note that even without touching anything, you will eventually leak the charge out to the air and your environment and due to dielectric losses, as the charges seek to balance and cancel each other out. I've modified my shoes to work easily with the unit, fitting a wire through the shoe itself and putting the matching quick disconnect component on the end. Rather than run the wire alongside the back of the shoe, I wanted it better hidden this time, so I simply took an awl, and poked a hole through my insole out to the bottom of the shoe. The other end of the wire pokes out through the bottom of the sole, where I've soldered it to a piece of copper cladding which has been adhered to the sole using regular contact cement. I'm still amazed how strong that stuff is !

As is, this works fine with a 9 volt battery in the battery holder. However, I've found a way to easily convert this holder to use either two 12V A23 type batteries, or even four A23s ! - - Okay, here's the section on converting the 9v battery holder to a 12v battery holder. - Instead of the usual 9V battery, we're going to use A23 type batteries, which are about

2/3 the length of a normal AAA battery and about the same width. Finally, I'm getting to the section that shows how to utilize four A23 type batteries ! Note: I'll leave the section regarding the modification using just two A23s, just below this section, because some of the electrical explanations are there, and in case, for whatever reason, someone wants to use less "juice", it's an option. The two battery mod is also easier to convert over to 9 volt operation if you can't find A23s around. You might ask, "Why four instead of two, if they're wired in parallel, won't the voltage be the same ?"? The answer is "amount of charge". In other words, yes, the voltage stays the same, but the number of electrons available to infuse your body is increased by a factor of 2. I noticed a fairly significant difference between using four batteries, and two. By the same token, using any more batteries than that didn't seem to add anything afterall, like all capacitors, the human body has a finite amount of charge that it can hold. Anything more is just superflous. Here's what the near finished part looks like: You can see that all four A23s are neatly arranged in a row, with all the positive terminals facing one direction and of course the negative ends at the opposite side. The only thing missing in this picture is the reed switch, which I've now moved inside the battery case, parallel right alongside the batteries, by the old 9v clip.

For the battery terminal material, which requires a custom fabrication, I've tried a number of different things. First off, I've noticed that battery terminals tend to be nickel or nickel plated - so I'm assuming that copper might be suceptible to a possible reaction with battery acid should it ever leak out of the battery, therefore it is not used as a battery contact. The first material I tried was a simple banker's clip, available from any office supply store. This is large clip used for attaching wads of currency together. I cut it to length and used one end as the contacts.

As usual, I quickly found another problem - the negative terminals in batteries tend to be recessed ever so slightly,so I needed to find a way to create small bumps in the contact: this was done by placing the clip strip on a piece of wood, and using a counterpunch/countersink and hammer, making four small indents measured at the interval between batteries. What I didn't take into account was that the metal would "shrink" a little as it was pushed forward, making the indents a little closer together than I would have liked, but overall it came out okay.

Lately, I've been experimenting with using the business end that comes with the negative ion generator, seen in the picture below. See the small circuit board with the 5 needles on it? It just so happens that the needles are spaced perfectly for use as battery contacts ! I cut the needles down to nubs, and then I have to further sand and grind down the circuit board to make it thinner, because it's too thick to fit in the battery case along with the batteries. Always a "gotcha" ! All new models I make use this new method, it's a little more work, but I think its' worth it, as the batteries tend to sit better in the case without the odd one popping up here or there.

- - Now the old section on converting the 9v battery holder to a 12v battery holder using just two A23 batteries - The easiest thing to do is get two open style A23 battery holders (or N type will work too, actually), and wire/solder them together in parallel to a 9 volt battery clip. This means, unlike the conventional method of "daisy-chaining" batteries positive to negative to positive to negative, we're going to connect these so that all the positives are connected together, and all the negatives are connected together. The reason we do this is to maintain the voltage at 12 volts; if we connected the batteries in series, we'd wind up with 48 volts and blow the Ion Generator out. The only reason to use more than one battery (and it does work with a single A23) is to get more juice; that is, current. We can get stronger PK effects by creating a stronger electromagnetic field in our bodies, and having more electrons on hand is just what the doctor ordered. One thing to watch out for here, and it got me the first time I did this: you must wire the wires backwards on the clip, that is, the red wire, which is normally the positive wire, is what you solder to the negative end of the A23 battery holders; likewise, you solder the black wire to the positive wire of the A23 battery holders. The reason for this will become clear soon enough.

Looking at the picture above, on the right hand side, you'll see two A23 battery holders, held together with a little electrical tape, and wired in parallel. The whole shebang is just dropped right into the 9v battery holder (on the left side), and the 9v clip on the two A23 holders is attached to the 9v battery holder's internal 9 volt clip.

That's all there is to it. Now this why you must solder the A23 battery holders in reverse polarity to the battery clip: because when you attach one 9v clip to another 9 volt clip, you're reversing the polarity. By soldering the A23 battery holders in reverse, you counteract this little problem; a double negative cancels itself out. At first, I tried it the lazy man's way of just popping the batteries out and reversing them, but that didn't work so well, they didn't stay seated correctly. Trust me, you want to wire it this way. Well, that's it for the two battery method, very easy to do, very easy to reverse and go back to using a 9v in a pinch if your A23s die on you and you can't find more. So, what can you do with one of these puppies? Well, if you're a magician, lots of things. For instance: Shock people ! Seriously though, aside from using it as a gag, it can be used as a "convincer" at the moment that a "thought transfference" takes place, by having the spectator touch his finger to yours. Explain that our central nervous systems, including the synapses of the brain, run by sending electrical impulses back and forth; this is absolutely true, by the way. So if you really could "read" minds, it stands to reason that a small electrical shock or discharge might be felt. Numerous PK Effects - this is where a device like this really shines. The list is extensive: Make a card stick to a wall at will Move the needle of a compass - not due to magnetism, but the static charge can move any sufficiently light and freely moving metal object, such as a compass needle. Stick a toothpick in a little block of cheese, or in an eraser, etc, and stand it up right. Balance a small strip of aluminium foil, which is bent in half, over the toothpick. Cover the whole thing with a large drinking glass, so that air cannot get in or out. You can move the aluminum foil strip around in circles, even make it fall off. When someone claims you're using a magnet, you can prove that aluminum foil is not ferromagnetic and does not respond to magnets. (True !) Who needs an M5 ? Dump a large pile of salt in the middle of a dinner plate, then add some black pepper for contrast. Hold your hand out flat, palm down, about 4 inches from the plate, and charge 'er up. The salt will repel, spreading itself to the outside of the plate. You can even feel the ionic wind as it does this, and the sound is awesome too. Really spooky ! You can move or influence any number of light objects, such as tissue paper, plant foilage/leaves, tobacco, etc. Bend a thin stream of water as it pours fro the faucet. Use it with a haunted key, and recall the story of Benjamin Franklin and the kite. You can take it from there ! Used in conjunction with Penomenon, the power of the effect is doubled. One of my favorites. Light a neon or fluoresecent bulb in your hand simply by touching the other end to a spectator or grounded object

Pass the "magic" on to a spectator by touching them while you charge. I'll list more ideas as they come to me. What can't you do with one of these ? So far, I've been unable to light flash paper or ignite a butane gas stream, such as that from a lighter. I'd love to be able to spark a fire though ! Light an incandescent light bulb - the regular kind. Ain't gonna happen, hotshot. Move any object that is anythng other than small, featherweight, and freely movable. Save the M5 for that, I guess. Addendum: I spent about an hour last night with a little test circuit, using a AA battery and a little lamp, experimenting with 4 different sizes of reed switch, and 3 different shapes of magnets, measuring distance and orientation to see what gave me the best results, in terms of switching the lamp on from the greatest distance, and I definitely found my answers - it was very eye opening, I should've done that long ago. Out of 4 different reed switches: a micro size'd one, a small one, a medium, and a large, I found the best by far was the small one. The micro-sized one was about as bad as the large one, which suggests that there is a " sweet spot " for reed switch/magnet pairings. I also found that, out of a choice of using a typical 1" diameter, 3/8" thick round neo magnet, 2 large hard drive magnets stuck together as one, and two "magnettoids", (those things that make the odd chirping sound), , the best magnet was the 1" round magnet when it's 3/8" thickness was aligned with the axis of the reed switch. Like so: ----|||||||||||||||||||||||---- ( ( O reed sw magnet That was unexpected. I expected better results when holding it perpendicular, but nope. The hard drive magnets worked better when held perpendicular, but only worked when from an inch and a half at most, whereas I could light the lamp up from nearly 3 inches away with the 1 inch round magnet in axial alignment. So what's the point of all this ? I now know which of my reed switches work better, and I now know which way to align it in relation to the magnet on my other leg, and I know now for sure which magnet shape works best and how to increase the working distance. Knowing this, I can probably get about 50% or more better distance and also a bit better reliability when attempting to charge up, which occasionally would't happen.