• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Electrical Engineering News and Products

Electronics Engineering Resources, Articles, Forums, Tear Down Videos and Technical Electronics How-To's

  • Products / Components
    • Analog ICs
    • Connectors
    • Microcontrollers
    • Power Electronics
    • Sensors
    • Test and Measurement
    • Wire / Cable
  • Applications
    • Automotive/Transportation
    • Industrial
    • IoT
    • Medical
    • Telecommunications
    • Wearables
    • Wireless
  • Resources
    • DesignFast
    • Digital Issues
    • Engineering Week
    • Oscilloscope Product Finder
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • White Papers
    • Women in Engineering
  • Videos
    • Teschler’s Teardown Videos
    • EE Videos and Interviews
  • Learning Center
    • EE Classrooms
    • Design Guides
      • WiFi & the IOT Design Guide
      • Microcontrollers Design Guide
      • State of the Art Inductors Design Guide
    • FAQs
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
  • EE Forums
    • EDABoard.com
    • Electro-Tech-Online.com
  • 5G

How to electrocute yourself in a few easy steps

October 17, 2019 By Lee Teschler 1 Comment

Here’s a fun project: Pop open an old microwave oven and scavenge the high-voltage transformer powering the cavity magnetron vacuum tube. Then use it to make yourself a Lichtenberg generator. But be sure there’s someone nearby to call an ambulance.

Lichtenberg generators are used to create art and abstract Lee-Teschlerobjects by burning fractal patterns into various materials such as wood and acrylic. They also have a propensity to kill and maim people. The Canadian Electrical Safety Authority recently reported two incidents where a Lichtenberg generator made with microwave oven transformers killed the operator and another where the user was only saved by the quick thinking of a bystander who administered CPR. In that case, the surviving user merely had to contend with severe third-degree burns.

It appears that many of these generators are homemade based on steps outlined in YouTube videos. These things generally look as dangerous as they are, consisting of not much more than the 2-kV oven transformer and a few dangling wires.

And there are numerous online videos showing exactly how to disassemble microwave ovens, though one often sees warnings not to take apart these appliances because they contain toxic materials and lingering high voltage. The hazardous material is actually beryllium mixed in the ceramic that is part of the magnetron tube. Beryllium is a notorious carcinogen when inhaled. So those who are of a mind to attempt this disassembly should never cut, grind, or otherwise mess with the ceramic components in the magnetron tube. (Some YouTube oven disassembly videos point this out. Others do not.)

The Canadian ESA also says you can find generators built this way being sold as commercial products, often in kit form. The problem with at least some of these kits is the aggressive marketing tactics being used to sell them. Their packaging indicates they are built with approved and certified components, but the complete generator has never been evaluated by any safety standards organization, says the ESA.

You might think that serious woodworking hobbyists would be sympathetic to shenanigans involving Lichtenberg patterns. Not so. The American Association of Woodturners, whose main tool of choice is the lathe, issued a statement in 2017 condemning fractal burning. “The process known as Fractal Burning is prohibited from being used in any AAW-sponsored events, including regional and national symposia, and that AAW-chartered chapters are strongly urged to refrain from demonstrating or featuring the process in chapter events…..The risks from Lichtenberg burning…. are largely hidden and the standards for personal protection poorly understood. Incorrect assumptions can easily lead to injury or death,” said the organization in its statement.

For those interested in creating Lichtenberg patterns without risking a lethal incident, there are alternatives. Hobbyist technology publications such as Popular Science describe a less dangerous method that involves creating Lichtenberg figures in dust using photocopier toner and a Van de Graaff generator (or even static electricity generated by shag carpeting).

The result may not be as impressive as the tentacle-like patterns transformer-powered do-it-yourself generators produce, but they are much less likely to result in the operator ending up on the Darwin Award list.

DesignFast Banner version: 22ccae6e

Filed Under: Featured, Power Electronic Tips Tagged With: commentary

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Shane says

    October 28, 2019 at 11:30 am

    A tempting project, but … Nahh, there are enough potentially lethal traps around me as it is !

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

EE Training Center Classrooms

EE Classrooms

Featured Resources

  • EE World Online Learning Center
  • CUI Devices – CUI Insights Blog
  • EE Classroom: Power Delivery
  • EE Classroom: Building Automation
  • EE Classroom: Aerospace & Defense
  • EE Classroom: Grid Infrastructure
Search Millions of Parts from Thousands of Suppliers.

Search Now!
design fast globle

R&D World Podcasts

R&D 100 Episode 7
See More >

Current Digital Issue

April 2022 Special Edition: Internet of Things Handbook

How to turn off a smart meter the hard way Potential cyber attacks have a lot of people worried thanks to the recent conflict in Ukraine. So it might be appropriate to review what happened when cybersecurity fi rm FireEye’s Mandiant team demonstrated how to infiltrate the network of a North American utility. During this…

Digital Edition Back Issues

Sponsored Content

Positioning in 5G NR – A look at the technology and related test aspects

Radar, NFC, UV Sensors, and Weather Kits are Some of the New RAKwireless Products for IoT

5G Connectors: Enabling the global 5G vision

Control EMI with I-PEX ZenShield™ Connectors

Speed-up time-to-tapeout with the Aprisa digital place-and-route system and Solido Characterization Suite

Siemens Analogue IC Design Simulation Flow

More Sponsored Content >>

RSS Current EDABoard.com discussions

  • Inductor core loss calculator is wrong?
  • Why are inductor recommended pads so small?
  • Temperature sensor readout
  • How to declare a non input use in vhdl?
  • Why is Analog Design so Hard????

RSS Current Electro-Tech-Online.com Discussions

  • Dog Scarer
  • Adding Current Limit Feature to a Buck Converter
  • software PWM
  • Opamp ciruit
  • Audio equalizer

Oscilloscopes Product Finder

Footer

EE World Online

EE WORLD ONLINE NETWORK

  • 5G Technology World
  • Analog IC Tips
  • Battery Power Tips
  • Connector Tips
  • DesignFast
  • EDABoard Forums
  • Electro-Tech-Online Forums
  • Engineer's Garage
  • Microcontroller Tips
  • Power Electronic Tips
  • Sensor Tips
  • Test and Measurement Tips
  • Wire & Cable Tips

EE WORLD ONLINE

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Lee's teardown videos
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
  • About Us
Follow us on TwitterAdd us on FacebookConnect with us on LinkedIn Follow us on YouTube Add us on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 · WTWH Media LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media.

Privacy Policy