Building a Battery Zapper
 

From my observations this past weeks in discussions of battery performance,
battery zapping seems to be a good thing for improving cell performance.

Being a lousy cheap-skate:p is there a way to build a DIY battery zapper?
I know it probably involves micro-controllers in commercial zappers, but i figured since we are only charging up a large capacitor and discharging it into the cell, it might not be as complicated to make a zapper to zap for only 1 zapping variable(kV, etc).

Anyone out there knows how to build one?

i wouldnt suggest it.. if you have a cell explode, it wont be pretty.. better to stick with what is safe and tested.. integy sells a maintinance zapper,.. for around 100 bucks.. u may pay that by the time you are done with a build anyway.. plus u know it is safe..

Assuming I build it up properly and use it with care, why would a home made version be more dangerous?
is it really for 100 bucks? I think i'll go have a closer look.

well yes, but what will be your confirmation of building it "properly'? unless you really know what you're doing ill advise against it.

battery zappers...
Im not sure of your background.....but unless you have a very firm base in electronic engineering, I wouldnt attempt it.
The reason a zapper is expensive is that it requires an in-depth comprehension of the basic principal of batteries...
and even if you successfully build a zapper...at between 2 and 4 dollars a cell...it would be far cheaper to just buy a few matched packs...
but if you want a pro's advice...ask big jim on www.RCCars.com

unfortunatley jim is a joke... hipocrit, and doesnt give a non biased opinion.. but u can ask..

That is very true...
I aske dfor a simple schematic of a magnet zapper...never got a direct reply...
after about 3 minutes of searching on the internet i found a few schematics to go from
But in his defense... he is in RC as a business...and the less competition the better..so he does not dispense info that can be used to "start up" a new business

..but in actuality...power and magnitism are topics that can be easily exploited with a little research...the rest is just trial and error to make it work properly towards your application...
but still...building a battery zapper is not something an average joe should attempt..it can easily lead to fire and injury....and that is what will happen if unwanted power is introduced into a cell

thanks you guys for the advice and suggestions,
yes, a large capacitor is extremely dangerous and possibly fatal if misused and abused.
I'm pretty able to build a properly insulated and safe casing for the internals, and I was thinking of using a readily available cell holder for the cell.
What I'll be hoping to do is to zap a new cell at 80-90V,
older cells at less voltage.

What I need is a list of components and the wiring/circuitry drawing.

If there are those who has it, please share it, thanks and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

But yes, if a brand new zapper is in the region of US$100, i might well be better off just buying one! I know of some capacitors (0.1F) costing almost that much.

You can zap cells using few readily available things, it's incredibly simple to do it the dangerous way.
It's just too dangerous to post the info here. If you have the knowledge to work with the power needed to zap cells, then you can figure out how to do it.

http://www.magtechinc.net/Cells.htm#zapping

bottom of the page.

thank you very much elvo!

This schematic has errors in it and will not work.

Why don't you get an Integy Xapper and take it apart and reverse engineer it? They are dirt cheap, and you will soon realize that you wont make it much cheaper. SCR's, and capacitors are expensive, and thats just 2 items.

The SCR will run you 40-55 bucks, 2 capacitors will run you minumum $45. There goes $100, you still need a case, and a few other items.

Get a used zapper and study it, and upgrade it. You could spend another $100-$300 upgrading the components to a higher quality and spec. Then you would have yourself a pimp ass little zapper that could do raw cells, as well as maintence zapping.

Oh and get yourself some blastproof plexiglass, and stand behind that. Otherwise you will be blasted when you blow up a cell. ;)

I agree with gary on this one...