Shock from a camera flash is lethal!!

Discussion in 'General Science & Technology' started by Hideki Matsumoto, Sep 17, 2004.

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  1. Hideki Matsumoto ñ{ìñÇÃóùâ?ÇÕêSÇÃíÜÇ©ÇÁóàÇ ÈÅB Registered Senior Member

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    Those of you who like to take things apart BEWARE!!! The shock from a camera flash is LETHAL, especially the professional ones that use big flash tubes!
    In Japan it used to be very fun to take disposible cameras apart and shock each other as a "joke" until one day a kid in Sendai-shi Miyagi-ken Japan killed a fellow classmate by accident when he took his fathers Nikon-proflash to use on a fellow student. The corenors report stated that the current from the flash capacitor had enough power to fracture bones in the victim's body and caused immediate defibulation. The shock also probably resulted in brain damage as well. apon further investigation the current and voltage were measured. itital tests showed that the 10uSec burst of voltage from the flash was 1250vdc @ 0.8-1.3KA thats 1300Amps !! Standard disposible cameras can pulse 500v @ 120A



    There is a lesson to be learned from this !!
    Even small flashes like ones found in disposible cameras are very very dangerous and can also kill!
     
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  3. rGEMINI Fallen Entity Registered Senior Member

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    ... DANM!!!! that would really suck =P. *starts to take apart a camera* time to X some annoying people out of my life.
     
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  5. chunkylover58 Make it a ... CHEEEESEburger Registered Senior Member

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    I worked in a photo repair department once. One guy was taking apart a small point and shoot camera for repair and accidentally activated the capacitor of the flash. About all he could do for the next 20 minutes was sit and stare at the wall, shaking feverishly.
     
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  7. curioucity Unbelievable and odd Registered Senior Member

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    I can't get it... how can camera blitz be so deadly? Isn't the blitz a mere light?
     
  8. chunkylover58 Make it a ... CHEEEESEburger Registered Senior Member

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    Key word: capacitor.

    The camera's flash is powered by a 3 to 6 volt battery. A flash requires from 150-300 or more volts to fire. There are some strobes with enough power to light up a room from 40 + feet away. The capacitor stores a considerable amount of power for that flash.
     
  9. cato less hate, more science Registered Senior Member

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    Damn, I am glad I didn’t know about this when I was a kid. One of my siblings or I would have probably died doing it to each other.

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  10. Hideki Matsumoto ñ{ìñÇÃóùâ?ÇÕêSÇÃíÜÇ©ÇÁóàÇ ÈÅB Registered Senior Member

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    Another story for you about Camera flashes!
    I met a guy once who worked on professional tripod flash systems that used 150lb flash caps! that stored 1000's of volts! One day he accidently shorted the capacitor bank when he was changing the flash tube with a screwdriver. The screwdriver instantly vapourized into a million little green fireballs followed by a loud detonation!! The Pressure from the explosion resulted in him going 70% deaf. He also lost sight in one eye from UV burns!!
    By the way the explosion also knocked out windows! So next question, what do think would have happened if he had touched both the hot and ground with his fingers???
    NOTHING GOOD!
     
  11. AntonK Technomage Registered Senior Member

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    This is the same idea they use to protect tanks now. They have huge capacitor banks and a double hull system. When a projectile's payload (usually molten metal) breaks through the first hull and contacts the second, it completes the circuit (hot and ground) and is INSTANTLY vaporized preventing it from reaching any persons inside the tank. Cant be use for a moment or two afterwards, but usually after one hit the tank has shot whoever was shooting at it.

    -AntonK
     
  12. Communist Hamster Cricetulus griseus leninus Valued Senior Member

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    I thought that tank defense system was still in development by British scientists at the MoD?
     
  13. curioucity Unbelievable and odd Registered Senior Member

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    Oh, dear..... I'm so hasty I didn't even thought that it wasn't the camera that did that....... Thanks chunky and everyone.
     
  14. Closet Philosopher Off to Laurentian University Registered Senior Member

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    I remeber seeing a video on how to make a taser out of a disposable camera. I guess the flash wasn't powerful enough to KILL anyone but the guy in the video sure got a good jolt.
     
  15. Hideki Matsumoto ñ{ìñÇÃóùâ?ÇÕêSÇÃíÜÇ©ÇÁóàÇ ÈÅB Registered Senior Member

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    Actually I have another story about Camera flashes used as weapons for all of you.
    While I was visiting an open house at Scottland yard in U.K. I remember an exibit showing confiscated IRA suitcase bombs that used electronic camera flashes to power blasting caps to detonate Semtex or (Cyclonite/ Hexogen/ RDX).. I cannot discuss how they were triggered, sorry! "Don't get any ideas kids!!" DON'T TRY IT !
     
  16. vslayer Registered Senior Member

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    *gets an idea*


    *tries it*


    on the subject of bombs, if someone was to wax GWBs car with glycerine(or mix it into the carwash he uses) all it would take was a few water ballons full of nitric acid and we would have a free world.

    getting the glycerine onto his car would be the hard part, but once it was there you could apply the nitric acid in the form of a water ballon or inside an egg shell, from the side of one of his "im so important" driveabouts.

    and the beauty is that anything linking it to you would be destroyed in the blast
     
  17. weed_eater_guy It ain't broke, don't fix it! Registered Senior Member

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    i know how powerful those little things are, i couldn't get the flash to turn off on a camera of mine, so i held up the leather case and held it in front of the flash, right next to the glass. I now have a permanent rectangular burn on the case as the flashbulb made a loud 'POP' and then a light sizzle as smoke rose from the space that the flash was next to. Oh man, it was cool, i had no idea it was powerful enough to instantly BURN LEATHER with just the LIGHT!!! next time i need to start a camp fire...
     
  18. Cupertino Registered Member

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    "There are some strobes with enough power to light up a room from 40 + feet away."

    One night, just having fun, my wife (Profesional photographer) took her external hammer head flash and held it at arm's length away from us, we sat with heads together, as if we are posing for a photo and fired the flash at ourselves (We saw a Frasier episode where the Dad had a super-powerfull flash camera and scared everyone throughout the episode).
    After the flash fired, we were temporarily blinded and I immediately started to feel lightheaded, dizzy and head-achy. This later turned into nausea untill with LOTS of Pepto, we went to sleep much earlier that enticipated....BEWARE!!!

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  19. chunkylover58 Make it a ... CHEEEESEburger Registered Senior Member

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    I once rested the hesd of a Metz "Potato Masher" flash on my leg during a shoot. My finger hit the test button and it fired. Burned a hole in my jeans.
     
  20. Hideki Matsumoto ñ{ìñÇÃóùâ?ÇÕêSÇÃíÜÇ©ÇÁóàÇ ÈÅB Registered Senior Member

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    Vslayer, nitric acid at the strength to make trinitroglyerol would be VERY DANGEROUS! you wouldn't put it into an eggshell cause it would eat right through it! even rubber will not survive very long. Pyrex is the best way to store it. Trust me I have made many explosives. 70-98% Nitric acid must be bought with a LAB licence. The most recent explosives I have made are the H.E. Peroxide/ AN series ...in particular (APAN II) which detonates at 8250-8900 m/sec. Not something to fuck with!
     
  21. vslayer Registered Senior Member

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    you take it to the side of the road in a pyrex container then put it in the projectile casing, if the americans see a bottle af nitric acid flying at them they will get out, whereas they expect eggs and such so would not worry
     
  22. Hideki Matsumoto ñ{ìñÇÃóùâ?ÇÕêSÇÃíÜÇ©ÇÁóàÇ ÈÅB Registered Senior Member

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    This is not an explosives forum. I will post a how to make powerful halloween devices a bit later. ON THE EXPLOSIVES & PYROTECHNIC THREAD YOU MUST FOLLOW WHAT I POST TO THE LETTER OR RISK INJURY AND OR DEATH! UNDERSTAND THIS!
     
  23. Csel Poiuy Registered Member

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    disposable camera can also be used for mini electormagnetic coilguns. i also know someone who made a "stun" gun with a camera, but i wouldnt recommend it.
     
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