If you are planning to add any new outlets, lights or appliances, it is helpful to have a map (or schematic drawing) of your electrical circuits. This will help you determine if you can tap into an existing circuit or if you need to run a new circuit from the breaker panel. In this tutorial, you will learn how to map out your houses electrical system, which will help you plan for future needs or possibly alert you to an existing circuit overload. Also, many municipalities require that your ci...
A GFCI outlet (which stands for ground fault circuit interrupter) is a receptacle with its own built-in circuit breaker. It is intended to protect you from electric shock and your wiring and breaker panel from being “shorted out”.
Prepare all the materials and tools needed for the process. Prepare a circuit tester, an electrical tape, a flathead screwdriver, a pair of scissors, and an electric sealers kit. Then, make sure that you turn off the power at the main circuit box. Place a piece of electrical tape over the circuit breaker that goes to the circuit that you are going to work on. Unscrew the screws that are holding the plate cover of the outlets to the wall. Test the outlet using the circuit tester to make sure t...
Learn step-by-step how to replace a split circuit electrical outlet including safety tips and what to watch for to make sure an outlet is installed correctly. Replace a split circuit electrical outlet.
Direct current (DC) by definition flows in one direction. Alternating current (AC), on the other hand, periodically changes direction, or reverses polarity. It is indeed possible for a portion of a circuit that is normally DC to periodically change direction, or reverse polarity like an AC circuit.
In this article, I'll show you how to make a simple touch-triggered switch. This is very useful for various electronic projects, from a simple bedside light to a flat panel touch keyboard. The circuit can vary in switching power depending on the transistors you use. For example, if you're looking into creating a 120V light that turns on when touched, you'd need two powerful transistors and an isolation relay. However, a simple flashlight that turns on when touched would only take a couple of ...
In this article, I'll show you how to create a simple yet effective way of scaring off intruders. Of course, there are methods around this approach, but it's great for office pranks and general fun. The project requires a little background knowledge in electronics and circuitry, like reading schematics and using a soldering iron.
A certified strength and conditioning specialist, demonstrates the fat burn circuit with the Powertec Workbench Multisystem. He talks about maintaining muscle, gaining muscle, and losing fat with the right set of workouts. In this workout, you will need to use a circuit which involves moving from one exercise to another and doing everything in the same order several times in a row.
Now that you've mastered hand control, here's a new challenge for you. Try playing Mario using just your eye movements. The video below describes how the system works, and if you're feeling extra ambitious, scroll down for two HowTo videos, paired with (1, 2, 3, 4) build details.
Biking at night is dangerous. Seriously. If you've ever taken a night ride, you've probably experience a few close encounters with a set of headlights. Which is why you use bike lights—to make yourself more visible. Problem is, unlike modern car lights, bike lights don't turn themselves off when you're done riding.
Homemade circuits are amazing. You can build any kind of circuit on a simple perfboard, as we have seen in previous projects. However, some projects require very tiny circuit boards. We could special order some boards from a printed circuit board (PCB) factory, but that will most likely involve a high price per board and a few thousand miles of delivery service to pay for.
In this article, I'll show you how to build a simplistic circuit to generate negative ions. Negative ions have been known to contribute to fresher air, happier mood, and general health benefits. However, they also look amazing in the dark (check out the photos below, purple plasma is amazing!). And if all else fails, they make a cool nightlight. If you've ever been around a Tesla coil, cathode ray tube TV or sometimes even on a trampoline, you've probably noticed that smell; the smell of "sta...
Want to light the skies with your own flying saucer? Here's a quick way to add lights to an ordinary fribee using a cheap light-up yo-yo. It's so easy, anyone can do it.
Ecouterre posts seven upcycled circuit board fashion accessories, many of which were part of a group show to help raise awareness about e-waste and overconsumption.
Have a few light bulbs and a blowtorch? Then join the folks over at Harvard in a cool science experiment on the conductivity of glass. As you well know, glass is an insulator with low conductivity and high resistivity. In the video below, they flip the switch, demonstrating how heating the glass fuse enclosure from an incandescent light bulb can create a conductive material that completes the series circuit and lights the second light bulb. In the video, the two light sockets are wired in ser...
What do you get when you take a run-of-the-mill kitchen knife and add a simple synthesizer circuit? Behold, the Syntheslicer! Creator Jonathan M. Guberman writes:
Just sad to see this. I was really hyped for this game but these load times are a deal breaker. It takes so long to just get to a race and loading any particular races averages to about a minute? No thanks. ;_;
A simple wheelbarrow, a stiff rake, and a reliable process transform the task of mixing concrete from back-breaker to no-brainer. Watch and see how to mix concrete in a wheelbarrow. Mix concrete in a wheelbarrow.
Graffiti is a great way of getting your message out to the masses. The earliest known graffiti dates back to 30,000 years ago and used the traditional apply-paint-to-wall technique. Though our paint now comes in cans and not from scavenged berries, the actual graffiti process hasn't really evolved from those first cave paintings.
The Stun-Gun In this article, I'll show you how to make a small, weaponized highlighter. Before I get into how to built this device, let me warn you. This device is harmful! When used, it can cause burns and/or serious muscle spasms. The voltage is potentially deadly! DO NOT attempt to build this device unless you are experienced with safety, electronics, soldering, and understand circuit schematics.
Having problems with wiring your subwoofers? Well, watch this video tutorial to see how to wire subwoofers in your car by parallel or series. You'll see exactly how to hook up the speakers to your car amp, either in series circuit or parallel circuit. It just depends on what you want. Elemental Designs shows you how.
Making your own circuit boards can be a daunting challenge. You have to design a schematic, test it on a breadboard, design the board layout, and then after all of that, you still have to print and etch a board!
It turns out that the popularity of soft circuit electronics has leaked out of the interwebs and into the hands of the U.S. military. Soft circuit electronics allow you to literally sew electronics circuits into fabric using flexible conductive thread instead of wire. Soft circuits can be used for all sorts of fun projects, like the TV-B-Gone Hoodie and the Heartbeat Headband.
Fans of Doctor Who know that the sonic screwdriver is the ultimate tool. It can unlock doors, turn on lights, detect life forms, solder wires, and sabotage weapons.
In this article, I'll show you how to built a Wireless Transfer of Energy Transmitter. Simply put, this device will send electricity to a florescent light bulb and light it up, from up to three feet. The idea originally (at least, prominently) came from Nikola Tesla (read more about this amazing inventor here), who used his Tesla coils to transfer wireless energy to light bulbs in demonstrations (photo below). However, the circuit described in this article consists of a flyback transformer, n...
When I was attending college, my friends had a phantom thief in their dormitory. Almost every night, a different item of food would go missing, never to be seen again. There was constant speculation as to whom the thief was and how to catch them. Security cameras were deemed too invasive, but none could think of another method of surveillance... until today.
This how-to video series shows the easy way to master this professional technique. Hair colorist and stylist Marco Pelusi offers tips for doing highlights at home. Professional highlights can be a bank-breaker, but they do wonders for your complexion and overall look of your hair. Get a salon look at home. Watch this video tutorial series and learn how to highlight hair at home. Create gorgeous highlights at home - Part 1 of 2.
Microcontrollers are great. You can do anything from water your garden to catch wildlife trash diggers in the act—and on the cheap. I prefer to use the Arduino microcontroller because of the large and helpful community built around the website. Though it is my favorite, there are some drawbacks to using an Arduino board in every project. It gets expensive, the board can take up too much space, and the rat's nest of breadboard wires are a pain to repair.
I'm sure most everyone has some kind of fluorescent light source in their home; those long white tubes that emit a bright white light when turned on, or maybe a few of the CFL power-saver bulbs. These bulbs actually require very little "power" (i.e. a high voltage:almost no current ratio) to emit light. In fact, static electricity is enough to make them flicker. Inside these tubes is a gas, and when electricity flows through that gas, it gets "excited" and produces light.
Born in 1975, the world's first digital camera used a standard cassette tape to record images, rather than today's standard data cards.
Whether you're job searching, networking, or just giving your information out to someone you just met at a bar, this circuit board business card made by Brian Carrigan will make sure no one ever forgets meeting you! Sure, you could buy a customized USB business card on some online shop, but if you're trying to emphasize your geek cred, why wouldn't you make your own PCB card from scratch? Carrigan used a USB controller and added an Atmel AT45DB series flash chip so that it could store his res...
Solar panels are an amazing invention. Catching energy from the Sun before it even enters Earth's food chain, photovoltaics are like an all-natural nuclear power plant. Unfortunately, the constituted parts of a solar panel are rare, valuable, and subject to the coercive forces of market competition.
Around the world, X-People (yes... there are X-Women, too) are under attack from an intolerant sapiencentric ruling class. Integration without equality is a farce. Autonomy is denied outright. Human prejudice cannot abide a mutant state. Human fear, born to hate, imposes itself on the life of every mutant.
In this article, I'll be covering Triggers and Coils, part two of the series (see part one here). Generally, a simple EMP generator consists of four components; a capacitor, a transformer, a trigger and a coil of copper wire. The transformer component can be varied, but the coil is very important, and must be precisely tuned.
It's what every astronomy-loving geek has always wanted... a beautiful, twinkling home galaxy. As Instructables user MrTrick rightly warns, this project is no small feat. Be prepared to get schooled in:
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has demanded that the TSA explain why it has ignored a now year old order to conduct a public comment process with regards to its use of so called naked body scanners. » Court Orders TSA To Explain Why It Continues To Defy The Law Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!.
There's no need to pay for a pricey electrician for a light switch problem— you can try to fix it yourself. This video from This Old House explains how three-way switches work and shows tips for finding and replacing faulty three-way switches in your home. First, you need to understand the difference between the hot and neutral wire, the ground wire, and the traveler.
In this article, I'll show you how to build a coil gun. A coil gun is a device that fires magnetic projectiles at high velocities, using electricity. Coil guns require no explosive propellant, therefor can be fired an infinite amount of time, providing that there is ammunition and available electricity.
Musical boxes are best known for their kitschy designs and somewhat trivial renditions of musical masterpieces. They tend to frequent the dresser of young girls or elderly woman hanging on to their youth, and for the most part, they remain cutesy and harmless, but when featured in movies like The Silence of the Lambs and Black Swan, they become downright creepy.
In this article, I'll be showing you how to make a simple yet effective static electricity generator. Basically, this device allows you to carry a constant static charge on your body and discharge it on anything grounded or of opposite polarity. The electricity generated is around 8-10 kV, at a very low current. The shock is enough to startle your friends, just like a static shock from a trampoline or carpeted room. You'll need a little experience in soldering and circuit design to build the ...
