Glenfidditch + lack of sleep + Fire alarm = useful parts?

[phector2004]

Hi everyone,

Rude awakening (+ aggravated headache!) this morning by this malfunctioning bass turd:





Anything worth salvageing? My soldering/desoldering isn't amazing, so I don't know how much I can do with short leads... I couldn't care less about the 1/8W resistors either... Here's some stuff I see that's DOABLE/possibly useful though:

Power diodes (not in pic, under batteries)
Tantalum cap (C6)
1N4148 (D1)
buzzer
19 Ω 1W resistor (Red White Black, under buzzer)
2 SPDT switches (1 under buzzer) (Seems I can tin the leads, and solder on copper wire to extend them)
Box cap (under buzzer)
Green "thing" under buzzer- has resistor shape and striped markings, but its marked as C2 - Mojo cap? or just a green resistor?
Q1 - 2N6427 (short leads though!)
16 pin IC (under Americium holder)

Also, are there any necessary precautions to disposing of this thing? Where do I take it, fire station?

[mattthegamer463]

Use the Am 241 to cause radioactive oscillations in a delay pedal?

Other than general components of value, like the switches and caps, looks like trash.  Radioactive things are just cool to have though.  IIRC, Am 241 is the only man-made element that you can buy without licences, etc.

[phector2004]

hmmm that's actually a cool idea

how would that work though? I know smoke detectors work by ionizing the air in the Am container and cause a flow of electrons between two electrodes. Aside from that, I can't picture what to do with it

Maybe mount in a wah pedal and change the distance between the electrodes?

[mth5044]

I was told once, by a man working a nuclear reactor, that disassembling a smoke alarm is illegal.

[phector2004]

maybe in Philly, but I live somewhere where the beer is stronger, french fries come soaked in cheese and gravy, and the snow can easily reach 1.2m some snowy winter days

The amount of radiation in one smoke detector is trivial, to be honest. I'm sure the mounties only care if you're taking apart hundreds of them... http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html

[R.G.]

Aye, thae's yerrr trrrrrouble. Yerrr sippin' Glenfiddich. Some Cragganmore wou' clearrrr i' up. 

I would not mess with it for the Americium threat. Americium is a moderately potent alpha emitter. It's not particularly dangerous AS LONG AS THERE'S AT LEAST SOME SOLID MATERIAL OR 3" OF AIR BETWEEN YOU AND IT. Alpha rays have a range of up to about 7cm in air. But if you ingest, inhale, or get an alpha emitter into a wound, you get massive tissue damage to the tissue it's right next to.

Parts are too cheap to mess with that ionization chamber.

[phector2004]

that's what I was thinking when I closed it up!

it also emits 60keV gamma rays, not powerful, but I'd rather not put the strain of extra mutations on my lung cells for the days/months/years it'll stay stay there if inhaled. Not worth it, especially when I just got a shipment of 3000+ resistors and caps 

[amptramp]

The FET's used in smoke detectors are bred for very high input impedance.  So if you are building a pedal with a delay where you cannot use true bypass because it would take the delay time before a signal came out, you can use one of these to act as a signal buffer.

[R.G.]

I'd rather not put the strain of extra mutations on my lung cells for the days/months/years it'll stay stay there if inhaled.

The way I heard it was that any alpha sources you inhale are with you for life - however short that is. 

In the Manhattan project, where they were actually handling plutonium, another very potent alpha emitter, immediate high amputation of a limb with plutonium contamination in a wound was considered the minimal **first aid**.

[phector2004]

The FET's used in smoke detectors are bred for very high input impedance.  So if you are building a pedal with a delay where you cannot use true bypass because it would take the delay time before a signal came out, you can use one of these to act as a signal buffer.

interesting

They're exposed, so I might yank those out to play around with

thanks for the idea!

[Brymus]

I would keep the 3v rechargables too.
Those are a little pricey and hold a charge awhile, great for powering your breadboard.