Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged: Wart Remover

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Wart Remover

Among my many electronics inventions was a wart remover. This was a breakthrough, in that it reduced the current required to remove a wart to mere microamps, and placed electronic wart removal in the hands of amateurs for the first time. It took me a year to develop. I knew it was a winner, so I investigated a patent. But the sticking point was medical approvals. I fell back on publication, in three major magazines (Popular Mechanics was one). OBSERVATION: The photo shows the printed circuit board (PCB) of one of my designs. There's a complete design for free at Circuit Exchange. To follow the electronics trail on this blog, click on the "Electronics" category top left.

4 comments:

Jay C said...: Thomas, just built your wart zapper. Thanks you so much for sharing this. I had tried some other fixes and this one worked right off.

I used your parts list and substituted the same SMD parts. I have the benefit of a CNC mill so I was able to mill the circuit I laid out in Eagle Light. I soldered it up tonight and turned it loose on my three warts. It works. I had my o-scope connected watching the voltage and frequency on the probe. I knew when I hit the right spot as the voltage would drop low and start to climb. The 500K pot is not needed for me.

Thanks again,
Jay; August 10, 2009 at 2:32 AM
Thomas O. Scarborough said...: Thanks Jay. At your age, this is no mean accomplishment. ;-) The Wart Zapper has some amazing results -- mostly. The research and development was a labour of love.; August 10, 2009 at 11:12 AM
Brandt said...: Thomas, I found someone who seems to have had a problem with your circuit, and posted their own correction:

http://tinyurl.com/yz28eah

Can you verify this?; January 8, 2010 at 10:26 PM
Thomas O. Scarborough said...: Thanks Brandt. I borrowed the voltage booster from Circuit Source Book 2 by Robert Penfold. So long as it's a booster and it works. I just ran over the circuit, and I don't spot a problem -- I'm assuming that this is my circuit at CXI, as I've done several embodiments. I also did a circuit that uses two PP3 batteries in series, drops the voltage across the IC, and uses no booster at all -- much simplified. I can't believe I don't have it on my blog. We shall see.; January 8, 2010 at 10:56 PM

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About This Blog

I have spent ten years in suburban ministry, twenty-two years (total) in urban ministry, and seven years in country ministry. My involvements in ministry continue, now reduced.

There are a few reasons for this blog: 1. To help people form a picture of what ministry is about -- in particular urban ministry -- not least seminary students who may be destined for urban ministry. I have found that the image and the reality may be far apart in academia. 2. My experience in ministry may be (and, in fact, often has been) an encouragement to other ministers -- alternatively, a cautionary tale, as the case may be! Many notes of thanks have been recorded on this blog. And 3. Friends have simply told me how interesting reports of ministry are.

This is not a "parochial" blog. Only a tenth or so of readers are local (in South Africa). Outside of my home country, this blog is most read in Europe and North America. Russia is no. 4 on the list, and there is some interest in Muslim nations. At one point, this was the most authoritative Religion blog in Southern Africa (I now do not know how it is ranked).

With all of the above in mind, the purpose of this blog is simply to record urban ministry "live and unplugged", in the form of accounts. This blog is not a "church blog", but a "ministry blog". For the most part, I don't intend to share my views. The emphasis is the experience of ministry and the various events that surround it.

A definition of “live” is “actually being performed at the time of viewing”. A definition of “unplugged” is “without amplification or modification”. However, see my Posting Policy below.

Posting Policy

This blog may be unique with regard to its degree of transparency about urban ministry. Many people have written to me to say how they cherish the help they have received through this. However, this means that special attention needs to be given to confidentiality in particular. I use the following guidelines for posting on this blog:

I apply the following questions to posts: Are they posted in good faith? Are they balanced? Are they compassionate? Are they informative about ministry? Do they help one better understand a problem or issue?

I consider a post to be unproblematic if a person's identity is unknowable in the post, if the facts are public knowledge, or if a change of particulars (name, place, date, and so on) will truly protect privacy. If I consider that anyone who was not involved in an incident would recognise those who were, then I do not post. If a post could compromise the safety of those I blog about, then I make a post safe, or I do not post.

I believe that these measures should enable me to continue to be "open" about urban ministry while not compromising privacy.

In 2013, ninety percent of the posts on this blog were removed. I then put the question of the freedom of the blog to the South African Human Rights Commission. The position is this: if a post is legal, it is legal. Essentially, all of my posts were OK. There is freedom of expression in South Africa.

Having said this, if any post should even cause discomfort, it will be removed from this blog immediately. This has always been the position. One does need to contact me for that, best through an e-mail or a blog comment, and I prefer to see a name on it. The post will be put back up only if there would seem to be compelling reason for it. It is hoped that there will be the assumption that I wish to address any discomfort satisfactorily, compassionately, and efficiently.