Affordable E stim device

[Hypno99]

As someone who found some fun looking tease on here and never owned such device. Are there any which are compatible with this web site and are not in the 400$ range ? Would love to find something around 50 for trying it out, but sadly Iam not sure which work with the tease on here.

Anyone has experiences ?

[47dahc]

Not sure you'll find a ready made unit for less than $200 unfortunately. However, if you are handy (pun intended) and good at building stuff, check out this thread and you can build one for around your price range.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=23322

[Hypno99]

Looks interesting but it seems a few parts are out of stock / the shipping to Europe is pretty high :/

[OrgasmPhantasm]

Hypno, on the smartstim.com forums there is a huge wealth of info on building your own box. I was in the same boat as you and wanted an inexpensive but good box and so I decided to build one for myself. I went into it with absolutely no knowledge of electronics or wiring or soldering etc, but with the info there (and here) I was able to not only build the basic box, but also added a module for independent volume control of the L/R channels and a fancy LED button on the front. And I've been enjoying my new homemade box for months now. Cost me about $160 and works better than the $400 2B I owned a few years back.

On Smartstim there's a list of parts specifically for Europe as well as more info on each so you can do your own shopping. I highly suggest checking that forum out. There's more info there can you could swallow in a month.

[Hypno99]

Sadly it seems the sites register is buggy and else I can’t see any guides on their

[qwksilver]

there are also at least two discords, the collective amount of experience there is pretty amazing.
open estim chat & joanne's estim community, perhaps pop over there for rt conversation about the things you want and where to get them.

[throwawayacct]

SocialStim.org's registration is a bit buggy, but there's no gatekeeper charging money for access, and many of the folks who provided that original information at SmartStim have themselves migrated and have threads going on DIY.

[Hypno99]

Having the same issues with that web page too. I don’t get any confirmation email. Hmm. Ahh may need to try discord

[submalewillbow123]

I had similar issues trying to sign up to socialstim. To register, use a temporary email address generator (just google it), I cant remember the specific site I used as it was a while ago, just try various ones until one of them works. For some reason, you wont get a confirmation email when using a major email provider such as hotmail/gmail etc.

[Hypno99]

Seems like this is a little over my level. Maybe someone from europe would be willing to help me build one and i pay for the parts + extra / someone has a old one to give away?

[LondonGent]

Seems like this is a little over my level. Maybe someone from europe would be willing to help me build one and i pay for the parts + extra / someone has a old one to give away?

There are lots of very complicated guides out there but it doesn't have to be. The simplest solution is a "davey-box" which is nothing more than a set of portable speakers and a couple of transformers.

Step 1
Open up your speaker system and remove the actual speakers.


Step 2
Connect the speaker wires to the input side of the transformers. Soldering is preferable, but tape will work.


Step 3
Connect your electrodes to the output side of the transformers.


Step 4
Tidy the whole thing up.


Step 5
Enjoy!

There are certainly better and fancier ways to build a box, but this is how a lot of us got started and it's perfectly capable of giving plenty of pleasure for a minimal investment of time or money.

Let me know if you've got any questions or would like some more detailed instructions.

[Hypno99]

Ohh, that looks much more managable. are there specific brands you would recommend for this ? also thanks for this more simple guide

[Electro]

These were cheap and easy to build, especially when the transformers were readily available at RadioShack, but the newer ones often have no heatsink on a 3 watt amp chip that maxes out at 5 volts, only have a single channel mono setup, and don't have pop suppression or a reasonable amount of filtering capacitors.

The results commonly were they felt less smooth and stingy, without the power capacity to allow resistors they hurt more if you get a high resistance connection to the skin. You'd often not know it was mono until you took it apart and found two speakers wires to a single channel with a half populated stereo board. These would often overheat and some amp chips have bad clipping and popping characteristics when they are overloaded or overheat, meaning you are reaching for the power switch to cut it off. The cheaper and smaller transformers often have a reduced frequency range starting at a 300hz minimum, which usually isn't a huge deal but they might saturate and not feel the same when the power gets turned up.

If you really want to get a "feel" with a starter setup, ....maybe. It probably won't feel as good or last as long though.

If you do try this, if you find the little USB speaker set has no heatsink on the amp chip(s), try to find one because it might last longer, although longevity still isn't a characteristic these are known for unless you prefer to keep the power levels on the low side.

A better amp is $33, $30 for 2 transformer, 2+ resistors of the right value for the higher powered amp is $10, a good double insulated 12v 5a power supply is $20. I think it's worth buying once instead of being disappointed and buying twice.

*glances over at 3 watt "stereo" speaker box set that I bought for $8 without a heatsink on the amp and a single mono channel tied to both speakers*. ...it wasn't worth it.

[LondonGent]

I think it's worth buying once instead of being disappointed and buying twice.

While in principle I agree with you, there is a huge difference in complexity between the two options.

For anyone without an electronics background "Cut two wires, connect them to one side of a transformer. Connect two electrodes to the other side of the transformer. Repeat for the other channel" sounds achievable. Trying to match up and connect amps, power-supplies, transformers and additional resistors while following unfamiliar wiring diagrams can be very intimidating.

The cost involved is so small (~£12) that there isn't much of a gamble involved, even if you do end up upgrading at some point in future. You can even re-use quite a few of the parts (transformers, plugs, electrodes, etc). I'd say it's a great starting point to grow from provided you base it on a half decent speaker system.

[Hypno99]

So after attempting multiple times to get the parts together over the months without spending 100€ on shipping alone just to mess up. I give up on it^^

Is there anyone who has one build but doesnt need it anymore and would sell it to me ? Or maybe build it if they can get all parts easier ?