If you need assistance, please send an email to forum at 4hv dot org. To ensure your email is not marked as spam, please include the phrase "4hv help" in the subject line. You can also find assistance via IRC, at irc.shadowworld.net, room #hvcomm.
Support 4hv.org!
Donate:
4hv.org is hosted on a dedicated server. Unfortunately, this server costs and we rely on the help of site members to keep 4hv.org running. Please consider donating. We will place your name on the thanks list and you'll be helping to keep 4hv.org alive and free for everyone. Members whose names appear in red bold have donated recently. Green bold denotes those who have recently donated to keep the server carbon neutral.
Special Thanks To:
Aaron Holmes
Aaron Wheeler
Adam Horden
Alan Scrimgeour
Andre
Andrew Haynes
Anonymous000
asabase
Austin Weil
barney
Barry
Bert Hickman
Bill Kukowski
Blitzorn
Brandon Paradelas
Bruce Bowling
BubeeMike
Byong Park
Cesiumsponge
Chris F.
Chris Hooper
Corey Worthington
Derek Woodroffe
Dalus
Dan Strother
Daniel Davis
Daniel Uhrenholt
datasheetarchive
Dave Billington
Dave Marshall
David F.
Dennis Rogers
drelectrix
Dr. John Gudenas
Dr. Spark
E.TexasTesla
eastvoltresearch
Eirik Taylor
Erik Dyakov
Erlend^SE
Finn Hammer
Firebug24k
GalliumMan
Gary Peterson
George Slade
GhostNull
Gordon Mcknight
Graham Armitage
Grant
GreySoul
Henry H
IamSmooth
In memory of Leo Powning
Jacob Cash
James Howells
James Pawson
Jeff Greenfield
Jeff Thomas
Jesse Frost
Jim Mitchell
jlr134
Joe Mastroianni
John Forcina
John Oberg
John Willcutt
Jon Newcomb
klugesmith
Leslie Wright
Lutz Hoffman
Mads Barnkob
Martin King
Mats Karlsson
Matt Gibson
Matthew Guidry
mbd
Michael D'Angelo
Mikkel
mileswaldron
mister_rf
Neil Foster
Nick de Smith
Nick Soroka
nicklenorp
Nik
Norman Stanley
Patrick Coleman
Paul Brodie
Paul Jordan
Paul Montgomery
Ped
Peter Krogen
Peter Terren
PhilGood
Richard Feldman
Robert Bush
Royce Bailey
Scott Fusare
Scott Newman
smiffy
Stella
Steven Busic
Steve Conner
Steve Jones
Steve Ward
Sulaiman
Thomas Coyle
Thomas A. Wallace
Thomas W
Timo
Torch
Ulf Jonsson
vasil
Vaxian
vladi mazzilli
wastehl
Weston
William Kim
William N.
William Stehl
Wesley Venis
The aforementioned have contributed financially to the continuing triumph of 4hv.org. They are deserving of my most heartfelt thanks.
Registered Member #152
Joined: Sun Feb 12 2006, 03:36PM
Location: Czech Rep.
Posts: 3384
It's possible to draw quite good arcs even at low mains voltage (230V). I made a simple current-limited DC power supply which puts out cca 3-5A short circuit current. A very hot arc up to 3" can be drawn. If you build this I suggest you to use at least some eye protection (sunglasses etc.) as the arc is very hot and bright and can damage your eyes.
The size of the cap bank determines the arc current. Probably up to 100uF is "safe" but the choke must be rated accordingly.
(I've used 2 xfmrs in parallel)
Here are some stills from a video:
The orange color is because I've put sunglasses in front of my camera in an attemt to protect the CCD from damage.
Link to youtobe video @ (why it puts the link on a new line?)
Registered Member #1025
Joined: Sun Sept 23 2007, 07:53PM
Location: Czech Rep.
Posts: 566
The only problem of the circuit is that you will destroy the cap by electric stress after relatively short time... There is a possibility to put the limiting cap behind the diodes. This will work forever and you do not need choke (however it is better for plasma pulling)
Registered Member #5208
Joined: Thu Jun 07 2012, 06:12PM
Location:
Posts: 86
I'm gonna take a risk and dig this thread up, lol. Dr.DC, I want to "build" this thingy, but I can't find 50uF cap rated at 400V, instead, can I use a 47uF 400V one? I will use a high current MOT as a choke, and 1uF MOC as a second cap (the one that hooked to output of rectyfying bridge). Is that alright?
at one point I got minor sunburns from mains drawn arcs, you might want to protect your eyes with very high power arcs...arc welder glass is cheap.... just a though.....
Registered Member #5208
Joined: Thu Jun 07 2012, 06:12PM
Location:
Posts: 86
Oh, so MKP ones are good to go? And for 1uF a MOC should work, it's not polarised as far as I remember? Daedronus, thanks for heads up. I wasn't aware that they would be THAT bright. But how this circuit works?
This site is powered by e107, which is released under the GNU GPL License. All work on this site, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License. By submitting any information to this site, you agree that anything submitted will be so licensed. Please read our Disclaimer and Policies page for information on your rights and responsibilities regarding this site.
Very hot arcs from mains voltage
