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 #3989
Joined: Thu Jul 07 2011, 05:10PM
Location: In a van down by the river.
Posts: 52
Is there any danger of the voltage getting back to my amp when I break the arc and then theres no load? Like unhooking the speaker from a tube amp can cause arc over on the power tube because theres no place for the voltage to go suddenly? That last post made me nervous.. I was all set to try it too..
Registered Member #96
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4061
I did this once to make a "ghetto" fluorescent driver.
It works well, even a cheap scrapyard PC amplifier will work as long as the input impedance matches. If driven at resonance even a cheap 50Hz mains stepdown transformer can output over 2KV if the insulation can take it.
Driving it in this mode doesen't do the amplifier any good, however if you are sensible and add a snubber network inline to clamp excess voltage then the amplifier should last a long time.
Oh, and make sure the secondary is grounded WELL as any HV can and will make its way back onto the primary side and cause big problems. Ignition coils can arc internally under voltage but then self heal due to the oil moving around inside.
Registered Member #162
Joined: Mon Feb 13 2006, 10:25AM
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3140
I have driven a variety of stuff with audio amplifiers, in this case the limitation with sinewaves is the primary:secondary turns ratio, from about 1:30 to 1:100 for ignition coils/tv flyback etc. So with sinewave drive you will not get any impressive/fun high voltage.
If you want to use squarewave/pulse drive (much better) then it would be better to use your signal generator to drive a suitable switching transistor (with power supply etc.) than an audio amplifier.
So my answer is, yes, you can drive coils with an audio amplifier but it's not worth it.
Registered Member #3989
Joined: Thu Jul 07 2011, 05:10PM
Location: In a van down by the river.
Posts: 52
Thanks for the replies,, thats what I was wanting to know! Is there an easy way to determine the frequency of a coil? Do a slow sweep of frequencies and watch the output or is there a way to do it on paper?
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.
can I use a car amp to drive a coil?
