A nice 60 kV transformer and heavy dual variac for the kids to play with is on my list of high voltage projects to do. Here are some more of them.
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Induction heating.
A nice use for some heavy duty silicon I have.
This circuit from Kaiser Power Electronics seems to work well.
Not sure if I can use IGBT’s instead of the MOSFET’s.
Voltage multiplier
I hope to make a 200kV multiplier to get some serious HV. I have started this by making the outline of a HV tower using a 12 inch stainless steel gazing ball found as a pool ornament in the local nursery. The metal frame is temporary to get an idea of how the corona rings will sit. I have made up 5 of these and they will help prevent corona causing power loss. I suspect they may be too narrow and will give too much corona as they will be more prominent than the ball on top.
At this stage I am a little unclear whether I will make it a mains frequency unit run from an x-ray transformer or a high frequency driven unit. The capacitor sizes are vastly different but I can get more convenient power from the x-ray transformer.
DRSSTC Tesla coil
A DRSSTC (Double Resonant Solid State Tesla Coil) was previously a must do. My feelings have changed and rather than go through the learning curve, I have opted to go to a commercial coil (Plasmasonic from Dan McCauley) with all the bells and whistles. A big saving of my time that I can use elsewhere. I intend to use two of these in a show.
Diodes
Lots of diodes: A 6 foot stack of 112 of 2.5 kV 2.5 A, 200 of BYV-29 500 Volt, 9 A, 60 nS, 500 of IN4007 1000 V 1 A, 1000 of 2.5 kV, 250mA, plus 2 of 1200 V 1700 A SCR’s and another 12 similar sized ones. Lots of projects in mind for these but in particular a voltage multiplier.
Marx Generator
Marx generator for high voltage DC which means more capacitors (a lot more). I have a large number of resistors that should do in HV service and am getting some ceramic capacitors which should be OK for over 1 foot of spark.
Van der Graaff generator
I have a Wandarama which is a handheld VDG generator. I have also modified one of these for higher output and half inch sparks.
Multi-stage Coilgun
I have acquired 6 heavy duty SCR’s from old x-ray gear as well as 6 capacitors. A multistage coilgun is looking feasible.
IGBT’s
I have various IGBT bricks and arrays to use in a half or full bridge arrangement to experiment with and also 20 A IGBT’s from old microwave ovens. High power switching can be for magnetic levitation, induction heating and Tesla coiling.
Sadly, I also have to eat, sleep, work and communicate with my family periodically…
Related pages
Magnetism to do listTry something else
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Photo Date: 2008