This is based on a TV flyback coil and a single 2N3055 power transistor and other on-hand components giving a 1/2 inch spark at 20 V 3 A input.
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The TV flyback HV supply 60 W runs at frequencies above the audible range and only under load is it heard as a whine when the frequency drops. This is one of my earliest HV setups that I have recorded in 2002. It is not particularly efficient but is safe and can run from a smallish power supply or 12V battery.
I have used an old style flyback with the single high voltage winding which will have an AC output. These are now rare. Flyback transformers from the past 30 years or so at least have an internal rectifier and put out DC. The ferrite core is usually still accessible to wind on the coils.
Of course, flyback transformers are no longer used. In Australia with the advent of digital TV, all previous analogue TV’s based on heavy cathode ray tube screens became obsolete overnight. They were virtually all replaced with flatscreen LED/plasma technology.
Kaizer Power Electronics has details on this driver.
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Photo Date: 2002