I did something dumb (again)...what did I break?

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Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
17,768
485
126
Stop giving him ideas! ;) Next thing you know he'll try and do something really silly like build a jacob's ladder.

Jacob's Ladders are not dangerous as long as you don't touch the wires. ;)

MOTs make awesome JLs due to the high current. Adding a few in parallel can give one an idea what a more powerful and hard to get transformer (pole pig) is like as with its ballasting requirements. Of course it will be heavily limited by short duty cycles unlike a pole pig and also its output is most definitely lethal! 1-2 amperes (guaranteed bodily passage at the voltages involved!) WILL kill a human!
 

Leros

Lifer
Jul 11, 2004
21,867
7
81
Jacob's Ladders are not dangerous as long as you don't touch the wires. ;)

MOTs make awesome JLs due to the high current. Adding a few in parallel can give one an idea what a more powerful and hard to get transformer (pole pig) is like as with its ballasting requirements. Of course it will be heavily limited by short duty cycles unlike a pole pig and also its output is most definitely lethal! 1-2 amperes (guaranteed bodily passage at the voltages involved!) WILL kill a human!

I've been wanting to get my hands on a pole pig so bad.

My Tesla coil gets 3-4 foot streamers with a 15kV 60mA supply. I have two 30mA neon sign transformers wire in parallel. I've been wanting to build a second larger one.

I also want to build a small solid state Tesla coil. Something table top sized.
 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
17,768
485
126
I've been wanting to get my hands on a pole pig so bad.

My Tesla coil gets 3-4 foot streamers with a 15kV 60mA supply. I have two 30mA neon sign transformers wire in parallel. I've been wanting to build a second larger one.

I also want to build a small solid state Tesla coil. Something table top sized.

A decent stick welder "buzz box" with copper windings (continuous duty at full output!) - clamp electrode holder to ground and crank up amps on AC (no need to stress a rectifier) to 11! Wire the 50A input of the buzz box to your pole pig. This way a 15kVA pig can run nearly WOT in reverse providing you with 7.5+ kV at 2000mA. That kind of input should yield 15+ foot sparks or higher if you use a magnifier coil.

Nothing like throwing the switch and watching the lights dim on the block! If you live on a farm and have good mains you can go quite a bit higher and get 50 foot sparks but you better know what you're doing before planning that out! :eek:

This is what it would look like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY-AS13fl30