@@greatscottlab I had some 12v led lights that after about 1h of usage they were desoldering themselves and falling on the floor with their 2 legs still holding onto the sockets on the ceiling. It turns out the manufacturers thought it was a good idea to use thin traces on the board as an 10ohm resistor... instead of using an actual 10ohm resistor... On the upside, the manufacturers didn’t specify that if you mount the lights upside down they come with integrated thermal protection.
I think both ways have their merits. Certainly you learn more with a kit (for example that the included transistor is not up to snuff). But for building my gas-stove-igniter I used one of those ready-made modules, an 18650 and a spark plug. It works like a charm and a kit would be very hard to properly isolate. And frankly, I couldn't care less for the PTB-certification, that's just germans being germans for no good reason...
Exactly, if you're electronics enthusiast and just want to play around and learn stuff go for the kit, but if you are actually using the HV to do something practical instead of just playing around (f.ex. I also used that module as an igniter), then the module is easier to use, cheaper, better isolated and likely has more resistance to mechanical vibrations and such. And yes, I also used one to make a taser, afaik it's legal in my area edit: of course that doesn't apply in the case where you need some specific voltage / frequency / other properties at the output, then you have to design your circuit anyway
That spark gap would make a wicked cannon ignitor, rather than spray gas in and hope for a stycometric value to get a good boom 💥 split water with electrolysis to have a perfect ignition everytime.
Yeah he sold me on the first one that just worked because I have a propane grill that does not have a electronic igniter on every burner. It only has it on one and that is supposed to light the other burners along the way. I can see how adding this with A small bit of work could make the igniter circuit work on all of the burners
They make for good gas igniters but they also burn out fairly easily if used for a short period of time continuously. Had one in a project box with two bolts coming out as electrodes and a PTM switch to turn it on. Got some big zaps from it though.
I actually used the "bad" HV generator to build an electric wasp swatter. It's ghetto af but wasps literally explode after a few seconds of electro therapy. With 10mm gaps and nothing in between it still arcs loudly all the time. I'm afraid to use it near sensitive electronics but I still love it.
@@snaj9989 They're not designed to run for more than a minute or two. If you tazer someone longer than that their heart will probably give out. To be fair tho, that's not what any of us use them for and they don't list any warning about that tho... 😅
I literally bought 5 of those this week to upgrade some bugswatters for my friends. I will enjoy doing it like your advise in the video. Thank you so much!
Are you putting all 5 into one bug swatter or do you just have 5 friends with a big enough bug problem they need an 'upgraded' bug swatter? 🤨 Bug swatters work fine but the only bug they actually attract or work on here is moths, except a regular light bulb ends up killing them too...
@@DrakeOola Well it's the handheld bugswatter. I fix those with a rechargable cell with USB connecyor and then with the HV generator. It's mostly fun, very deadly for bugs and my friends love it.
@@maurice-le-roux I love it, I've actually done this with zvs circuit like great scott, as i Was 14. It was very effective against those little fruit flies that normally flew trhough the flyswatter. But the zvs had to high frequency and melted the flyswatter if you hold it for too long. Those another HV generators are cheap, effective and already prebuild :D
Im Assistant Professor in Electronics from india. All of your videos are excellent and very informative👌👌👌 Everything is well explained with schematics & design. I really appreciate your hardwork, patience & dedication behind every video ⚡
@Joseph Bunn the voltages from those listings are pretty much made up numbers... on ebay you see the same package with all kind of different voltage numbers. 5kv, 15kv, 25kv... they add anything to the description in the pursuit of sales :D
I personally like does little pulse high voltage modules because you can blow tiny holes in paper or leafs and they are pretty loud if you pull contacts far enough so they make a great house alarm
Someone in our FB HV group has de-potted one of these to see what's inside. Essentially its a Cockroft-Walton voltage multiplier with several stages. The problem is that there is no current-limiting resistor so the devices eventually fail from diode destruction or over-heating.
@@StarCracked HV resistors can be expensive. The resistor(s) may cost more than the module. I believe the output of these is no more than about 50 KV regardless of what the ad says. A few megaohms should be adequate.
Hi Great Scott, good video. Yes you said it with high frequencies we don't get shock but burns the skin. This is the technology used in surgical diathermy machines used in all kinds of surgeries in operation theatres. They used to cut, coagulate and do other porcedures on human body. Used in almost all surgeries like gynaec, general, eye, skin, uro, etc...
I got one of those devices years ago. Clearly the same thing, but mine was promoted as a component for oil-fueled boilers - the ignition spark generator.
I have to thank you for making this all about safety. Its a thing that is underrated when it comes to electronics, even small power electronics that dont produce much voltage and amperage. It is appreciated, from a hobby/bedroom electrical engineer.
@@chrisakaschulbus4903 I think it's important he overdoes it. If you think about it, despite it's flaws, our power system in the United States is relatively safe by modern standards even with our plugs. One of the main reasons is we don't like plugging in a ton of things into an outlet which helps prevent electrical fires as we don't have much safety from the plug, onwards outside of your wall.
No problem, i have a diy voltage multiplayer that makes 50KV. Capacitors are very small [47pF]. I have a lot of Experience, aaaalways careful with theese things. But i DIDNT know how to do that with music, i will try to find an ne555 audio modulator for it so that i can build my first plasma speaker!
I used one of those eBay things as a spark igniter in my engineering workshop. For the price I couldn't beat it but I get what you're saying as I also love to build things for fun and experimentation.
Man. I have to tell you how much I have enjoyed watching your videos! The pandemic open my eyes to discover a passion that I never knew existed. I am a straight up newbie... completely green to electronics. Not new to coding, so that helped me out... thank goodness. And I am a practicing electrician, in the US. I just love that you explain everything so well. I love that you break everything down practically. I also love that you have the belief that sharing knowledge is awesome. And your schematics are DOPE! Thank you for what you do! I am really enjoying my new hobby... that might be opening up some career moves...?... 💙💙💙
In some country, that first HV generator is used for making stun gun/taser and it is sold everywhere. I have one of it to make my own taser for self-defense. Because in my place, robber sometimes kills the vicitm. sorry for my bad english
Heck yeah. Your videos were the catalyst for me to start understanding HV and high frequency electricity. Thank you for making this hobby easier to understand, as well as for ideas to use in my projects. Stay safe, and see you in your next video.
Bro you've got to be kidding me. I've had this thought of buying one of these for years and one week ago i decided to buy one of them (knowing that they could never reach the specified voltages) Just perfect
It’s almost a law of nature that those electrical engineers who didn’t yet experience a taser shock will tase themselves on purpose at least once in their lives.
That transformer is not wound at a ratio of 1:3750. It's somewhere around 1:100 - 1:200. It uses inductive spiking on the primary to 'boost' the voltage. Do you not recognise a boost or joule thief circuit when you see one?
The high voltage module you say not to buy is similar to one I tried to use to power a TEA laser. I wasn't able to make it work, but that was definitely a science project.
I think that I will continue with the "dangerous" and "illegal" high voltage generator😂. Just to put some spark, fun and danger in my life😂. I enjoyed the video.
Just started watching, I purchased that big round black one on eBay and yeah it's scary. I then purchased a few of the second ones you showed. Have not yet started experimenting with them however. Love your videos, your a star when it comes to explaining stuff, thank you.
I managed to shock myself with the black one, from that I can tell you it's more like a stun gun than a taser, still hurts like hell though and since it locked the muscles in my arms, pretty dangerous too. That said the other small one you showed is incredibly fragile, I had two one of which broke because of the thin and fragile ferrite core, and the other one had the insulation fail after a few seconds of the high voltage leads being too far apart, not worth your money either. Better do some research and make/get a good Tesla coil
That device is also used as an igniter for domestic gas appliances. I have one which was taken out of a discarded gas cooker, and which produces sparks as big as that.
That little HV generator looked a good idea, honestly. Imagine for a moment you wanted to do high-speed photography. A brief arc of light from high-voltage coils is how that is done. Ordinary xenon flash tube max out at 100,000th of a second due to the latancy of xenon. With an air-gap flash you can achieve 1,000,000th of a second exposures.
I used the first module to charge a capacitor for ESD testing. It was overpowered, but the other modules output AC so an extra rectifier would be needed. Output voltage is around 8-10kV.
I got one of those 'high voltage spark generators' from eBay 6 years ago. Used it in a Halloween prop on the wall. Works as needed, I made sure no one touched it.
I replaced the 100 ohm resistor with 2k2 and also placed a 4700pF capacitor across the primary. Result was nice arcs with a current draw of less than 0.5A at 4v and no more blown or overheated transistors. 100ohms is far too low a value fot base resistor but a nice way to sell lots of those kits! The capacitor limits the peak voltage seen by the transistor and also reduces the drive frequency reducing switching losses and coil impedances.
As somone who did post-doctoral research in pain and currently doing electric brain stimulation devices (much lower voltages and frequencies))), I find the fact that you don't feel anything at 250 kHz (it's higher than any action potential and anything above ~5 kHz should be filtered by RC of the skin anyway) very thought-provoking... If there was a way to tune that frequency to find the exact frequency threshold (and maybe find a threshold at which you feel touch, but not pain) and compare it against the membrane models of the different sensory fibers (e.g. using Neuron or Sim4Life) - this could result in a good Nature paper. However, even as is - this finding (if not previously published) is worthy of scientific interest! Well done! :)
I'd wager it's more a matter of skin effect than anything biochemical. The current just isn't reaching the nerves, so they have nothing to report until the heat permeates the outer skin layers.
Changing from the BJT to MOSFET can be done by removing the diode, as current has to flow back out of the gate to turn it off. I also put a fast diode (eg, a schottky) between the mosfet and the transformer, as the body diode is usually slower. You can also help protect the transistor by making sure the current can come off the secondary coil of the transformer straight away, with use of high voltage diodes/capacitors, rather than making it have to produce a high voltage spike to produce the arc before current can flow. The quicker you get the current off the secondary, the less there is trying to flow back on the primary.
_"with use of high voltage diodes/capacitors"_ - that would pretty much make it identical to the "garbage device", as can be seen here: watch?v=mTx8pMHo4jI
10:32 - Enjoyed the video, not enjoying when things burn and go defective. At least the ones from amazon doesn't have this 'issue'. Running such small transformers with a ZVS circuit is just begging for the windings to burn and getting destroyed. It switches huge currents. Take a look at the bottom next to the green wire - enamel wires are hanging out, so no more sparks from this one. Perhaps a video on how to wind your own high-power transformer?
So basically your recommendation is not to use the working Amazon modules but rather solder up a kit that rapidly transforms in a completely safe HV generator, i. e. a broken one.
Scott, I think you are overlooking some legitimate reasons for having a HV transformer like the one at the start of your video. Personally, I use these and similar ones for igniting gas and atomized oil sprays in various furnaces and heaters.
I use the ready made modules for making "static grass applicators" (for putting fake grass on things like model train tables, gets the grass particles to stand up)
@@chrisakaschulbus4903 maybe, but usually you're applying it to a large area so it nice to just hook ground wire to that area and then shaker the grass all on.
That device you call garbage has a voltage doubler circuit of which if connected to your diy high voltage circuit would produce just about the same Arcs
*Word of Caution* a similar type o circuit, self build transformer and a diy zvs, while testing on my pinky finger did some huge damage to some extent i could not feel my pinky finger for 3 months and only fully recovered after 6 months, take my advice don't try to be a test subject yourself you can make mistakes Like on high output side, never touch 1 wire in one and other wire in other hand as high voltage can pass through your heart, always keep one hand behind your back
That $10 one in the beginning, I used one to make a rat killing trap. Used a circuit board with a zig zag trace in the bottom of the box with one lead of each side of the high voltage touching, then when the rat steps fully inside hit weight triggered a switch under the circuit board turning on the device and giving the rat a deadly shock through his feet. Worked great until it rained and ruined it.
I'm thinking that the high frequency is the reason for the fins in the secondary coil. Not for heat, but in order to wind the coil in shorter segments. Often a different wire must be used. For instance a 40 AWG/ 170 strand Litz wire might be used in this application.
Heyyy, Great Scott, great job, again! About so called ZVS driver (sometimes called Mazilli driver) , that ZVS means Zero Voltage Switching , and is a technique that can be applied on almost all SMPS topologies. Often this Mazilli circuit is called ZVS FLYBACK that is wrong. Real name is resonant push pull ZVS converter. ZVS is technique used for so called "soft" switching , exactly in time where voltage (ZVS) or current (ZCS) across the switching element is zero, thus reducing switching losses. And first circuit with BJT is so called "blocking oscillator" and is used in old type fluorescent lamps converter/ballasts which were battery operated. And YES it can be done with MOSFET but you need PNP gate discharge speed up circuit and current ramp control. It's a little bit tricky but it can be done ;) Thank you for your detailed approach and great videos.
Mr Scott, this video was exactly, and I mean exactly, what I was looking for. Needed a small cheap high voltage driver with tunable power and frequency, and thanks to your video I think I can make one.
Hey, never, ever complain about being able to source electronics. I dont care what it is or what its for. Your ability to procure electronics without them first being spit shined by uncle sam is a human right.
*First time I see GreatScott get zapped by super high voltage!* Also fun fact for you: The amazon cheap transformer one I have a bunch of it at home, and these transformer are $h!t. The copper wire inside can only hold around 9A and high resistance too! (primary coil is nearly 2 ohm!!!). I burnt three of it just because I short circuit 1.7kV. As always, thanks for a very good video!
The HV module literally is the one they use in Tazers. It is a inverter that charges a small capacitor that discharges through a sidactor or mosfet to a small hv pulse transfotmer. Used them for laser flash lamp tube ignition.
This video has sold me on the cheap one that makes the larger spark. Stay away from the thing when it's working and you'll be fine. Regulations, bah - it's Germany, if your regulatory bodies could regulate the grass in your fields they would, doesn't mean you have to care.
You can make bigger arcs by hooking up a 12V relay circuit to 2 transformers. I usually reverse feed a step down transformer because that's what I have on hand and then step up that stepped up voltage with a step up transformer and then the arc is able to melt metal. All powered by a 12V battery.
Thank you for this inspiring video, I also had the same DIY-kit, some time ago, but I wasn't sure, how to solve this overheating problem, for non-stop operation. Just considered about using a better heat sink and / or stronger transistor. Finally you made it, this bright and long yellow arc for sure is producing some NOX from the air, so be careful not to breathe in the toxic stuff. I already realized it in the original circuit, covered the arc in a test tube, after a while the brown NO2-gas is generated, but you can't let it run over time, due to the heating problem. I was looking for a micro scale Birkeland-Eyde-Generator, cheap but still suitable as a demonstration model, that could be solar-powered. 12V are just perfect for this, since many panels run on that voltage. Should be possible to create a miniatur nitrate-factory if bubbled in a carbonate solution. Not for fireworks, but still enough for some small chemistry experiments. :-)
Amazing video! I bought some of those tazer modules a while ago. I found that they can cut a very tiny hole right through paper so I want to use one for a cnc paper cutter
Simply take the square root of the ratio of primary to secondary inductances and this will give you the turns ratio. N = SQRT (Lp / Ls) = Np/Ns. Cheers….
I use the first type for specific high voltage ignition systems that need to be high energy and battery powered rather than mains which many systems are, so they do have their uses.
I bought both High voltage transformers a pair of year ago....well the arc of the first one, using a foil of paper between the two electrodes, made a HOLE in the paper!!!!
The latter unit with the flyback type transformer can be significantly improved by coating the windings with multiple layers of super glue, allowing each coat to dry before applying the next. This significantly reduces the likelyhood of arcing between windings.
These HV generator modules are really strong. Feed them the max rated voltage and they will produce arcs an inch long. But they burn out quickly! So keep to to a few seconds at a time.
@GreatScott! : That device is not that bad, if you have ever get socked by the ignition circuit (the thing that replaced the ignition coil) then you get the real pain and btw those "ignition coil devices" are real killers, like those are no teaser but electro-killing devices ... i bet the federal agency for zappy things does not put a stamp on them just the plain old regular TÜV Rheinland. On the other hand your suggestion is valid too, there is more that one way to get HV to do stuff with it, HV and playing not mix good, always treat a unknown HV device as deadly until you get the specs and chk if it is functioning properly.
I used to make tasers from them with a single 18650 and small micro usb charging board. And yes… they hurt like crap, had to once use it in an emergency.
Thanks for this video. I’ve used a couple of these for a couple of projects. They work well until they die. I’m trying to make a model transmission line. I’ve done a proof of concept I’ve put a video on my channel
9:42 for beginners ... it's kind of okey to touch purplish Blue spark but don't try to touch the wire which produce yellow white spark it can kill you otherwise burn you due to skin effect .
okay so the only reason I shouldn't buy those high voltage generators is because you don't like them or they might be illegal? you didn't provide anything else "why they are so bad". thanks for the DIY solution though.
You can replace that NPN BJT with an N-Channel SiC power JFET. The positive bias makes it behave like a npn BJT (kinda) and a high negative bias turns it off. There are SiC JFETs with the max DS voltage of several hundred volts or even over 1kv.
Great video as always,i have couple of those transformer and a month ago i tried rewinding them and used a half bridge driver to drive it,it produced very long arcs close to 3 to 4 cm but not for long😅 the insulation failed and arcs started flying out of the coils.
Which xfmer? The one with the separation disk's or the kit supplied one? What voltage and frequency? Did you use alternating voltage or chopped DC? I guess if you used a full bridge then it was alternating? Edit re-read your post: half bridge so chopped DC?
dont know why exactly but the thumbnail reminded me of a EDM machine, would be an interesting experiment although spark generators for EDMS are pretty specialized
First part of this video is so terrible, that it makes no sense watching other part :( *edit:* caps lock in title alludes to quality by the way. Also in Russian there is a relevant phrase: "не говори мне что делать и я не скажу, куда тебе идти".
Try to design a adjustable HV source. Like a laboratory thing. As you know, laser printers uses several such sources to operate with a toner. Do precise source can help with doing prescise things. Note that your device gives you an high frequency AC voltage but a factory one makes DC. Not every application can consume AC and so for printers. You can't attract something with AC and it quite hard to insulate it because it causes heating of most insulators.
If you connect one end of the cheap HV generators to a resistor of 10k-100k ohms and isolate it with heat shrink, the arcs end up being of lower current and higher frequency, essentially being like the diy generator.
Hi GreatScott! Thank you for this video, i find it very interesting. May i suggest you to use the dark mode theme for your EasyEDA? The sudden brightness change really hurt my eyes when im viewing it in the dark (does this suggest an automatic brightness dimmer like the sound adjuster? JK XD).
The automatic volume adjuster is not suitable for people who are using the TV integrated speakers (you would see the volume level changing on the screen) or some device that can’t be switched with a remote control… I think a such thing should be software based, because you first filter the signal, and then add gain depending on how high you want the volume to be.
5:39 I believe this is what datasheet's mean with the "Integrated Over-Heating Protection" feature 🙂
If you look at one specific comment, you can see from GreatScott’s answer that he had the same idea…
I like how that MOSFET de-soldered itself for you at 5:39. How convenient. :D
That is the thermal protection ;-)
@@greatscottlab 😂😂😂
@@greatscottlab 🤣
@@greatscottlab lol
@@greatscottlab
I had some 12v led lights that after about 1h of usage they were desoldering themselves and falling on the floor with their 2 legs still holding onto the sockets on the ceiling.
It turns out the manufacturers thought it was a good idea to use thin traces on the board as an 10ohm resistor... instead of using an actual 10ohm resistor...
On the upside, the manufacturers didn’t specify that if you mount the lights upside down they come with integrated thermal protection.
I think both ways have their merits. Certainly you learn more with a kit (for example that the included transistor is not up to snuff). But for building my gas-stove-igniter I used one of those ready-made modules, an 18650 and a spark plug. It works like a charm and a kit would be very hard to properly isolate. And frankly, I couldn't care less for the PTB-certification, that's just germans being germans for no good reason...
Exactly, if you're electronics enthusiast and just want to play around and learn stuff go for the kit, but if you are actually using the HV to do something practical instead of just playing around (f.ex. I also used that module as an igniter), then the module is easier to use, cheaper, better isolated and likely has more resistance to mechanical vibrations and such. And yes, I also used one to make a taser, afaik it's legal in my area
edit: of course that doesn't apply in the case where you need some specific voltage / frequency / other properties at the output, then you have to design your circuit anyway
That spark gap would make a wicked cannon ignitor, rather than spray gas in and hope for a stycometric value to get a good boom 💥 split water with electrolysis to have a perfect ignition everytime.
Yeah he sold me on the first one that just worked because I have a propane grill that does not have a electronic igniter on every burner. It only has it on one and that is supposed to light the other burners along the way. I can see how adding this with A small bit of work could make the igniter circuit work on all of the burners
They make for good gas igniters but they also burn out fairly easily if used for a short period of time continuously. Had one in a project box with two bolts coming out as electrodes and a PTM switch to turn it on.
Got some big zaps from it though.
👍 for your last sentence!
I actually used the "bad" HV generator to build an electric wasp swatter. It's ghetto af but wasps literally explode after a few seconds of electro therapy. With 10mm gaps and nothing in between it still arcs loudly all the time. I'm afraid to use it near sensitive electronics but I still love it.
That's horrifying
lets make it
I love that, hahahhaa
ok guess im building that fo mosquitoes
3:38: "a kit with suitable driver circuits" You mean: a transistor that burns out in minutes.
Haha true ;-)
@@greatscottlab And that was before I had seen the whole video. Two of those circuits dead on my bench.
Seems to be designed for a very low duty cycle. Like 5 seconds on 5 minutes off lol
@@divingquokka I also built that same kit before and it only worked for 2 minutes before mysteriously dying. Now I learned why.
@@snaj9989 They're not designed to run for more than a minute or two. If you tazer someone longer than that their heart will probably give out. To be fair tho, that's not what any of us use them for and they don't list any warning about that tho... 😅
I literally bought 5 of those this week to upgrade some bugswatters for my friends. I will enjoy doing it like your advise in the video. Thank you so much!
I did the same thing :D
Are you putting all 5 into one bug swatter or do you just have 5 friends with a big enough bug problem they need an 'upgraded' bug swatter? 🤨
Bug swatters work fine but the only bug they actually attract or work on here is moths, except a regular light bulb ends up killing them too...
@@DrakeOola Well it's the handheld bugswatter. I fix those with a rechargable cell with USB connecyor and then with the HV generator. It's mostly fun, very deadly for bugs and my friends love it.
@@maurice-le-roux I love it, I've actually done this with zvs circuit like great scott, as i Was 14. It was very effective against those little fruit flies that normally flew trhough the flyswatter. But the zvs had to high frequency and melted the flyswatter if you hold it for too long. Those another HV generators are cheap, effective and already prebuild :D
@@darekmario446 awesome, yes nothing will get past it haha.
You should get sponsored by Stabilo. Your hand drawn schematics are fantastic!
Your videos are always perfectly timed. Just got my hands on few small Transformers.
Enjoy!
Im Assistant Professor in Electronics from india. All of your videos are excellent and very informative👌👌👌 Everything is well explained with schematics & design. I really appreciate your hardwork, patience & dedication behind every video ⚡
So nice of you. Thanks for the feedback :-)
Yeah, I would never buy a single one of those off Amazon.
I would buy the 3 pack so I have extras.
😂😂😂
Smart ;-)
@Joseph Bunn
Well, if they are synchronised... can they self-synchronise ?
Technology Connections:
Through the magic of buying 3 of them.
@Joseph Bunn the voltages from those listings are pretty much made up numbers... on ebay you see the same package with all kind of different voltage numbers. 5kv, 15kv, 25kv...
they add anything to the description in the pursuit of sales :D
I personally like does little pulse high voltage modules because you can blow tiny holes in paper or leafs and they are pretty loud if you pull contacts far enough so they make a great house alarm
That is also an application
Someone in our FB HV group has de-potted one of these to see what's inside. Essentially its a Cockroft-Walton voltage multiplier with several stages. The problem is that there is no current-limiting resistor so the devices eventually fail from diode destruction or over-heating.
@@littleshopofelectrons4014 so it's best to add a current limiting resistor? What would you recommend?
@@StarCracked HV resistors can be expensive. The resistor(s) may cost more than the module. I believe the output of these is no more than about 50 KV regardless of what the ad says. A few megaohms should be adequate.
@@littleshopofelectrons4014 more like 15kV. I can't imagine the caps inside are rated to that (just little film caps)
Hi Great Scott, good video.
Yes you said it with high frequencies we don't get shock but burns the skin. This is the technology used in surgical diathermy machines used in all kinds of surgeries in operation theatres. They used to cut, coagulate and do other porcedures on human body. Used in almost all surgeries like gynaec, general, eye, skin, uro, etc...
Thanks for the info 👍🏾
@@jkadofo 👍
I got one of those devices years ago. Clearly the same thing, but mine was promoted as a component for oil-fueled boilers - the ignition spark generator.
He’s turning into Mehdi with these projects 😂😂
But without beeps haha
No bang shoutinng
No
Soon he might start blowing up capacitors and touching bare mains wires 😂
No,he is scared of these arcs mehdi isnt
Styro isn't scared of them either,he's made arcs bigger than scot and mehdi
I have to thank you for making this all about safety. Its a thing that is underrated when it comes to electronics, even small power electronics that dont produce much voltage and amperage. It is appreciated, from a hobby/bedroom electrical engineer.
Well said!
but he also sometimes overdoes it...
but at least he's not like those youtubers with twenty "do not try this at home"-warnings
@@chrisakaschulbus4903 I think it's important he overdoes it. If you think about it, despite it's flaws, our power system in the United States is relatively safe by modern standards even with our plugs.
One of the main reasons is we don't like plugging in a ton of things into an outlet which helps prevent electrical fires as we don't have much safety from the plug, onwards outside of your wall.
YEEEES!! I HAVE ONE OF THIS TRANSFORMERS LAYING AROUND. PERFECT TIMING!
Be careful around it .
No problem, i have a diy voltage multiplayer that makes 50KV. Capacitors are very small [47pF]. I have a lot of Experience, aaaalways careful with theese things. But i DIDNT know how to do that with music, i will try to find an ne555 audio modulator for it so that i can build my first plasma speaker!
Be careful and have fun :-)
I have a step down transformer, Can I make it?
@@sgt-Badger works with flyback step up, idk about step down tho ig ill try it maybe the results will be interesting
I bought a few of these last week and they didn't work out for me so luckily you came to the rescue as always.
I used one of those eBay things as a spark igniter in my engineering workshop. For the price I couldn't beat it but I get what you're saying as I also love to build things for fun and experimentation.
I like your videos, but I'd say the very beginning is kinda ridiculous. Why the heck should you need a certification for everything? Ugh.
Not just that. Take a certified lamp holder, plug it in and stick your finger inside. It can kill you! But hey, it's certified so then it's okay 😂
Europeans love their certifications
Man. I have to tell you how much I have enjoyed watching your videos! The pandemic open my eyes to discover a passion that I never knew existed.
I am a straight up newbie... completely green to electronics. Not new to coding, so that helped me out... thank goodness. And I am a practicing electrician, in the US.
I just love that you explain everything so well. I love that you break everything down practically. I also love that you have the belief that sharing knowledge is awesome. And your schematics are DOPE!
Thank you for what you do! I am really enjoying my new hobby... that might be opening up some career moves...?... 💙💙💙
In some country, that first HV generator is used for making stun gun/taser and it is sold everywhere.
I have one of it to make my own taser for self-defense. Because in my place, robber sometimes kills the vicitm.
sorry for my bad english
Heck yeah. Your videos were the catalyst for me to start understanding HV and high frequency electricity. Thank you for making this hobby easier to understand, as well as for ideas to use in my projects. Stay safe, and see you in your next video.
Great to hear!
seriously of all the youtubers u chose this coward to learn about hv?
I was thinking what to do with those small transformers. Thank you for this video .it helped me a lot
You’re welcome 😊
Bro you've got to be kidding me. I've had this thought of buying one of these for years and one week ago i decided to buy one of them (knowing that they could never reach the specified voltages)
Just perfect
My heart sunk when he said "scary arcs" with tesla coil like the one he made. I made one that makes well over 5 feet arcs of lightning THAT is scary!
I like that he said it will hurt WHEN you touch the high voltage output. There is no "if".
It’s almost a law of nature that those electrical engineers who didn’t yet experience a taser shock will tase themselves on purpose at least once in their lives.
That transformer is not wound at a ratio of 1:3750. It's somewhere around 1:100 - 1:200. It uses inductive spiking on the primary to 'boost' the voltage. Do you not recognise a boost or joule thief circuit when you see one?
The way you say circuit is probably the best pronounciation of it i have ever heard.
The high voltage module you say not to buy is similar to one I tried to use to power a TEA laser. I wasn't able to make it work, but that was definitely a science project.
I think that I will continue with the "dangerous" and "illegal" high voltage generator😂. Just to put some spark, fun and danger in my life😂. I enjoyed the video.
Just started watching, I purchased that big round black one on eBay and yeah it's scary. I then purchased a few of the second ones you showed. Have not yet started experimenting with them however.
Love your videos, your a star when it comes to explaining stuff, thank you.
I managed to shock myself with the black one, from that I can tell you it's more like a stun gun than a taser, still hurts like hell though and since it locked the muscles in my arms, pretty dangerous too.
That said the other small one you showed is incredibly fragile, I had two one of which broke because of the thin and fragile ferrite core, and the other one had the insulation fail after a few seconds of the high voltage leads being too far apart, not worth your money either.
Better do some research and make/get a good Tesla coil
i've build 500kV Marks Generator with this. 50 cm sparks kick ass
I have shocked myself with the black one couple of times and it usually wasn’t too bad, way better than electric fence
That device is also used as an igniter for domestic gas appliances. I have one which was taken out of a discarded gas cooker, and which produces sparks as big as that.
That little HV generator looked a good idea, honestly. Imagine for a moment you wanted to do high-speed photography. A brief arc of light from high-voltage coils is how that is done. Ordinary xenon flash tube max out at 100,000th of a second due to the latancy of xenon. With an air-gap flash you can achieve 1,000,000th of a second exposures.
and you can use it for cheap edm machining!
I love the fact that you are able to buy these!
I used the first module to charge a capacitor for ESD testing. It was overpowered, but the other modules output AC so an extra rectifier would be needed. Output voltage is around 8-10kV.
I got one of those 'high voltage spark generators' from eBay 6 years ago. Used it in a Halloween prop on the wall. Works as needed, I made sure no one touched it.
Ich liebe alle Videos von GreatScott!, du lernst wirklich viel von ihnen, danke!
I replaced the 100 ohm resistor with 2k2 and also placed a 4700pF capacitor across the primary. Result was nice arcs with a current draw of less than 0.5A at 4v and no more blown or overheated transistors. 100ohms is far too low a value fot base resistor but a nice way to sell lots of those kits! The capacitor limits the peak voltage seen by the transistor and also reduces the drive frequency reducing switching losses and coil impedances.
As somone who did post-doctoral research in pain and currently doing electric brain stimulation devices (much lower voltages and frequencies))), I find the fact that you don't feel anything at 250 kHz (it's higher than any action potential and anything above ~5 kHz should be filtered by RC of the skin anyway) very thought-provoking... If there was a way to tune that frequency to find the exact frequency threshold (and maybe find a threshold at which you feel touch, but not pain) and compare it against the membrane models of the different sensory fibers (e.g. using Neuron or Sim4Life) - this could result in a good Nature paper. However, even as is - this finding (if not previously published) is worthy of scientific interest! Well done! :)
I'd wager it's more a matter of skin effect than anything biochemical. The current just isn't reaching the nerves, so they have nothing to report until the heat permeates the outer skin layers.
Changing from the BJT to MOSFET can be done by removing the diode, as current has to flow back out of the gate to turn it off. I also put a fast diode (eg, a schottky) between the mosfet and the transformer, as the body diode is usually slower. You can also help protect the transistor by making sure the current can come off the secondary coil of the transformer straight away, with use of high voltage diodes/capacitors, rather than making it have to produce a high voltage spike to produce the arc before current can flow. The quicker you get the current off the secondary, the less there is trying to flow back on the primary.
_"with use of high voltage diodes/capacitors"_ - that would pretty much make it identical to the "garbage device", as can be seen here: watch?v=mTx8pMHo4jI
10:32 - Enjoyed the video, not enjoying when things burn and go defective. At least the ones from amazon doesn't have this 'issue'.
Running such small transformers with a ZVS circuit is just begging for the windings to burn and getting destroyed. It switches huge currents.
Take a look at the bottom next to the green wire - enamel wires are hanging out, so no more sparks from this one. Perhaps a video on how to wind your own high-power transformer?
Yeah, I was like, GreatScott is usually super neat, and with this he's approached destruction videos. Nobody is safe from that, apparently.
The "DC Boost Step Up Powermodule" is fantastic. It literally IS a pulse generator for tasers.
So basically your recommendation is not to use the working Amazon modules but rather solder up a kit that rapidly transforms in a completely safe HV generator, i. e. a broken one.
Scott, I think you are overlooking some legitimate reasons for having a HV transformer like the one at the start of your video. Personally, I use these and similar ones for igniting gas and atomized oil sprays in various furnaces and heaters.
I love your writing and little diagrams, so neat.
I use the ready made modules for making "static grass applicators" (for putting fake grass on things like model train tables, gets the grass particles to stand up)
that's so psecific and niche... but i kinda like it :D
but couldn't you use a balloon and rub it against your hair for static pulling action?:D
@@chrisakaschulbus4903 maybe, but usually you're applying it to a large area so it nice to just hook ground wire to that area and then shaker the grass all on.
@@norlin76 i wasn't too serious, of course the constant and probably more controllable nature of it seems far better :D
i wanan try that.. onces you made the static grass aplicator, how many seconds can you actually press the button¿¿
@@shiroumxm2052 I haven't tried holding it down for an extended period, but for the 20-40 seconds or so needed to apply static grass it has no issues.
That device you call garbage has a voltage doubler circuit of which if connected to your diy high voltage circuit would produce just about the same Arcs
i was googling about those HV generators yesterday and then you posted a video :D
*Word of Caution* a similar type o circuit, self build transformer and a diy zvs, while testing on my pinky finger did some huge damage to some extent i could not feel my pinky finger for 3 months and only fully recovered after 6 months, take my advice don't try to be a test subject yourself you can make mistakes
Like on high output side, never touch 1 wire in one and other wire in other hand as high voltage can pass through your heart, always keep one hand behind your back
That $10 one in the beginning, I used one to make a rat killing trap. Used a circuit board with a zig zag trace in the bottom of the box with one lead of each side of the high voltage touching, then when the rat steps fully inside hit weight triggered a switch under the circuit board turning on the device and giving the rat a deadly shock through his feet. Worked great until it rained and ruined it.
I'm thinking that the high frequency is the reason for the fins in the secondary coil. Not for heat, but in order to wind the coil in shorter segments. Often a different wire must be used. For instance a 40 AWG/ 170 strand Litz wire might be used in this application.
Got 45 seconds in before I left this video.
Great Scott!! It's been ages since I saw a notification for your video. Glad to finally see new videos.
Heyyy, Great Scott, great job, again! About so called ZVS driver (sometimes called Mazilli driver) , that ZVS means Zero Voltage Switching , and is a technique that can be applied on almost all SMPS topologies. Often this Mazilli circuit is called ZVS FLYBACK that is wrong. Real name is resonant push pull ZVS converter. ZVS is technique used for so called "soft" switching , exactly in time where voltage (ZVS) or current (ZCS) across the switching element is zero, thus reducing switching losses. And first circuit with BJT is so called "blocking oscillator" and is used in old type fluorescent lamps converter/ballasts which were battery operated. And YES it can be done with MOSFET but you need PNP gate discharge speed up circuit and current ramp control. It's a little bit tricky but it can be done ;)
Thank you for your detailed approach and great videos.
They usually call them zvs flyback driver because they are commonly used to drive flyback transformers but yeah, its pretty misleading.
Mr Scott, this video was exactly, and I mean exactly, what I was looking for. Needed a small cheap high voltage driver with tunable power and frequency, and thanks to your video I think I can make one.
Hey, never, ever complain about being able to source electronics. I dont care what it is or what its for. Your ability to procure electronics without them first being spit shined by uncle sam is a human right.
Also you can make a Birkeland-Eyde generator for NO2 and nitric acid with the HV generator...
you are always right, i am big fan of great Scott
Thanks :-)
*First time I see GreatScott get zapped by super high voltage!*
Also fun fact for you: The amazon cheap transformer one I have a bunch of it at home, and these transformer are $h!t. The copper wire inside can only hold around 9A and high resistance too! (primary coil is nearly 2 ohm!!!). I burnt three of it just because I short circuit 1.7kV.
As always, thanks for a very good video!
Thanks for the info!
The HV module literally is the one they use in Tazers. It is a inverter that charges a small capacitor that discharges through a sidactor or mosfet to a small hv pulse transfotmer. Used them for laser flash lamp tube ignition.
got one of those cheap ones too... i love the fact that you can buy stuff like that for so cheap ^^
Using rechargeable arc lighter more than 4 years. It's awesome!
This video has sold me on the cheap one that makes the larger spark. Stay away from the thing when it's working and you'll be fine. Regulations, bah - it's Germany, if your regulatory bodies could regulate the grass in your fields they would, doesn't mean you have to care.
You can make bigger arcs by hooking up a 12V relay circuit to 2 transformers. I usually reverse feed a step down transformer because that's what I have on hand and then step up that stepped up voltage with a step up transformer and then the arc is able to melt metal. All powered by a 12V battery.
Thank you for this inspiring video, I also had the same DIY-kit, some time ago, but I wasn't sure, how to solve this overheating problem, for non-stop operation. Just considered about using a better heat sink and / or stronger transistor.
Finally you made it, this bright and long yellow arc for sure is producing some NOX from the air, so be careful not to breathe in the toxic stuff. I already realized it in the original circuit, covered the arc in a test tube, after a while the brown NO2-gas is generated, but you can't let it run over time, due to the heating problem.
I was looking for a micro scale Birkeland-Eyde-Generator, cheap but still suitable as a demonstration model, that could be solar-powered. 12V are just perfect for this, since many panels run on that voltage.
Should be possible to create a miniatur nitrate-factory if bubbled in a carbonate solution. Not for fireworks, but still enough for some small chemistry experiments. :-)
Amazing video! I bought some of those tazer modules a while ago. I found that they can cut a very tiny hole right through paper so I want to use one for a cnc paper cutter
Have you also tried if they can cut a tiny hole right through a finger if you accidentally touch it
@@im1random263 nope, I have messed with high voltage since I was 6 and only got shocked once then. I am careful
These modules also can put tiny holes into glass. Wouldn't recommend tho.. (Tested with an dead light bulb.)
@@Reaper035 oh my, That sounds dope. Quite intruiging how powerful they are.
yeah or in my case it can burn a microscopic hole through an olive or other fruit and creates a smell
Ist ja schon interessant, wie das als "legal" vertrieben wird. Nices video!
Simply take the square root of the ratio of primary to secondary inductances and this will give you the turns ratio.
N = SQRT (Lp / Ls) = Np/Ns. Cheers….
I use the first type for specific high voltage ignition systems that need to be high energy and battery powered rather than mains which many systems are, so they do have their uses.
I bought both High voltage transformers a pair of year ago....well the arc of the first one, using a foil of paper between the two electrodes, made a HOLE in the paper!!!!
Interesting to see that a lower frequency results in a more yellow arc, and melts the output wires.
Yellow arc is from trace sodium ions, practically meaning that something is burning.
These are not just tasers. They are used for electrical ignition and powder coating sprayers.
The latter unit with the flyback type transformer can be significantly improved by coating the windings with multiple layers of super glue, allowing each coat to dry before applying the next.
This significantly reduces the likelyhood of arcing between windings.
These HV generator modules are really strong. Feed them the max rated voltage and they will produce arcs an inch long.
But they burn out quickly! So keep to to a few seconds at a time.
You are knowledgeable enuf to set up DonSmiths Resonant energy device...
@GreatScott! : That device is not that bad, if you have ever get socked by the ignition circuit (the thing that replaced the ignition coil) then you get the real pain and btw those "ignition coil devices" are real killers, like those are no teaser but electro-killing devices ... i bet the federal agency for zappy things does not put a stamp on them just the plain old regular TÜV Rheinland. On the other hand your suggestion is valid too, there is more that one way to get HV to do stuff with it, HV and playing not mix good, always treat a unknown HV device as deadly until you get the specs and chk if it is functioning properly.
The purple tubing with the orange tips reminds me of the tubing used by machinists to pump water or coolant to CNN machines and lathes.
1 its not a taser - stungun. tasers shoot barbs and wire
2 epoxy cost more then these do.
3 sounds better
I used to make tasers from them with a single 18650 and small micro usb charging board. And yes… they hurt like crap, had to once use it in an emergency.
Thanks for this video. I’ve used a couple of these for a couple of projects. They work well until they die. I’m trying to make a model transmission line. I’ve done a proof of concept I’ve put a video on my channel
9:42 for beginners ...
it's kind of okey to touch purplish Blue spark but don't try to touch the wire which produce yellow white spark it can kill you otherwise burn you due to skin effect .
okay so the only reason I shouldn't buy those high voltage generators is because you don't like them or they might be illegal? you didn't provide anything else "why they are so bad". thanks for the DIY solution though.
you have the best handwriting EVER! ARE YOU A ROBOT???
Having the more Powerfull cheap module ready to buy. I find is a good option to Just have.
Really like that you talked about the zvs circuit and its formula for frequency calculation , loved the video, great
Glad you liked it!
@GreatScott! Ha, bought that same little kit and didn't know what to do with it!
Great 'trials n mishaps' video. :)
You can replace that NPN BJT with an N-Channel SiC power JFET.
The positive bias makes it behave like a npn BJT (kinda) and a high negative bias turns it off.
There are SiC JFETs with the max DS voltage of several hundred volts or even over 1kv.
Can you recommend any?
I love the fact that you burned the transformer at the end
Awesome high voltage circuit greatscott. so elegant so simple i love it!
Great video as always,i have couple of those transformer and a month ago i tried rewinding them and used a half bridge driver to drive it,it produced very long arcs close to 3 to 4 cm but not for long😅 the insulation failed and arcs started flying out of the coils.
Which xfmer? The one with the separation disk's or the kit supplied one?
What voltage and frequency?
Did you use alternating voltage or chopped DC? I guess if you used a full bridge then it was alternating?
Edit re-read your post: half bridge so chopped DC?
dont know why exactly but the thumbnail reminded me of a EDM machine, would be an interesting experiment although spark generators for EDMS are pretty specialized
Entertaining, educational and beautiful! Thank you
I am confused.... what does not meeting some worthless regulation have to do with high voltage being fun or not?
First part of this video is so terrible, that it makes no sense watching other part :(
*edit:* caps lock in title alludes to quality by the way.
Also in Russian there is a relevant phrase: "не говори мне что делать и я не скажу, куда тебе идти".
Thanks, man!! I always have some thoughts on the HV devices.
I use these as igniters. Potato guns and grills mostly...
Try to design a adjustable HV source. Like a laboratory thing. As you know, laser printers uses several such sources to operate with a toner. Do precise source can help with doing prescise things. Note that your device gives you an high frequency AC voltage but a factory one makes DC. Not every application can consume AC and so for printers. You can't attract something with AC and it quite hard to insulate it because it causes heating of most insulators.
If you connect one end of the cheap HV generators to a resistor of 10k-100k ohms and isolate it with heat shrink, the arcs end up being of lower current and higher frequency, essentially being like the diy generator.
Hi GreatScott! Thank you for this video, i find it very interesting. May i suggest you to use the dark mode theme for your EasyEDA? The sudden brightness change really hurt my eyes when im viewing it in the dark (does this suggest an automatic brightness dimmer like the sound adjuster? JK XD).
Didn't know they had a dark theme. I will have a look ;-)
The automatic volume adjuster is not suitable for people who are using the TV integrated speakers (you would see the volume level changing on the screen) or some device that can’t be switched with a remote control…
I think a such thing should be software based, because you first filter the signal, and then add gain depending on how high you want the volume to be.
Hello! It`s a good homemade device! Thanks for info about building!