That Touhou music completely caught me off guard, I've always loved those OSTs! And you're definitely making me want to order some plasma artwork now...
I had 3 Parker globes. When he first released them, there was only a rubber grommet wrapped with the output wire from the flyback transformer without the steel wool later introduced. As a result, the arc would eventually burn through the glass. I lost 1 of the 3 this way. Long gone are the other 2 as I sold them shortly after.
I have a Bill Parker Sleepless Nights in the original shipping carton. I sent it back to Bill Parker for repair in the 1980’s and it’s been perfect since. We should talk.
Hey, that is awesome! I would definitely be interested in acquiring it. Send me an email at starmute7@gmail.com and we can discuss it! I would love to see some pictures too.
The very first Parker globe was freakin' huge, a prototype with a 25in boiling flask, and driven by a ?hundred-watt? custom ham-radio final, four 6146 tubes in parallel and driving a 12in tesla coil. It should still be at Museum of Science in Boston, at the Hall of Electricity. I haven't seen it since 1990, when I modified the driver to raise the peak-power. I discovered that it was running CW, maybe 500KHz ircc. Kids would sometimes burn themselves with RF arcs, by laying a foil hamburger wrapper atop the globe, then touching the foil. (This, even though the glass flask was inside a blow-molded acrylic shield, with about 1in air-gap.) I also noticed that if I kept my hand on the globe for many minutes, my elbow and shoulder would ache. Free diathermy treatments! The green discharge was getting dim after five years of near-constant operation, so I added some AC HV to the gate drive, to modulate the output as narrow 120Hz pulses. Nice and bright, yet total wattage greatly reduced. But Parker had also discovered the same trick at that time, and incorporated it in the transistor drivers for devices at his MIT gallery show. He did mention that the green color was from CO gas. I don't know the rest of the mixture, but the streamers appeared argon-white, with green end-tufts. Also, that version was built before he started extensive testing with gas mixtures, and the earlier example was the "Argon Candle" exhibit at the Exploratorium in SF, not made by Parker if I recall. He built a long horizontal tube 6" dia., with greenish streamers and jellybean striations, "Bead Lightning." Heh, the only plasma device I currently own is the neon-filled beer mug from "Can You Imagine(tm)," sold in Spencer's Gifts stores. Insert a magnet, to make the streamers spin like a Faraday motor.
I bought a limited edition of the Bill Parker Plasma Globe sometime in the 70s. No problems at all till 2020 then it just stoped working. I searched and found Bill Parker and called him - this was one Oct 2020 - he advised me to pack it up and ship it to him and he would look at it. He did receive it. Since then I have called, left many msg and wrote emails asking about my globe. NO RESPONSE AT ALL. This globe was an expensive purchase and I want it back!
There’s this video game called metal gear rising revengeance where the main characters sword is wrapped around electricity at times, one of the special editions when it released had a little piece with the hilt of the sword and some of the sword inside and had a plasma lamp wrapped around it. Pretty cool, and I bought it very recently since I’m a huge fan of the game and plasma lamps
I loved this video. Who is HBI? I can't find out anything about them. Do you know why multi-slider-controlled-globes lost popularity? I only ever had plasma globes with on and off but that customizability is what really takes that Sleepless nights globe to a big WOW level to me. I hope someone manufactures parker-like globes again soon.
I am a great admirer of Aurora Plasma Globes. I have a few budget models, but I cannot persuade Aurora to ship to UK unfortunately. Does anyone know where similar plasma globes can be obtained in UK?
I built and repaired Parker globes at the Stamford factory - any globe that does not have Chore Boy brand copper scrubber in the electrode should not be used until is is installed. This will spread the heat and conduct best. DO NOT USE STEEL WOOL - steel burns! Do not use dollar store copper scrubber, those are copper colored steel. The top and bottom of the base is stuck together with silicone sealant. To open the base, use a razor blade at the corner. Sealing it up again with packing tape is my preferred method.
I have a Parker globe. It doesn't appear to have anything like a copper scrubber in the tip of the electrode. It just looks like some sort of coating on the inside. How would I go about putting one in there?
@@elgin7406 You would open up the globe, pull out the HV terminal, and use a pencil to stuff the scrubber or wool into the hole, 'til it gets to the tip. Then, you'd put the HV terminal back in, and re-assemble the piece. I wouldn't recommend this unless you know what you're doing. What globe is it? I'm curious how you aquired it as well.
@ST-wn9kd Thanks for the details. That's about what I figured it would take, but I wanted to confirm. I'll have to open it up and see what I'm up against with removing the electrode. I imagine there's some silicone or something holding it in there. I'm not certain the model name of my globe. It's dated 9/25/84 on the bottom and features handwritten initials (J.J. and D.M.) in silver paint pen, on top they wrote 195/988II. When I first got it in 2015, there were some electrical problems, so I reached out to Bill Parker for help. The following is what he told me about it "This particular piece was made early in the production of the second "Starsculpture" edition in 1984. The two Starsculpture editions were sold exclusively at Sharper Image stores and in their catalog at prices from $1800 to over $3000. Signed pieces from that period, represented in about 40 art galleries around the world, sold for even more." I was amazed to get a response from Bill Parker himself, almost exactly 31 years after the initial production of the piece. In addition to the details above, he estimated $450 for electrical repair services and even a full restoration, including gas replacement for $1200. My friend brought this home from work one day and gave it to me. He builds high-end custom homes, and one of his clients had this in their basement. He asked what it was, and they explained. When they said it was broken, he mentioned that I would really get a kick out of it and could probably make it work. They then just gave it to him and wished him good luck with the repair. There were multiple electrical issues, the power cord was frayed and missing the ground prong, the fuse and fuse cover were missing, and the thermal cutoff was failed to an open circuit state. Dispite Bill's insistence that i must not open the unit because it is "tamper-proof" I decided to have a go at it myself. I replaced the cord, fuse holder, and fuse. The thermal switch was just bypassed as I couldn't find a suitable replacement and didn't see a need for it. I don't leave it on or plugged in. It's typically only powered on briefly to give demonstrations for visitors. I made a video after my repairs to show off how it works. Maybe one day I'll do a more in-depth video. ruclips.net/video/FsWmmta0q94/видео.htmlsi=FrG-12KVYXOv_gYb
@@elgin7406 !!!!! For FREE? That's real lucky. I found an rtx 3060 in the trash, but a free parker globe is on a whole 'nother level! Kudos for fixing it, Bill's prices are ridiculous and he is a bit of a pain to interact with. And good luck with any further modifications! It looks like you have one of the globes with the rare, beautiful green. I must say I am jealous. But anyone who defies the scary warning and puts life back into a Parker globe deserves the piece.
I have a parker globe and have this problem too I believe. It sometimes randomly throws a red hot spark on the inside of the electrode. I believe it is the high voltage wire just not making good contact with the metal coating and indeed that is what modern globes use, coarse steel wool. I think I will put a piece into it. Don't want the globe to die. Also, do you perhaps still have the original electronics installed? The power supply of mine has been replaced with a generic chinese plasma globe psu, but I belive it is overpowered at 24v to make it run this big of a globe. It works, but I rather like the original controls. Power, frequency and pulsing I believe the 3rd slider is. Not sure what the button originaaly did. Mine is an early 1983 model, not signed, no numbers on it or anything. I belive it has the elegance of becoming gas mix. The original PCB with sliders is still there, but it is missing some components, but your's looks very different from the inside. A lot of connectors instead of soldered connections, but idk if that is the only difference.
I have an 8 inch ball coming in. Maybe you can help me when it dies. Im already looking ahead at its mortality because I expect to have her running a long time.
As someone who's only ever had plasma globes made by Chinese companies, at least those low-quality power supplies seem to be just as effective as the higher quality supplies in commercial-grade plasma toys. That said, I don't really see a quality difference besides the screechy arcs, which personally don't bother me
I have a signed Bill Parker Globe it lookes like the one you have it still has the stickers on it and the sphere in the middle is where it's signed and numbered
Which edition is it? And, would you ever be willing to sell it? Please send me an email to starmute7@gmail.com, I'd love to at least see some pictures of it!
That moment when the globe died, I cried cus I feel bad, my hobby is playing with plasma globes, I had one in my life, I hade modified it, trying to fix it but it cracked, it was too late, I put tape on it but it didn't help, all I had to do was watch it die away, I was so upset, even when writing this comment 😭
Oh yeah... that's always really painful. I've had a few incidents like this but none of them quite as bad. Whenever you do start making your own plasma artwork... please show me! I started making it when I was 19, and it was a heck of a task, but also one of the most fun experiences of my life. I'll be delighted to see in a few years when you have the resources to make it yourself.
Yea, it can be a task and a pain, the review of the 3 aurora plasma design globes really caught my attention, I loved that video and definitely subscribed! ;)
is it possible to make a plasma toroid ball that will react to the sound input by changing its color like polar lights and twisting its wave shape accordingly? probably using FFT phase analysis?
I have some small "stick" lamps that change color. They put in neon & argon. The neon ionizes easily, so at low power input, the neon carries most of the current & red light comes out. At higher current, the argon gets more current, makes UV light & excites the phosphor coating (either green or blue). The blue one changes between purple & blue, the green one between green & yellow. Circuit can be made that varies the drive with music.
Thank you for the video. Im looking for a altarnative to Aurora balls. As they dont deliver to EU. Please anyone know anything? All I can find is only the same aliexpress china ballz.
Hello Starmute VII. Your last video on the Aurora globes was in 2017. How well have the Aurora globes stood up to the test of time? Are the Aurora globes from 2017 still in perfect working condition? I've seen a lot of reviews and how long the globes last is a question I haven't been able to find an answer to. Do they fade out over time? I recently ordered a globe from Aurora and I'm wondering how long I can expect to enjoy it. Hopefully you can help me out! Thanks! :D
Hi there! So this is a bit complicated! First off, of course, Emerald Fury and Phoenix Rising are two of the globes I have from 2017. These two mixtures are incredibly stable - they probably will not change even with thousands of hours of runtime. Emerald Fury doubly so - it is a high pressure mixture and so it's not really affected by the mild outgassing that occurs through very long runtimes. Phoenix Rising is also good that way, but if you run it 24/7 it may change slightly after an extremely long time. Both of those globes are running in pristine original condition through 4 years of moderate use. The Genesis is a bit different. Well- I actually have 2 Genesis globes from 2017. One of them is the one in this video and the other one is the more gentle one from the old review. The active one has not changed at all, through at least 1,000 hours of use. The gentle one - I'm actually trading it away tomorrow - changed very significantly, but it's actually brighter than before. The effect is much more diffuse and it's now just green and orange with a deeper green component as well. It's not *bad* but not the original effect either. This will pretty much happen with every R/G/B mixture - it happened with Parker's Elegance of Becoming and Elegance of Truth and it happens to a much lesser degree with Aurora's Genesis. This kind of mixture just requires a lot of components and it's very sensitive to change, especially from outgassing of tiny amounts of water vapor. Aurora is a bit better about this since they do bake the glass in the globes to remove contaminants beforehand. So basically, long story short, if you have a Genesis, be gentle with it, just don't run it 24/7 and it should be fine (they don't generally change when not in use.) If you have another globe you can probably feel comfortable running it a lot.
@@StarmuteVII Thanks so much for the response! This was more than I could have hoped for as an answer to my question. I appreciate it greatly! :D As for my globe, I incidentally got the Genesis! haha However, I ordered the Junior version, because it's my first globe and I wanted to test the waters so to speak. In the future, I may order a museum version if i'm impressed with how the current one is holding up. Maybe next year or so! :) Thanks again!
Good to hear! By the way, the other nice thing about Aurora is that they're very much in favor of "right to repair" and such. The driver in one of my globes failed after around 5,000 hours and they actually sent me an OEM flyback to repair it myself. Anyway, good luck with your globe, let me know how it is in a comment when you get it!
Hi GM Styole! I've also been an owner of Aurora's globes for a few years so can add in some feedback along with what Starmute said. I've purchased their Genesis Mark III globe in 2018, Tyrian Purple in 2019, and Promethean Fire in 2020, and all are still working beautifully. The biggest change in effect over time was for the Promethean fire, (but claimed as intended). You can see the change in APD's videos, and basically it gets calmer, fuzzier, and more colorful with sustained loops over time (a few thousand hours of operation), and that's indeed what happened in my globe. In my case the change was very slow over the course of a year and then one day *boom* it was suddenly like the aged effect with much fuzzier tendrils. On one hand I do miss the more energetic effect when it was young, but the effect now is just as beautiful if not more so, and I rather like the fuzziness since it's somewhat unique in commercial globes. Beyond that there hasn't been any dimming or undesired degradation. The Tyrian purple has not changed one bit. It still looks and behaves exactly like it did on day one! It's a simple effect but it seems quite robust. As Starmute said, the Genesis effect is generally the least stable one, though the later versions have improved a lot. Over the 3 years I've had the Mark III, I've ran it for a total of maybe 1000 hours, and it might have faded a little bit, but if so it's hard to notice. Maybe a 10% dimming at most. Besides that the colors are all still there and it still looks completely amazing in a dark room. Also just to note the Genesis is their most colorful yet dimmest effect even when new. I think their brightest are the Promethean Fire and Emerald Fury. I hope that info helps! I don't think you can really go wrong with any of the Aurora globes, they're all beautiful and they seem to last for a long time when handled well.
Will you please tell me if you know how to replace the cooling fan of a James Faulk Ground Star ? I read something on redit and my Ground Star needs a new fan ✌🏽 Thank you very much.
I’ve been thinking about what you’ve done, and I’ve decided that you need to find out what gas mixture he used, and recreate that plasma ball using appropriate components.
@@StarmuteVII Thanks for posting this. I’ve collected plasma globes for many moons but that deep blue colour only has always been elusive. I’ve collected globes from Strattman , Albright, and Aurora among others but Parker is the only one to have nailed that true deep blue plasma colour in North America. There was Falk in Australia that came close that I know of. Parker does have patent filings that show many mixes but I believe the mix in Sleepness nights might be 99% Xenon and 1% Iodine but could also be Flourine or Chlorine instead of iodine. I have no way of testing. Can you confirm ? i do know that pure Xenon will not be deep blue since I have several of these but perhaps mine have pressure that are to high (200 Torr). These are more blue white and need to have an exposed metal electrode when using reasonable current levels. In fact some of these only have true blue from a secondary glow if the glass itself. A few that I have that were supposed to be pure Xenon actually have oxygen/nitrogen contamination that adds a bit of green. These are not ugly but not what I was looking. At least I know where green comes from. In any regards I was seriously thinking of having Parker make me a sleepless nights. His minimum size now is 18 “ but not cheap. I was looking at 22” but need to make sure no one else can offer that deep blue before committing some serious coin. Also I just noticed that Strattman has plasma tubes that are blue and thinking of trying this in a globe. Thing is they are much cheaper but I am not sure if they are truly blue or more the pure xenon kind of blue white that I have enough of. The thing with pictures is that you never know the monitor or camera settings. Something that looks amazing in pictures might be disappointing in real life. The globe and column that you made are these pure Xenon? There is a good difference when you filmed the side by side but your column looked bluer. And when I mean bluer I am talking about the actual plasma filament and not the surrounding aura. I noticed that many of my totally clear globes (borosilicate glass with no phosphor coating) actually fluorescent blue even though the plasma filaments are not really blue but more bluish lavender. Have your ever tried iodine or maybe even mercury? I know everyone would panic about mercury but remember it is in all the fluorescent [ even the so called green fluorescent compacts ) and Hid lights up to recently. Thoughts?
@@xenon1422 Alright... you might want to email me at starmute7@gmail.com because this is a conversation that I'm very, very interested in having! I would love to see your Strattman and Albright globes - those are quite rare and very cool to me. I have a couple of rare globes too that I'll likely be making a video on soon. Anyway. Blue plasma is my favorite color by far so I tend to collect them. Now, iodine is a bit different from most other additives because it's a solid - Sleepless Nights is fully 'saturated' with iodine. I have created this mixture myself before (or a very similar analogue at a higher pressure) using a mixture of xenon, iodine, and tiny amounts of pool chemicals containing both chlorine and bromine. The small tube I made has only a small amount of xenon and is actually mostly krypton, with the other additives still included. Krypton makes it a bit more energetic and less expensive than pure xenon which is just crazy expensive. In any case, the tube is definitely more blue than the globe. Fluorine and chlorine both give a more cyan color to xenon. The Russian tube that I have is Xenon + CCl4 and is excellent. Mercury is pretty much useless for filamentary discharges from what I've heard - it makes blue clouding effects and of course causes a lot of UV to be emitted. You do NOT want Parker to make you a Sleepless Nights. He will charge you an arm and a leg or just ignore you. It's likely not worth your time. There is a much better solution for a deep blue which would be ordering from teslacoilpro. You can find them on etsy or their website - they are the Russians who made me my cyan tube and I've seen that they're quite capable of making a deep blue. Just tell them that you are looking for a deep blue from xenon/iodine and they can probably make you a tube like mine for around $900 or a 15 inch cauldron-type globe for somewhere around $1500. I should mention as well that the blue in person is very slightly less blue than the video would indicate, but not by much. Once again please send me an email at starmute7@gmail.com if you want to talk about this further, I'm happy to talk at length about any of this!
Hey Starmute! I was wondering where you got those AC flyback transformers? Because I have one from a CRT tv but it doesn't power up any plasma globes that I have (it was a DC flyback).
You can sometimes find them on eBay, Thordarson was the main manufacturer of them in the 80s. Take care not to buy flybacks of super old models as they will burn out very quickly and not deliver much voltage anyway.
Starmute VII, you could try to remake the gas composition of the plasma globe. I am no expert but, my guess it that the main component is either nitrogen of xenon because of the behavior of the filament. just be care full of the nitrogen because of UV output. Would be curious to see if any did come out of that. Could verify the possibility of nitrogen that if you saw florescence near it - that is if the glass would allow UV to pass through. There might also be a good chance of a amount of neon, krypton, or argon. Argon seems likely from the blueish color as well so keep that in mind. There could still be easily neon % there or maybe heavier elements like iodine and mercury. My globe has a terrible driver that causes equipment to act up - any idea about a better driver that has less RF leak threw the mains?
The actual mixture is xenon+iodine! I actually recreated something close with krypton recently - I have some xenon now, but no suitable globe. Is your globe a Parker globe too, by the way?
@@StarmuteVIImy globe is a Chinese knock off, the RF leak through the wire causes the phones to lose signal, so it sits on my table powered off 99% of its life. It occasionally is powered on to shock a unsuspecting visitor ;) I want to make my own, But I haven't been able to find a Neon bottle for a sensible price. From where were you able to obtain the xenon?
Parker actually stopped responding to me after a while so that stopped being an option. And, I believe it would have been over a thousand dollars for repairs as well - not great for sure. Either way, I'm just happy I got to have it for the short time that I did.
He is a very busy man... I've heard that when he (very rarely) has time he makes new globes for $5k and repairs for a bit less. I do not have that kind of money sadly.
Thanks you Tesla for this amazing desktop light art and sir Bill Parker for inventing it (reforming the flourescent lamp made into a ball w/ cool gases):-) Very cool, very beautiful. I have a plasma globe 8". I touch it everyday to remind me of the bible's Genesis': "Let there be light." (it'a a few inches away from electronics, like the iPhone and storage devices.) to remind how short life is and we must do our best everyday:-) I've always wondered why it doesn't hurt, even though electrons are flowing through my body and what the measurements are. Could you measure the electrons flowing through our fingers with an oscilloscope? I've wondered why it doesn't hurt. God bless, Rev. 21:4
If you want to know why you don't get hurt when you touch them. Well because the current is low (in milliamps or less) And the frequency is very high in tens of kilohertz And the glass insulator also plays a role in safety AS LONG AS YOU USE THEM RESPONSIBLY then there is no need to worry about it :)
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
That Touhou music completely caught me off guard, I've always loved those OSTs!
And you're definitely making me want to order some plasma artwork now...
I had 3 Parker globes. When he first released them, there was only a rubber grommet wrapped with the output wire from the flyback transformer without the steel wool later introduced. As a result, the arc would eventually burn through the glass. I lost 1 of the 3 this way. Long gone are the other 2 as I sold them shortly after.
Great video!
Your voice got deeper than I last remember. Also these vids are good, I like them just as much when you did your ubz vids.
How does one get his hands on some thing like that 1:46
03:04 I like how the arc snake's around the electrode!
I have a Bill Parker Sleepless Nights in the original shipping carton. I sent it back to Bill Parker for repair in the 1980’s and it’s been perfect since. We should talk.
Hey, that is awesome! I would definitely be interested in acquiring it. Send me an email at starmute7@gmail.com and we can discuss it! I would love to see some pictures too.
The very first Parker globe was freakin' huge, a prototype with a 25in boiling flask, and driven by a ?hundred-watt? custom ham-radio final, four 6146 tubes in parallel and driving a 12in tesla coil. It should still be at Museum of Science in Boston, at the Hall of Electricity. I haven't seen it since 1990, when I modified the driver to raise the peak-power. I discovered that it was running CW, maybe 500KHz ircc. Kids would sometimes burn themselves with RF arcs, by laying a foil hamburger wrapper atop the globe, then touching the foil. (This, even though the glass flask was inside a blow-molded acrylic shield, with about 1in air-gap.) I also noticed that if I kept my hand on the globe for many minutes, my elbow and shoulder would ache. Free diathermy treatments!
The green discharge was getting dim after five years of near-constant operation, so I added some AC HV to the gate drive, to modulate the output as narrow 120Hz pulses. Nice and bright, yet total wattage greatly reduced. But Parker had also discovered the same trick at that time, and incorporated it in the transistor drivers for devices at his MIT gallery show.
He did mention that the green color was from CO gas. I don't know the rest of the mixture, but the streamers appeared argon-white, with green end-tufts. Also, that version was built before he started extensive testing with gas mixtures, and the earlier example was the "Argon Candle" exhibit at the Exploratorium in SF, not made by Parker if I recall. He built a long horizontal tube 6" dia., with greenish streamers and jellybean striations, "Bead Lightning."
Heh, the only plasma device I currently own is the neon-filled beer mug from "Can You Imagine(tm)," sold in Spencer's Gifts stores. Insert a magnet, to make the streamers spin like a Faraday motor.
Plasma globes are so cool!
I've had some bad luck with them, although I never have bought a high end one.
I had an Illumastorm when I was a kid. Good times.
I bought a limited edition of the Bill Parker Plasma Globe sometime in the 70s. No problems at all till 2020 then it just stoped working. I searched and found Bill Parker and called him - this was one Oct 2020 - he advised me to pack it up and ship it to him and he would look at it. He did receive it. Since then I have called, left many msg and wrote emails asking about my globe. NO RESPONSE AT ALL. This globe was an expensive purchase and I want it back!
Please send me an email at starmute7@gmail.com. I'd like to see if I can help you out with this.
Did you ever get your globe back?
There’s this video game called metal gear rising revengeance where the main characters sword is wrapped around electricity at times, one of the special editions when it released had a little piece with the hilt of the sword and some of the sword inside and had a plasma lamp wrapped around it. Pretty cool, and I bought it very recently since I’m a huge fan of the game and plasma lamps
Man I did not know there were so many types! when I was little my aunt gave us one that had a green color to the plasma.
Oxygen
Not sure if it emits UV or not
The glass that's used can block most if not all of the UV
that was fun playing with the sith
I loved this video. Who is HBI? I can't find out anything about them. Do you know why multi-slider-controlled-globes lost popularity? I only ever had plasma globes with on and off but that customizability is what really takes that Sleepless nights globe to a big WOW level to me. I hope someone manufactures parker-like globes again soon.
I find light amazing just the fact that its so quick it looks like it gets deleted when the plasma dissapears
Cool stuff. Gosh that music is rough as hell though. Ha. Dang, man.
I am a great admirer of Aurora Plasma Globes. I have a few budget models, but I cannot persuade Aurora to ship to UK unfortunately. Does anyone know where similar plasma globes can be obtained in UK?
I built and repaired Parker globes at the Stamford factory - any globe that does not have Chore Boy brand copper scrubber in the electrode should not be used until is is installed. This will spread the heat and conduct best.
DO NOT USE STEEL WOOL - steel burns! Do not use dollar store copper scrubber, those are copper colored steel.
The top and bottom of the base is stuck together with silicone sealant. To open the base, use a razor blade at the corner. Sealing it up again with packing tape is my preferred method.
I have a Parker globe. It doesn't appear to have anything like a copper scrubber in the tip of the electrode. It just looks like some sort of coating on the inside. How would I go about putting one in there?
@@elgin7406 You would open up the globe, pull out the HV terminal, and use a pencil to stuff the scrubber or wool into the hole, 'til it gets to the tip. Then, you'd put the HV terminal back in, and re-assemble the piece.
I wouldn't recommend this unless you know what you're doing.
What globe is it? I'm curious how you aquired it as well.
@ST-wn9kd Thanks for the details. That's about what I figured it would take, but I wanted to confirm. I'll have to open it up and see what I'm up against with removing the electrode. I imagine there's some silicone or something holding it in there.
I'm not certain the model name of my globe. It's dated 9/25/84 on the bottom and features handwritten initials (J.J. and D.M.) in silver paint pen, on top they wrote 195/988II. When I first got it in 2015, there were some electrical problems, so I reached out to Bill Parker for help. The following is what he told me about it "This particular piece was made early in the production of the second "Starsculpture" edition in 1984. The two Starsculpture editions were sold exclusively at Sharper Image stores and in their catalog at prices from $1800 to over $3000. Signed pieces from that period, represented in about 40 art galleries around the world, sold for even more." I was amazed to get a response from Bill Parker himself, almost exactly 31 years after the initial production of the piece. In addition to the details above, he estimated $450 for electrical repair services and even a full restoration, including gas replacement for $1200.
My friend brought this home from work one day and gave it to me. He builds high-end custom homes, and one of his clients had this in their basement. He asked what it was, and they explained. When they said it was broken, he mentioned that I would really get a kick out of it and could probably make it work. They then just gave it to him and wished him good luck with the repair.
There were multiple electrical issues, the power cord was frayed and missing the ground prong, the fuse and fuse cover were missing, and the thermal cutoff was failed to an open circuit state. Dispite Bill's insistence that i must not open the unit because it is "tamper-proof" I decided to have a go at it myself. I replaced the cord, fuse holder, and fuse. The thermal switch was just bypassed as I couldn't find a suitable replacement and didn't see a need for it. I don't leave it on or plugged in. It's typically only powered on briefly to give demonstrations for visitors.
I made a video after my repairs to show off how it works. Maybe one day I'll do a more in-depth video. ruclips.net/video/FsWmmta0q94/видео.htmlsi=FrG-12KVYXOv_gYb
@@elgin7406
!!!!!
For FREE?
That's real lucky. I found an rtx 3060 in the trash, but a free parker globe is on a whole 'nother level!
Kudos for fixing it, Bill's prices are ridiculous and he is a bit of a pain to interact with. And good luck with any further modifications!
It looks like you have one of the globes with the rare, beautiful green.
I must say I am jealous. But anyone who defies the scary warning and puts life back into a Parker globe deserves the piece.
I have a parker globe and have this problem too I believe. It sometimes randomly throws a red hot spark on the inside of the electrode. I believe it is the high voltage wire just not making good contact with the metal coating and indeed that is what modern globes use, coarse steel wool. I think I will put a piece into it. Don't want the globe to die.
Also, do you perhaps still have the original electronics installed? The power supply of mine has been replaced with a generic chinese plasma globe psu, but I belive it is overpowered at 24v to make it run this big of a globe. It works, but I rather like the original controls. Power, frequency and pulsing I believe the 3rd slider is. Not sure what the button originaaly did. Mine is an early 1983 model, not signed, no numbers on it or anything. I belive it has the elegance of becoming gas mix. The original PCB with sliders is still there, but it is missing some components, but your's looks very different from the inside. A lot of connectors instead of soldered connections, but idk if that is the only difference.
Great nerd vid 👍
love to see an effects artist use these to do a terminator time travel effect
DO MORE IT IS MEMORIZING
i need one of these in my 1986 mustang...
I will hopefully make my own in the future
I'm hoping to do it when I'm 16. (14 currently)...
dude there at target
:)
Yea but there not my style, I want mine to be 'exotic'
I have an 8 inch ball coming in. Maybe you can help me when it dies. Im already looking ahead at its mortality because I expect to have her running a long time.
As someone who's only ever had plasma globes made by Chinese companies, at least those low-quality power supplies seem to be just as effective as the higher quality supplies in commercial-grade plasma toys. That said, I don't really see a quality difference besides the screechy arcs, which personally don't bother me
Beautiful Globe, but that music.
I have a signed Bill Parker Globe it lookes like the one you have it still has the stickers on it and the sphere in the middle is where it's signed and numbered
Which edition is it? And, would you ever be willing to sell it? Please send me an email to starmute7@gmail.com, I'd love to at least see some pictures of it!
@Starmute VII I'm not sure how to send you pictures I'm not good at computers so I'm not sure how but I do have pictures
@Starmute VII I'm not sure what edition it is or what that means but it is signed by Bill Parker and it say it's # 162/375 and dated 1984
@Starmute VII and yes I would be willing to sell it
Please do send me an email to starmute7@gmail.com! Would you be able to tell me at least what colors the globe is?
That moment when the globe died, I cried cus I feel bad, my hobby is playing with plasma globes, I had one in my life, I hade modified it, trying to fix it but it cracked, it was too late, I put tape on it but it didn't help, all I had to do was watch it die away, I was so upset, even when writing this comment 😭
Oh yeah... that's always really painful. I've had a few incidents like this but none of them quite as bad. Whenever you do start making your own plasma artwork... please show me! I started making it when I was 19, and it was a heck of a task, but also one of the most fun experiences of my life. I'll be delighted to see in a few years when you have the resources to make it yourself.
Yea, it can be a task and a pain, the review of the 3 aurora plasma design globes really caught my attention, I loved that video and definitely subscribed! ;)
is it possible to make a plasma toroid ball that will react to the sound input by changing its color like polar lights and twisting its wave shape accordingly? probably using FFT phase analysis?
I have some small "stick" lamps that change color. They put in neon & argon. The neon ionizes easily, so at low power input, the neon carries most of the current & red light comes out. At higher current, the argon gets more current, makes UV light & excites the phosphor coating (either green or blue). The blue one changes between purple & blue, the green one between green & yellow. Circuit can be made that varies the drive with music.
Thank you for the video. Im looking for a altarnative to Aurora balls. As they dont deliver to EU. Please anyone know anything? All I can find is only the same aliexpress china ballz.
0:22 where did you get that one
How many kHz is Styropyro's million volt plasma globe?
Original 22.5 kHz
New 265 kHz
Hello Starmute VII. Your last video on the Aurora globes was in 2017. How well have the Aurora globes stood up to the test of time? Are the Aurora globes from 2017 still in perfect working condition? I've seen a lot of reviews and how long the globes last is a question I haven't been able to find an answer to. Do they fade out over time? I recently ordered a globe from Aurora and I'm wondering how long I can expect to enjoy it. Hopefully you can help me out! Thanks! :D
Hi there! So this is a bit complicated!
First off, of course, Emerald Fury and Phoenix Rising are two of the globes I have from 2017. These two mixtures are incredibly stable - they probably will not change even with thousands of hours of runtime. Emerald Fury doubly so - it is a high pressure mixture and so it's not really affected by the mild outgassing that occurs through very long runtimes. Phoenix Rising is also good that way, but if you run it 24/7 it may change slightly after an extremely long time. Both of those globes are running in pristine original condition through 4 years of moderate use.
The Genesis is a bit different. Well- I actually have 2 Genesis globes from 2017. One of them is the one in this video and the other one is the more gentle one from the old review. The active one has not changed at all, through at least 1,000 hours of use. The gentle one - I'm actually trading it away tomorrow - changed very significantly, but it's actually brighter than before. The effect is much more diffuse and it's now just green and orange with a deeper green component as well. It's not *bad* but not the original effect either.
This will pretty much happen with every R/G/B mixture - it happened with Parker's Elegance of Becoming and Elegance of Truth and it happens to a much lesser degree with Aurora's Genesis. This kind of mixture just requires a lot of components and it's very sensitive to change, especially from outgassing of tiny amounts of water vapor. Aurora is a bit better about this since they do bake the glass in the globes to remove contaminants beforehand.
So basically, long story short, if you have a Genesis, be gentle with it, just don't run it 24/7 and it should be fine (they don't generally change when not in use.) If you have another globe you can probably feel comfortable running it a lot.
@@StarmuteVII Thanks so much for the response! This was more than I could have hoped for as an answer to my question. I appreciate it greatly! :D As for my globe, I incidentally got the Genesis! haha However, I ordered the Junior version, because it's my first globe and I wanted to test the waters so to speak. In the future, I may order a museum version if i'm impressed with how the current one is holding up. Maybe next year or so! :) Thanks again!
Good to hear!
By the way, the other nice thing about Aurora is that they're very much in favor of "right to repair" and such. The driver in one of my globes failed after around 5,000 hours and they actually sent me an OEM flyback to repair it myself. Anyway, good luck with your globe, let me know how it is in a comment when you get it!
Hi GM Styole! I've also been an owner of Aurora's globes for a few years so can add in some feedback along with what Starmute said. I've purchased their Genesis Mark III globe in 2018, Tyrian Purple in 2019, and Promethean Fire in 2020, and all are still working beautifully.
The biggest change in effect over time was for the Promethean fire, (but claimed as intended). You can see the change in APD's videos, and basically it gets calmer, fuzzier, and more colorful with sustained loops over time (a few thousand hours of operation), and that's indeed what happened in my globe. In my case the change was very slow over the course of a year and then one day *boom* it was suddenly like the aged effect with much fuzzier tendrils. On one hand I do miss the more energetic effect when it was young, but the effect now is just as beautiful if not more so, and I rather like the fuzziness since it's somewhat unique in commercial globes. Beyond that there hasn't been any dimming or undesired degradation.
The Tyrian purple has not changed one bit. It still looks and behaves exactly like it did on day one! It's a simple effect but it seems quite robust.
As Starmute said, the Genesis effect is generally the least stable one, though the later versions have improved a lot. Over the 3 years I've had the Mark III, I've ran it for a total of maybe 1000 hours, and it might have faded a little bit, but if so it's hard to notice. Maybe a 10% dimming at most. Besides that the colors are all still there and it still looks completely amazing in a dark room. Also just to note the Genesis is their most colorful yet dimmest effect even when new. I think their brightest are the Promethean Fire and Emerald Fury.
I hope that info helps! I don't think you can really go wrong with any of the Aurora globes, they're all beautiful and they seem to last for a long time when handled well.
@@StarmuteVII I have heard that some of the globes have helium as part of the fill. This diffuses out in time, right through the glass!
What Gas mixture do you believe creates the truest blue? It looks like Neptune when not touched! 😍😍😍
Xenon and iodine :)
@@StarmuteVII be careful if they use oxygen and nitrogen
Will you please tell me if you know how to replace the cooling fan of a James Faulk Ground Star ? I read something on redit and my Ground Star needs a new fan ✌🏽 Thank you very much.
I’ve been thinking about what you’ve done, and I’ve decided that you need to find out what gas mixture he used, and recreate that plasma ball using appropriate components.
Oh, I'm well aware of what he used... right now I just don't have the resources to recreate it. I have no xenon left and no glass vessels.
@@StarmuteVII Thanks for posting this.
I’ve collected plasma globes for many moons but that deep blue colour only has always been elusive. I’ve collected globes from Strattman , Albright, and Aurora among others but Parker is the only one to have nailed that true deep blue plasma colour in North America. There was Falk in Australia that came close that I know of. Parker does have patent filings that show many mixes but I believe the mix in Sleepness nights might be 99% Xenon and 1% Iodine but could also be Flourine or Chlorine instead of iodine. I have no way of testing. Can you confirm ? i do know that pure Xenon will not be deep blue since I have several of these but perhaps mine have pressure that are to high (200 Torr). These are more blue white and need to have an exposed metal electrode when using reasonable current levels. In fact some of these only have true blue from a secondary glow if the glass itself. A few that I have that were supposed to be pure Xenon actually have oxygen/nitrogen contamination that adds a bit of green. These are not ugly but not what I was looking. At least I know where green comes from.
In any regards I was seriously thinking of having Parker make me a sleepless nights. His minimum size now is 18 “ but not cheap. I was looking at 22” but need to make sure no one else can offer that deep blue before committing some serious coin. Also I just noticed that Strattman has plasma tubes that are blue and thinking of trying this in a globe. Thing is they are much cheaper but I am not sure if they are truly blue or more the pure xenon kind of blue white that I have enough of. The thing with pictures is that you never know the monitor or camera settings. Something that looks amazing in pictures might be disappointing in real life.
The globe and column that you made are these pure Xenon? There is a good difference when you filmed the side by side but your column looked bluer. And when I mean bluer I am talking about the actual plasma filament and not the surrounding aura. I noticed that many of my totally clear globes (borosilicate glass with no phosphor coating) actually fluorescent blue even though the plasma filaments are not really blue but more bluish lavender.
Have your ever tried iodine or maybe even mercury? I know everyone would panic about mercury but remember it is in all the fluorescent [ even the so called green fluorescent compacts ) and Hid lights up to recently. Thoughts?
@@xenon1422 Alright... you might want to email me at starmute7@gmail.com because this is a conversation that I'm very, very interested in having! I would love to see your Strattman and Albright globes - those are quite rare and very cool to me. I have a couple of rare globes too that I'll likely be making a video on soon.
Anyway. Blue plasma is my favorite color by far so I tend to collect them. Now, iodine is a bit different from most other additives because it's a solid - Sleepless Nights is fully 'saturated' with iodine. I have created this mixture myself before (or a very similar analogue at a higher pressure) using a mixture of xenon, iodine, and tiny amounts of pool chemicals containing both chlorine and bromine. The small tube I made has only a small amount of xenon and is actually mostly krypton, with the other additives still included. Krypton makes it a bit more energetic and less expensive than pure xenon which is just crazy expensive. In any case, the tube is definitely more blue than the globe.
Fluorine and chlorine both give a more cyan color to xenon. The Russian tube that I have is Xenon + CCl4 and is excellent. Mercury is pretty much useless for filamentary discharges from what I've heard - it makes blue clouding effects and of course causes a lot of UV to be emitted.
You do NOT want Parker to make you a Sleepless Nights. He will charge you an arm and a leg or just ignore you. It's likely not worth your time. There is a much better solution for a deep blue which would be ordering from teslacoilpro. You can find them on etsy or their website - they are the Russians who made me my cyan tube and I've seen that they're quite capable of making a deep blue. Just tell them that you are looking for a deep blue from xenon/iodine and they can probably make you a tube like mine for around $900 or a 15 inch cauldron-type globe for somewhere around $1500.
I should mention as well that the blue in person is very slightly less blue than the video would indicate, but not by much.
Once again please send me an email at starmute7@gmail.com if you want to talk about this further, I'm happy to talk at length about any of this!
@@StarmuteVII does it result in dangerous UV? With that color blue, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some even stronger UV lines.
@@StarmuteVII - isn't it crazy how properly blue light just can't be captured right by almost any kind of modern camera
Where i can buy this
SOunds like you should have just sent it to parker for repair. This is typically how most "It works for me" repairs go
Hey Starmute! I was wondering where you got those AC flyback transformers? Because I have one from a CRT tv but it doesn't power up any plasma globes that I have (it was a DC flyback).
You can sometimes find them on eBay, Thordarson was the main manufacturer of them in the 80s. Take care not to buy flybacks of super old models as they will burn out very quickly and not deliver much voltage anyway.
Does a CO2 laser flyback transformer work?
I found one on eBay.
You should absolutely not use those. They are extremely dangerous and have the potential to kill you instantly.
Oh shit!
What are those one plasma balls were when you touch it and your hair stands up, and how could I order one?
What gas mix gives blue light?
Hi again.
Hey can u drop commands for incedium cuz we destroyed that piglin castle axe on creative acidentally and we wanna respawn it back
bot
from where i can buy it easily
You can't. They are very rare art pieces and it's very very hard to find them anywhere at reasonable prices.
@@StarmuteVII thnk u!!
Starmute VII, you could try to remake the gas composition of the plasma globe. I am no expert but, my guess it that the main component is either nitrogen of xenon because of the behavior of the filament. just be care full of the nitrogen because of UV output. Would be curious to see if any did come out of that. Could verify the possibility of nitrogen that if you saw florescence near it - that is if the glass would allow UV to pass through. There might also be a good chance of a amount of neon, krypton, or argon. Argon seems likely from the blueish color as well so keep that in mind. There could still be easily neon % there or maybe heavier elements like iodine and mercury. My globe has a terrible driver that causes equipment to act up - any idea about a better driver that has less RF leak threw the mains?
The actual mixture is xenon+iodine! I actually recreated something close with krypton recently - I have some xenon now, but no suitable globe.
Is your globe a Parker globe too, by the way?
@@StarmuteVIImy globe is a Chinese knock off, the RF leak through the wire causes the phones to lose signal, so it sits on my table powered off 99% of its life. It occasionally is powered on to shock a unsuspecting visitor ;) I want to make my own, But I haven't been able to find a Neon bottle for a sensible price. From where were you able to obtain the xenon?
Don't breath that stuff in!
krypton and iodine
how could you forget strattman design? and to think you could have just avoided all this by waiting a year and getting it fixed properly....
Parker actually stopped responding to me after a while so that stopped being an option. And, I believe it would have been over a thousand dollars for repairs as well - not great for sure. Either way, I'm just happy I got to have it for the short time that I did.
@@StarmuteVII does parker even still do this stuff?
He is a very busy man... I've heard that when he (very rarely) has time he makes new globes for $5k and repairs for a bit less. I do not have that kind of money sadly.
That's a shame 😞
Thanks you Tesla for this amazing desktop light art and sir Bill Parker for inventing it (reforming the flourescent lamp made into a ball w/ cool gases):-)
Very cool, very beautiful. I have a plasma globe 8". I touch it everyday to remind me of the bible's Genesis': "Let there be light." (it'a a few inches away from electronics, like the iPhone and storage devices.) to remind how short life is and we must do our best everyday:-)
I've always wondered why it doesn't hurt, even though electrons are flowing through my body and what the measurements are.
Could you measure the electrons flowing through our fingers with an oscilloscope? I've wondered why it doesn't hurt.
God bless, Rev. 21:4
If you want to know why you don't get hurt when you touch them.
Well because the current is low (in milliamps or less)
And the frequency is very high in tens of kilohertz
And the glass insulator also plays a role in safety
AS LONG AS YOU USE THEM RESPONSIBLY then there is no need to worry about it :)
Cool hobbie
Name of song
Wait is that touhou
Nice video, but Bill Parker didnt invent the plasma globe. Nikola Tesla did back in the early 1890s.
I like turtles
Avas
Sad
Do ubz videos