Build Van de Graaff

[bamaslamma1003]

That is AWESOME!! Would love to make one someday. Does it hurt when it arcs to your hand?

[mhytbuster52]

How did you bild it? can you send diagram please.Thanks.

[hadabeesago]

hi i really like your quality work in putting that thing together, i am almost done building mine, since yours is doing a good job in producing good voltage i was just wondering, i read somewhere that said it is better to put the brushes on the side where the belt is rolling away or off from the roller, does this matter or do you know which side works better to put the brushes at and can i put brushes on both sides of one roller to make it more effective, or to eliminate guessing??

[SuperTrackstar22]

So what are the brushes connected to any help would be grate thanks

[joesbees]

@SuperTrackstar22 the top brush is connected to the sphere. The bottom brush is attached to ground on mine. On most the bottom brush is just connected to a large chunk of metal such as the motor.

[criso1994]

Im gunna have a second attempt at building one now, mines as small as they can get lol

[72fr250]

You should get a beach ball and wrap it in aluminum duct tape. Makes a good, smooth top load that can be any size.

[72fr250]

You should get a beach ball and wrap it in aluminum duct tape. Makes a good, smooth top load that can be any size.

[AHW214]

If the hole in the bottom bowl isn't covered there might be some corona discharge.

To increase voltage, you might want to consider putting a piece of slit clear tubing on the hole in the bottom bowl. BTW AHW214 and EMW214 are both my channels.

[AHW214]

What's your brush made of?

[AHW214]

While testing my van de graaff generator with a drill at 1200 rpm as the motor, I only got 1/2 cm sparks but I'm suppose to be getting 8 inch sparks. I think there are 3 reasons why this is happening:

Humidity

Brushes were accidentally rubbing on the belt while I did this

I grounded it with my body

If anyone knows how to make bigger sparks please tell me.

There is a video about my van de graaff on my channel.

[EMW214]

How far should my brushes be from the belt?

PS: Sorry for all the questions

[joesbees]

@EMW214

It's about 1/8" or 1/4" somewhere in there. my bottom brush is attached right to ground via the third plug in a 3 prong plug. Most people attach it to a large chunk of metal such as their motor.

[EMW214]

@joesbees

How do you attach the ground part of the 3 prong plug to the motor safely?

[EMW214]

By the way does it hurt a lot to get a shock from the van de graaff?

[EMW214]

I am making a van de graaff generator, I have a couple questions?

Can my brushes be frayed copper wire?

I didn't cut my belt well, so some parts are wider than others, is this OK?

I glued my belt together using super glue, is this OK?

[joesbees]

Your brushes can be frayed copper wire. Leave them accessible so you can 'tune' your van de graff. (tune means: to adjust how close the tips are from the belt and how many tips are close to the belt.)

It shouldn't matter if there are wider parts on the belt as long as mechanically it can go around the rollers .

[EMW214]

@joesbees

My brushes are fairly small, is this OK?

Maybe I could use 2 wires for each brush.

[joesbees]

@EMW214 They don't have to be very big. They are carrying a very small amount of current. In fact the smaller the tip close to the belt is the better. Just make sure you have enough to collect the charge off the width of the belt. but not too many that the charge density at the tip of the brush doesn't build up to jump the gap. It's more surprising than painful. But yes if you build a good one it kinda hurts. :)

[EMW214]

@joesbees

How should I ground my bottom brush?

And about the shock, it's sort of like the flu shot I guess.

You expect something painful but its not bad at all.

[joesbees]

My belt was exercise band (rubber) and I found super glue broke down the rubber causing it to shrink. Surprisingly what worked for me until recently was clear packing tap. Hope you see sparks soon, make sure you share the video. Feel free to ask more questions

[fraserarts99]

is that sore?

[enadon1]

do the sparks burn/jolt or are they only fun static sparks?

[emramo21]

@enadon1 It depends on the the size of the machine, but my teacher let us play with it today and they hurt like a mosquito bite but it goes away in a flash.

[andrei128]

@zker666 :

Yes you are right , my estimation was way off , it is 100 kV .

[zker666]

not even close. maybe about 100kV at about 0.0001 mA. every centimeter you get its about another 10,000v

[503Productz]

ok so i was observing the triboelectric series and i was thinking that i should use glass for positive and pvc for negative. what are your thoughts?

[panzuman]

that will work but the problem is finding a glass roller

[shmackahippie]

I used a piece of PVC pipe with a wood dowel in the center for a core (drilled to fit a plastic shaft), and a glass guitar slide (buy them at any guitar store) with a wood dowel in the center for a core (also drilled to fit a plastic shaft). The belt was made from a scrap piece of polyurethane food-grade conveyor belt I had at my shop. Works very well.

[TheInventor24]

wow that was a big spark

[bonarka]

I was trying to made one van de graaff generator in my home but it does not work. The upper roller is made of rubber and lower is made of metal (it's drives by the engine from the drill). As a rubber belt i"ve got the innertube from bike. the lower comb is attached to the gdound and the upper comb to hollow sphere. Help me please!!!

[joesbees]

if the upper roller and the belt are made of rubber they are not very far apart on the triboelectric series. (google that) meaning there wont be a very large charge difference as they move past each other. A bike inner tube is black rubber which may contain carbon that is slightly conductive, ruining the effect you are going for. combs are connected right.

[mtam7777]

kool i want to make one

[joesbees]

do it! it's a very fun project and very entertaining.

[howcin]

@mtam7777

I am trying to make one right now my bottom roller is pvc and top roller is pvc with aluminum foil and then I have a rubber belt will that work?

[mtam7777]

@howcin it mite im not shure try it

[hotrod0ne]

Joe You are the Shit!!!! AWESOME

[emeraldamber]

umm.. the top comb is connected to the metal bowl... and the bottom comb is attached to the ground...? how??? that's the part that i don't get.. :(

what tricks can be done with this?? :D:D

[emeraldamber]

what motor did you use? what is your power source? connected by a plug?? and will this make hair stand on its ends?? :D:D

[kiriakoskakos]

can you touch iy

[joesbees]

the farther away you can get a spark to jump the more it hurts. the closer you get the less charge builds up and the less it hurts. Touching it basically makes you a part of the sphere, if you're grounded you won't feel anything. If you stand on something insulating you hold a charge, your hair stands up, and you shock anyone that touches you.

[TinselKoala]

Nice work! It looks like you experimented and learned a lot!

I did too, and made several videos of my explorations with VanDeGraaff machines. Check out my channel, I show the whole evolution of my machines. My best ones use hubcaps for the terminal capacity, rubber bands for the belts, and surplus DC motors.

[joesbees]

I'll have to check your channel out. I did learn a lot by reading many online sources. This is the first i fully put together but there were a few different versions of the roller that failed. I've been meaning to make another but just haven't had time.

[llewgnal]

I seem to remember the original Van de gaafe generator used a piece of amber to put charge onto bottom of belt. Also had a metal base to gather charge from air, they used an angel food cake pan for the base , upside down with an ajustable arm comeing off it with a smaller ball on the end. Nice gen , but i think the amber at the lower arm would increase the output ?  Gary

[joesbees]

It's just a little surprising. As long as you don't mess with layden jars or other capacitor like things you won't hurt yourself.

(note, I charged up a plastic mixing bowl once and my finger was numb for 20 seconds)

[andypandy687]

hmm seems like the brushes not touching wouldn't work of course, i built a mini a wile back, but it only did small sparks. i will have to try with the brushes not touching once i get a motor and build my bigger one. thanks for the feedback.

[andypandy687]

are your brushes contacting the belt?

[joesbees]

no, about a 1/4 inch away. That's what's refered to as tuning. Make your combs adjustable. Number of close points and distance will be hard to understand till you build it.

[yosip1115]

no they arent you fucking dumbass. lol

[TCDIL95]

this one looks like a blender

[helixwinder]

Great job!

Does the entrance hole have a sharp edge, or did you bend it inward to reduce leakage?

I think that you can get rimless bowls from Ikea which would give a flush fit of the two bowls.

[joesbees]

I did bend the bottom hole edges in but it's still pretty rough.

The ikea link for rimless bowls you hear about is/was dead... I found cheap thrift store bowls. The sphere matters to some extend but not as much as the roller/belt setup. I can get 3/8 inch sparks with no bowl on top, just the contact from the top comb. You get that set up right and you can put a any kettle you want on top.

[jupy921]

Wow that's a nice little machine with good sparks. lol yea WAY better then Myth Busters.

[s1986seba]

Better than mythbuster's one :)

[slovenia4ever]

nope

[wiipwnzps3]

Zomg you should make a complete how-to, if you have, LINK ME!!!!!!!!!!!! xD

[joesbees]

Truth is I pieced together so much random stuff that even if I did describe it exactly I doubt you'd be able to find the same components I used.

I meant to make a new version with more normal motors and materials. But haven't yet, sorry :-/

[joesbees]

it's slightly painful. But definitely tolerable.

[popylocodropit]

does the pvc roler at the top roll or is it just rubing aganst the rubber

[joesbees]

yep. The top has bearings from a hardware store and spins very easily.

[branman2212]

if u got to 00:59 u see the strike of static CLEARLY

[mikeandtiff]

Glad I could help with your desing.. Now is the season for our VDG to work the best.. time for improvements! i'll keep ya posted on what i come up with

Best reagards

mikeandtiff

[dapop1001]

Very nice! Great spark. I will be trying to build 1 soon, I am collecting materials now. I hope to use my bedini for the motor. Will post a video when i am done thx

[MafiaMan979]

Sweet dude, how many volts can you get out of that thing?

[guitar87tommy]

how do i make one

[joesbees]

read. plan. scrounge. execute.

Hope you do.  It's a very enjoyable project!

[dantro78]

Awesome! Very creative in how you built it, and it really works well!

[zezimashock]

sweet sparks mine are like 3cm yours are giant.

[scion171777]

can a plastic cover in computer can be a belt?????

[cool347957989]

gr8

[CatmanG696969]

Fucking sweet im am so making one =P lol, thx for the demonstraition

[SashVids]

HAHAHAH! OWNED!

[mikez2]

You should get a more round bowl so that the charge doesn't build up in corners and such.

[drewh0208]

So the rubber belt is from an exercise device? How did you connect the nylon cylinder to the sewing machine motor? Would a metal roller (i.e., tin can) work just as well as a nylon roller? How do you keep the belt from sliding off?

[CrashByron]

You can get the rubber belt from a fitness store. they are used for stretching exercise. and no a can won't work as a roller, it has to be non conductive. The belt stays on the rollers on a seemingly strange principal but it works. If you tapper the edges of the rollers the stretching action in the middle of the rollers as opposed to the slack at the edge keeps the belt on track. I am into electrostatics so if you have any more questions, message me! Good luck.

[dantro78]

Do both rollers need to be non-conductive material? In the 200,000 volt store model that I own, the bottom roller is some sort of plastic, but the top roller is solid metal. Does only the bottom roller make a difference? I've also read that in the popular Winsco model, the bottom roller is actually wrapped in cloth.

[joesbees]

Rollers can be conductive.  A lot of VDGs do have metal rollers. Materials of both rollers matters. Refer to something called the triboelectric series (google it) to find a good combination or materials. The problem with materials like cloth is they can hold mosture making the machine even more fussy in humid climates.

[CrashByron]

Yes the top roller can be made of metal. the bottom roller should be a non conductive material. PVC, rubber or some form of plastic. I think this is to help the induction of static on the belt and to isolate your motor from the high voltage. The cloth might be also to help generate static. but definitely go to a fitness store and get an exercise band. hope this helps.

[dantro78]

These are great tips. Thanks, guys!

[srussert28]

This will only seem obvious after it happens but be VERY careful around this thing on the floor when it is turned on. It's about crotch height.

If by chance your not careful then Please have the camera on.

[tehfishman]

that made me laugh

[deckoland]

pretty unexpeced sparks more than i thought good project well done :-)

[friedrichsacher]

I do not understand: Were are the motor from???

[joesbees]

The motor is from a sewing machine from a thrift store.

[derekleen]

nice van de graff, my friend built one about that size and we could get 1' to 1 1/2' sparks. even more with a buncha aol cds. on top lol. i charged myself up enough to zap my buddy

[joesbees]

1 foot to 1.5 feet?!

or did you mean 1 inch to 1.5 inch.

[unigamer]

Beautiful! I am more determined than ever to make one after seeing your sparks.

[gonepishing]

im considering making on myself, good job

[98209276]

is the tape on the edges of the bowle to prevent corinal discharge because that s exsactly what i did

[joesbees]

yes

[haoasacura]

Nice video. Where did you get the rubber belt?

[joesbees]

I've got to capture some videos of sparks I make with a plastic mixing bowl set on top. They're much bigger and hurt a bit. :-D

[mikeandtiff]

Very nice, and very similar to mine. nice project

[RotogenRay]

Hahahahaha! That works better than my first tesla coil did!