Ignition coils can handle quite high power levels.

[MegaMaxyKing]

nice arcs, but my ingition coils can handle 2000 Watt

no joke, look at my vids

[ppsjsh]

i use 24v AC @ 1A on my ignition coil, not long arcs though but i think it steps up the amps and voltage a lil. it can melt aluminuim and small copper wire in just a few secs. im tired of using realys cause of the constant buzzing and looking to put more power in it. im trying to make a zvs driver but cant find the plans. do u know where i might can find them? thanks

[decod31]

@ppsjsh This video was done using a flyback circuit. Where current is "charged" and then disconnected by the fet (a pulse) and let fly to about 400V at primary. Peak current was about 20A.. There are some schems in the description, but not zvs. For zvs you need some tesla coil circuit (like steve wards).

AC is not good for switching and as a standalone drive you would need high frequency and relatively high voltage (400V) AC to get the same results as here.

[decod31]

@ppsjsh BTW. to speak of stepping up both amps and volts is a bit misleading since that would be against conservation of energy (as a mean value). For both zvs and flyback you build up low voltage high current and transform it to high voltage low current. What also happens is that a temporally long "charge" (either resonant -zvs or flyback) is released in short amount of time conserving the total energy.

Zvs you can find by googling steve ward tesla, but it's a bit overkill (DRSSTC).

[decod31]

@ppsjsh BTW. to speak of stepping up both amps and volts is a bit misleading since that would be against conservation of energy (as a mean value). For both zvs and flyback you build up low voltage high current and transform it to high voltage low current. What also happens is that a temporally long "charge" (either resonant -zvs or flyback) is released in short amount of time conserving the total energy.

Zvs you can find by googling steve ward tesla, but it's a bit overkill (DRSSTC).

[juniortore1]

Why is it only off and on, cant you run it constant?

(ignoring the problems the ignition coils might have)

[decod31]

@juniortore1 Sure, it can run continuously and I have run it continuously for several minutes, but for more controlled arcs (less change of a coil breakdown due to overvoltage). Tapping it on and off like I did here is less likely to cause a problem when the circumstances are not well controlled. Say due to an arc channel forming inside the insulator in the coil or simply overheating. This allows time for it to cool down and hopefully prevent it from breaking entirely.

[juniortore1]

@juniortore1 Ohhhhh, My ignition coiles arced over on the inside, the plastic got burnt from an arc, and shorted the secondary inside. I now took the coils themselves out of the can. I will stick them under some oil, and vacuum the air out, then make some high power driver... like this eventually, And since they are out of the can, I will make a center tap for ZVS to power it just for long purple arcs :)

[BarneySaysHi]

I love the sound of it, it would make a nice speaker if you were able to insert an audio stream into it.

[decod31]

I kinda did it already in my video "PRF modulated ignition coil".

[BarneySaysHi]

Ah, I didn't see that one yet, sorry.

[dkuriloff]

Where can I buy a bench quality power supply for HV applications to provide variable up to 70v at up to 20 amps?

[decod31]

I usually buy stuff from farnell, but I guess it's hardly the cheapest. A good 70V/20A supply can easily be 1000 eur.

I recently bought a 60V/1.6A supply and it was around 70 eur. For larger power I just use variac (3.6kW variac is about 260 eur).

Of course the cheapest way to make 70V/20A supply is to DIY. With recoiled MOT, bridge rectifier and salvaged caps you can have it almost for free.

[animebsd]

hey how many herts?

[decod31]

I think it was around 200Hz with 50% duty square wave, but I don't remember exactly anymore.

It could be possible to extract the frequency from the sound of this video with FFT, but I don't think I'll bother ;-)

[Matrex50]

LOL 70v....Im sticking with 12V and moving to 30v

[dreamyear]

can it explode mist water?

[decod31]

I doubt the ignition coil alone can do it, but if you charge a large cap with HV from it then perhaps. Never tried.

[4freenrg]

Sweet plasma Decod31! 5 stars Hey can I get a parts list and schematic from you for this? I must have one.

[decod31]

Check the description (expand it). There are links to schematics and stuff...

[Mushu909]

at least pickpockets will stay away from you now

[Mushu909]

at least pickpockets will stay away from you now

[niwakun444]

how many volts do u think that is

[decod31]

About 80kV. It is mentioned in the description. Its not a directly measured value but based on the primary voltage value and transformer ratio. The distance would seem to support that range.

[drbroccoli1]

For how long that that thing run? I imagine it overheats quickly!

[decod31]

I never tried running it more than maybe 30s relatively continuously. The coils didn't seem to heat that much really but the MOSFET and its (small) heat sink were quite hot.

[lo9765]

you should use more than 1 mosfet and apply they on a big heatsink

[Aeryk333]

Awsum!

[wildhart7]

woo hoo decod is the ignition coil king, he can get more out of 2 ignition coils than 1 flyback!!!

[Aeryk333]

Flybacks can do pretty the same things. It's just the question of taste. ^^