2 kilowatt Jacob's Ladder. 15,000 volts

So you wanted to see a Jacob's Ladder? Well, here is a Jacob's Ladder on steroids! This is 15,000 volts at nearly 2,000 Watts! Imagine the same amount of power your microwave oven uses being transformed into a flaming high voltage arc. I have all 4 of my neon transformers connected together in parallel for 15 kilovolts at 120 milliamps. (The second pair of transformers is to the right, out of view of the camera frame.)

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Jacob's
• Ladder
• high
• voltage
• electricity
• hot
• power
• sparks
• arcing

[Nvidiaguides]

This is 0.75 amps isn't it?

[ct92404]

@Nvidiaguides

No, the output is 15,000 volts at about .12 amps. Remember, transformers convert voltage and current, but the overall power remains the same. So 120 volts x 3.75 amps input = 1,800 Watts and is the same as 15,000 volts x .12 amps. The power (1,800 watts) is the same even though the transformer increases the voltage.

[prankmypants]

hi just wondering if you know a way that i can make a 12v / 5v tesla coil as a small starter project. also can you explain the differences/benefits/disadvant­ages of using solid state vs normal tesla coils. thanks

[ct92404]

A normal spark-gap Tesla Coil can handle a LOT more power. Solid State Tesla Coils are quieter and can be built smaller, but the driver circuit is more sensitive to high frequency kickback. Spark gap coils are more durable and last longer....there's no fragile electronic components to burn out. I built the Tesla Coil in my videos almost 10 years ago and it still works great.

[ct92404]

I did buid a small Tesla Coil one time that ran on 12 volts though. I wired a 12v relay so that it would vibrate by itself to make pulsating DC, and then I used that to power an ignition transformer. It used a conventional spark gap and capacitors. I actually got pretty good sparks from it, considering I was only powering it with 12 volts.

[Nvidiaguides]

@ct92404 Darn, I had a dumb ass moment and got the division the wrong way around :L I thought 0.75 was massively high for what it is.

[ubuntupokemoninc]

@vevenaneathna

that wasn't a transformer it was a ballast with multiple taps comming out for different current!

[remzi133]

How many kv is 'one' transformer?

[Serostern]

@ct92404 I got, err, a dozen MOTs for free. Just connect in series, dump in some oil and you got yourself a 24kv outlet =)

[Jutisan]

thats cool now tell me where do i buy one and how to turn it on it gives a mad scientists feel doesnt it??

[vevenaneathna]

okay so someone tell me what the fuck i did wrong

i got a floricent tube light, took the tranformer out, and it had 2 wires going into it, 7 comming out of it. i paired up 4 and 2 wires for ether side of the lights, and i still had this last green wire that looked like some kinda ground wire. i plugged it in and nothing happened, so i touched the green wire to one of the contacts and a bright flash went off and fried my extension cord.

[lacanau]

@shualli yes it does.

For example linking a number of microwave transformers in series to get your desired voltage can be very dangerous!

make sure you read a safety manual or guide for working with high voltage.