Ozone Generator -- Power Supply Failure

I put this Ozone Generator together last week. It seems to have worked great. Unfortunately the neon sign transformer blew out after two minuets.

Neon sign transformer: 7500V AC at 30MA. FranceFormer brand. "Secondary Mid-Point Grounded." No ground fault interrupt circuit.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Ozone
• Zone
• generator
• corona
• discharge
• neon
• sign
• transformer
• tube
• hv
• high
• voltage
• power
• supply

[TehMG]

Why would you want to produce ozone into the air in your house?

[matts2007]

That's part of the controversy about ozone generators. Look at some of the articles on the web. A local store has one for rent, so I decided to cheaply create my own. I want to observe their effectiveness at deodorizing.

[ScottieNiven]

Have you found what blew the transformer? i would personally try to build my own transformer for this kind of project.

[matts2007]

Yes, after more research I found that the neon sign transformer failed due to the capacitance effect. The two plates with aluminum mesh acted as large capacitors. Due to the capacitance, the secondary windings experienced over-voltage. This ultimately resulted in isolation failure in the secondary windings.

[sownzgr8]

avoid the cheap ones made in china, they last a month

[vincesoz]

you burned through the glass.. take off the metal mesh and you'll see a hole or multiple holes through the glass. You need to have a small space between the mesh and the glass in order for the air to pass through the corona or else it will burn through and cause an arch through the insulation (glass).

[IcechickenSr]

I watched your later Spark gap video which was cool but I agree it looks unsafe which is why I go UV O3 . But I'd like to build a CD for Smelly room shock treatment as they put out much more. Could it be that your plates were just too large and to many of them for this transformer? I have seen many run for years but with smaller plates and ighter mesh possibly lowering the capacitence. As you mention I belive they were too large and tight mesh Steel screen should have been used.

[wizardofp]

I work with four professional power supply designers.  I asked them about the capacitance effect you mention and they all said "Huh?"

They all agree that you are burning out your transformer because the capacitance is too high, which is virtually shorting out the transformer. The

secret is to lower your capacitance. Check the transformer power with a

clamp-on ammeter.

[normellow]

Hey chief , Ya have to be able to see how much current your drawing on the primary side. If your drawing more than its rater for your going to over heat the primary coil and burn it out . Also you can have adjustable glass plates to vary the load draw . and you can put your metal grates in series to lessin the load.

[swompyskippy]

i made one for the green stuff!! only 1 sheet of glass and two alli sheets i done the same with the silicone but you need to make sure the alli sheets are smaller than the glass as the sheets will arc out...i built mine about nine years ago and its still woorking now...i used a tunewell neon sign transformer input 230v 50hz 1.9a

output 4kv -e- 4kv 50ma/65ma.....regards swompy

[GritchyGreenMan]

you should make a Jacob ladder and post a video never seen one actually I guess I could search one anyways....

[upcycle]

seems like there is alot of metla around the plates and transformer elctronics for potential arcing. No clear on conductivity resistanst of PVC. Possibly the PVC pipe may not be adquate conductivity buffer?

[o0JohnnyReb0o]

Search on google, there is a site that shows how to repair your transformer, put it on a electric stove and heat up the tar, then pour it intoa box then take of the burned winding and put it back in the box and fill it with household wax

[o0JohnnyReb0o]

I always saw on internet that franceformers are the most reliable transformers but it doesn't seem to be true.