High Voltage

By Alex Hand
Category: Electronics, Workshop
Time Required: 30 minutes - 2 hours
Difficulty: Moderate

I would like to show a few things

Where to get a flyback

1. How to build a 555 timer driver circuit

High voltage safety
Dangers of this project
Typical application

Steps

Step #1:

First off, you will need a chicken stick if you plan to play with high voltages. Always have a chicken stick handy to maximize your safety when playing with high voltage.
What is a chicken stick? Basically it is a insulating rod that will protect you from high voltages. You clip an alligator clip to HV ground, and then you bring the conducting tip to the HV+. This creates and arc that will not jump back and electrocute the user as long as it was built properly.
Step 1: Get a long, thick piece of conducting metal
Step 2: Get a long enough rod that will not conduct electricity. PVC works best. But wood will work to as long as it is no where near wet. Also, if you send enough electricity through wood it will become a conductor. So be careful.
Step 3: Solder an alligator clip to a LONG wire.
Step 4: Solder the new wire to the thick piece of conducting metal.
Step 5: Tape the thick piece of wire to the long insulating rod that you are using as the pole for your chicken stick. Make sure it is secure, the last thing you need is to have it fall off during use.

Conclusion

High voltage is fun. But also incredibly dangerous. This circuit creates so many ions that everything else becomes charged. Be careful or you may zap your chips through excess charge or you'll shock yourself.

If you touch the high voltage wires you will most likely die. ONLY BUILD WITH FRIENDS (So they can call 9-1-1 when your heart stops) WITH SEASONED ENGINEERS/VETERANS, AND ABOVE ALL ELSE JUST BE SAFE.

If you are smart about this project it is no more dangerous then mains electricity. Please handle with care.

One Response to High Voltage

Alex Hand on April 2nd, 2012 at 1:02 pm said:

Unfortunately I pushed my MOSFETS to far and they exploded before I could finish… I plan to get new ones from a TV soon.

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