DIY Ionic air cleaner.

[tade]

I want to build an ionic air cleaner from scratch. I will have some thin wires and a plate of aluminum. I would like to use a kit off of the internet for the high voltage supply. I would like your advice on the choice of these parts especially in terms of what voltage and current it needs to deliver.
Thanks!

[MikeB]

May i suggest to skip this idea ? An ionic air cleaner forms a giant capacitor charged with several thousand volts, one touch and you're dead...
The answer to your question is that the supply will be several kv but minimal current as it only needs to charge the plates. The voltage will depend on the distance of your plates/wires.
The wires will become radioactive as they'll collect radon.

Mike

[johnthedoctor]

I don't doubt that there are lethal designs around but there are safe ones as well.

The one I built wasn't lethal, didn't even get a tingle from touching the output. I don't have the circuit now but it used a 12v dc wall wart, conveted that to ac then used a capacitor/resistor ladder network to get the hv. (Called a Colpitts multiplier?)

[Ron E]

The issue with these high voltage filters is that they emit ozone, which is not good for you. They also don't have enough airflow without a fan to actually clean the air in a room. Their advantage, quiet and no filters to replace.

Maybe someone wants a quiet, cleanable "filter", poorly functioning unit that gives off harmful chemicals, but I don't. It might make an interesting design challenge, though....

[tade]

I think I may use a kit like this one:
http://www.mpja.com/productview.asp?product=6057+KT
for the high voltage supply. I plan on fixing a taught wire behind a piece of flat aluminum bar from lowes. should I hook the output of this generator be put to the taught wire and ground the plate.
I am confident working with the high voltages involved.
Thanks

[jcx]

apparently ozone can eat your rubber parts:

http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/A...084/11084.html

http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/I...rticleID=11379

[johnthedoctor]

I don't understand the reason for using plates, all the ionisers I've seen have needles or similar. Plates I've only seen on diy ozone gennies.

How much 'air cleaning' do you need/want? an ioniser won't do much (still worth having imo but not for odour control) and using ozone for odour control is 'needs must and I can't afford activated charcoal'.

Let me know if it's an ozone generator you want. They're easy enough to build but no way I'd ever leave one on for more than a few minutes, the diy units produce way too much.

[I_Forgot]

12VDC to 15kVDC converter: $6

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.co...p?number=G9695

120VAC to 7.5 kVDC: $11

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.co...p?number=G1783

I_F

[I_Forgot]

Originally posted by MikeB
May i suggest to skip this idea ? An ionic air cleaner forms a giant capacitor charged with several thousand volts, one touch and you're dead...

As long as the capacitance is small- and it is if there is any distance at all between the "electrodes", and the current from the power source is limited to a very tiny value (and it usually is) there is no need to worry about electrocution. Of course, you don't want to be making sparks in an explosive atmosphere...

The wires will become radioactive as they'll collect radon.

The ionizer will tend to collect dust particles. Radon is a gas. No problem.

I_F

[MikeB]

About the radon thing, it was a school experiment, a long wire was electrically charged (don't remember the polarity) for a day, then the radioactivity was measurable. I know radon is a gas, i don't know what exactly is collected, but it is based on radon...

The air cleaner i have seen seemed to work different, it had many large paralell charged plates with air blown through them. On days with high humidity it sometimes discharged with a spark giving very loud bangs.

Mike