I was wondering if I could make a plasma speaker by just taking a transformer and running a 30khz sinewave through it.. and then just playing audio through it..
would it work or would i need something far more advanced than that?
Sorry if this is in the wrong place I haven't gotten a clue where I should of posted this..
would it work or would i need something far more advanced than that?
Sorry if this is in the wrong place I haven't gotten a clue where I should of posted this..
i got a light bulb to light up with a 23khz tone sine wave generated in audacity with a sample rate of 600,000
and a small transformer hooked up to my 400 watt amplifier
the light bulb just lit right up and if i hold it with my hand it glows brighter
must be a very powerful amplifier to do that
i tried running an audio signal through it along with the 23khz tone and it didn't do much but it did make a little sound lol
and a small transformer hooked up to my 400 watt amplifier
the light bulb just lit right up and if i hold it with my hand it glows brighter
must be a very powerful amplifier to do that
i tried running an audio signal through it along with the 23khz tone and it didn't do much but it did make a little sound lol
There's a lot of unknowns there
Voltage rating of the bulb, and was it a filament bulb or a flourescent type. Also the transformer type and how it was connected. Mains transformers work best at low frequencies. For high frequencies special small transformers are used.
For safety remember that even ordinary transformers fed from an audio amplifier can generate very high voltages. Enough to give a severe shock.
To ionise the air and cause a plasma arc needs voltages of many thousands of volts, far far more than you'll be able to generate.
Also a very real issue is that you could end up damaging your amplifier by using it into highly inductive loads like a transformer.
Voltage rating of the bulb, and was it a filament bulb or a flourescent type. Also the transformer type and how it was connected. Mains transformers work best at low frequencies. For high frequencies special small transformers are used.
For safety remember that even ordinary transformers fed from an audio amplifier can generate very high voltages. Enough to give a severe shock.
To ionise the air and cause a plasma arc needs voltages of many thousands of volts, far far more than you'll be able to generate.
Also a very real issue is that you could end up damaging your amplifier by using it into highly inductive loads like a transformer.
i only use one side of the transformer... in series with the light bulb and output of the amplifier..
and the light bulb is just a florescent light bulb normal 20/24 watt 120 volt 60hz
but it works best at high frequencys up to 45.6khz
and it's a random transformer pulled out of a not working TV and messed with it till it finally worked..
and it has to be a super high voltage to make the tube light up in the light bulb..
far more than 24 volts
And my power supply that powers the amplifier only puts out 12 volts old computer power supply.... only puts out 250 watts just barely over half of what my amplifier could put out.. but it gets the job done...
and the light bulb is just a florescent light bulb normal 20/24 watt 120 volt 60hz
but it works best at high frequencys up to 45.6khz
and
it's a random transformer pulled out of a not working TV and messed with it till it finally worked..and it has to be a super high voltage to make the tube light up in the light bulb..
far more than 24 volts
And my power supply that powers the amplifier only puts out 12 volts
old computer power supply.... only puts out 250 watts just barely over half of what my amplifier could put out.. but it gets the job done...
A very good way to let the magic smoke out of your amplifier.
In *series*? One side of the transformer?? That's a choke.
Best to read some more before doing too many "experiments" of this sort, unless you have amps to burn, or money to burn.
Fwiw, lighting a fluorescent light is not the equivalent of making a plasma speaker. There are a number of threads on that here.
In *series*? One side of the transformer?? That's a choke.
Best to read some more before doing too many "experiments" of this sort, unless you have amps to burn, or money to burn.
Fwiw, lighting a fluorescent light is not the equivalent of making a plasma speaker. There are a number of threads on that here.
I know... a plasma speaker is an extremely high voltage spark more than 30khz with an audio signal through it.... right?
and my amplifier has nearly infinite impedance when I checked the light bulb...
and with the transformer as well... raising the impedance even more... it's probably close to infinite..
but at high frequency the impedance would go down
but not a lot
My amp didnt even get slightly warm after a minute of lighting the light bulb up..
so i think it's hardly using any energy.. because the light bulb only takes 20 watts...
and my amplifier has nearly infinite impedance when I checked the light bulb...
and with the transformer as well... raising the impedance even more... it's probably close to infinite..
but at high frequency the impedance would go down
but not a lot
My amp didnt even get slightly warm after a minute of lighting the light bulb up..
so i think it's hardly using any energy.. because the light bulb only takes 20 watts...
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it takes a few seconds to start the tone in the program but it works and i completely can't hear it at all
I'm surprised my amplifier actually goes up to that frequency... its only a $55 amp from wall-mart
One time I tried 1,000,000hz with 1.5million samples per second (not enough for 1 million hz) it worked but it took a minute to load the tone and generate it..
Although nothing happened on the speaker output lol
I'm surprised my amplifier actually goes up to that frequency... its only a $55 amp from wall-mart
One time I tried 1,000,000hz with 1.5million samples per second (not enough for 1 million hz) it worked but it took a minute to load the tone and generate it..
Although nothing happened on the speaker output lol
Quoted~"the decimals are not needed i just felt like putting them there to make it easier to read as 1 million hz.."
Your information is then false and misleading....Please don't do this as we are trying to help you to learn.
Therefore please try to use the proper terms and if you are not sure just ask!!!
It is better to not know than to give out the wrong information.
I enjoy your inquisitiveness and like teaching this kind of stuff as it remind's me of myself when I First started learning about electronics.
I learned and studied everything I could find and Vacuum tubes and High Voltages were a common thing then.
There are many very important rules about working with such devices and technologies or else one wrong move could mean the end of ones life.
Plasma Speakers and Tesla Coil's fall into that Category !!!
Before you can even think about getting one to work you must know the math and theory behind how and why it works.
Knowing Ohms law is a must to start with, and, knowing the difference between HZ, Khz and Mhz is a bigger one to know as they all interact with one another.
You must also learn how to properly use a multimeter and the difference between a volt meter and amp meter (ammeter) and how to use them otherwise you will just continue to blowup parts not knowing why this happened ot keeps happening !!
I know this because done this and not so long ago even though I do know the difference.
I took out three DMM's in a row.
Luckily they were just some $3 cheapy's and it had nothing to do with knowing or not knowing ohms law.
It had every thing to do with High Voltage Rf that was being generated that I was not aware of at the time.
This is the type of energy that tesla coils produce and I have it documented in a thread called "step up transformer design".
Cheers !!
jer
Your information is then false and misleading....Please don't do this as we are trying to help you to learn.
Therefore please try to use the proper terms and if you are not sure just ask!!!
It is better to not know than to give out the wrong information.
I enjoy your inquisitiveness and like teaching this kind of stuff as it remind's me of myself when I First started learning about electronics.
I learned and studied everything I could find and Vacuum tubes and High Voltages were a common thing then.
There are many very important rules about working with such devices and technologies or else one wrong move could mean the end of ones life.
Plasma Speakers and Tesla Coil's fall into that Category !!!
Before you can even think about getting one to work you must know the math and theory behind how and why it works.
Knowing Ohms law is a must to start with, and, knowing the difference between HZ, Khz and Mhz is a bigger one to know as they all interact with one another.
You must also learn how to properly use a multimeter and the difference between a volt meter and amp meter (ammeter) and how to use them otherwise you will just continue to blowup parts not knowing why this happened ot keeps happening !!
I know this because done this and not so long ago even though I do know the difference.
I took out three DMM's in a row.
Luckily they were just some $3 cheapy's and it had nothing to do with knowing or not knowing ohms law.
It had every thing to do with High Voltage Rf that was being generated that I was not aware of at the time.
This is the type of energy that tesla coils produce and I have it documented in a thread called "step up transformer design".
Cheers !!
jer
Might I suggest that you refer to the following page for further info in a plasma tweeter.
Roger Russell's Ionophone Ionovac Page
I have read that they run at anywhere from 1MHz to 10MHz. This is not really hard to generate these days with modern semiconductors and driver ICs but it does start to take a fair amount of knowledge about RF to make it work well.
Then there is the mechanical side of things. In the case of the ionovac there is the need of precision machine work not only on quartz glass but also on the high temperature coronal discharge electrode, than material of which is an exotic... Read that to mean EXPENSIVE!
As others have pointed out there are some real technical hurdles to be overcome and some very smart people have tried in the past with limited success. If in fact Nelson had played with the idea and walked away from it after getting bitten I might let that weigh a bit more heavily. Nelson is not an idiot by any stretch of the imagination.
Mike
Roger Russell's Ionophone Ionovac Page
I have read that they run at anywhere from 1MHz to 10MHz. This is not really hard to generate these days with modern semiconductors and driver ICs but it does start to take a fair amount of knowledge about RF to make it work well.
Then there is the mechanical side of things. In the case of the ionovac there is the need of precision machine work not only on quartz glass but also on the high temperature coronal discharge electrode, than material of which is an exotic... Read that to mean EXPENSIVE!
As others have pointed out there are some real technical hurdles to be overcome and some very smart people have tried in the past with limited success. If in fact Nelson had played with the idea and walked away from it after getting bitten I might let that weigh a bit more heavily. Nelson is not an idiot by any stretch of the imagination.
Mike
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