New to HV ?

For those of you thinking about high voltage, please read and understand this page fully, I will assume that you have only basic knowledge of electricity and try to take you through this step by step.

The first thing to remember is that electricity can kill if mishandled, but don't let this put you off, if you do everything right, and ask questions if you are unsure of what you are doing, it's far better to wait a day or so for an answer than cause yourself harm.

If you are young, it is important to let your parents know what you are doing, show them this page, show them videos, and at least do the first experiments with them there watching, once they are happy you are safe, and getting help, they should be able to trust you to work on your own.

There are many circuits out there for ZVS drivers or Flyback drivers, these use the flyback transformer from old CRT TV's, a knowledge of electronics is needed for these, but are relatively safe, you can still get a shock and/or a burn, but will not cause lasting damage to you. If your electronics knowledge is lacking, then read on.

It is recommended that your first serious transformer is a Neon Sign Transformer (NST) or an Oil Burner Ignition Transformer (OBIT), you can pick these up on ebay, or for the OBIT maybe a heating engineer, or for the NST a sign maker

Assuming you get one, the thing to note is that these usually have a centre tapped secondary which is connected internally to the frame, so a 10KV transformer will be 5 - 0 - 5 KV.

Once you have the transformer, be sure you understand how to connect the mains supply safely, including the ground wire, in both cases there are usually 2 high voltage connections, connect a wire to one, the other end of the wire can be taped onto an insulated stick, keeping the wire away from everything, power up the transformer, then bring the end of the wire close to the other terminal, you should see a good arc, this may startle you a bit so be prepared, get comfortable with making arcs, don't do this for too long, things will get hot Turn off power before putting down the stick.

Now you need to decide what your goal is, a Jacob's Ladder is simple and effective. Or if you have the funds you may want to move on to a Tesla coil. I suggest starting simple so you get to understand the design stage and the concept. Simplest of all is a tabletop coil, and depending on funds you can build a relatively cheap bucket capacitor, or you can buy several capacitors of the right type to construct a MMC bank.

When you get to thinking of a Tesla coil, do some research, ask questions.

You can always ask for advice in my discord link can be found in the navigation panel to the left



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