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Jacob's Ladder
y0d4 Posted: 9 Jun 2017, 11:00 PM
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 Hi,

is there more info about project Jacob's Ladder? :)

tnx.!

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mit Posted: 10 Jun 2017, 11:28 AM
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yeah whatever

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 Hi. This was just a funny project, sorry for lack of detail, I wasn't really expecting it to get featured on hackaday.

I spent dozens of hours trying to develop the right power supply without success. Then I discovered these cheap high voltage modules from china, like this one:

(User posted image)


I bought a load of them, and it turns out they're no good either. Most of them continuously build up the voltage until an arc forms, then fully discharge and start over. This means the arcing frequency is dependent on the space between the electrodes - close together, and it's a continous arc, but far apart and it's just intermittent.

Eventually I found what I was looking for, this is a potted transformer that I pulled out of an "arc lighter":

(User posted image)


That's about 10mm square.

It's driven by a big power transistor which is clamped to the metal plate. I didn't take any pictures of the inside, sorry. But in short, the type of HV module you want to use for this is the "arc lighter" type, not the "ignition" type. Then again they're all only about $3 on aliexpress so it might be easiest to buy all of them.

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y0d4 Posted: 13 Jun 2017, 08:36 PM
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 smart idea!
and good news that i have all this :)
Tell me just how to connect, because this potted transformer from lighter is "black box", cannot understand what is what because i have 3 wires..
(User posted image)


tnx.

Last edit by y0d4 at 13 Jun 2017, 08:38 PM

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mit Posted: 13 Jun 2017, 11:43 PM
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 Ah, nice, that looks like the same transformer but a different driver circuit to the one I used. If it's currently working, and the arc is stable enough to do a jacob's ladder, the only mod you need to do is improve the heat dissipation.

What's on the back of the green board? is there an obvious power transistor driving it?

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y0d4 Posted: 9 Jul 2017, 06:47 PM
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 Hi, again me with delay :)
So, here it is other side..

(User posted image)


but seems that this don`t work anymore or i don`t know how to "click" (turn on) him, because i don`t have light led anymore on him to triger spark..

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mit Posted: 11 Jul 2017, 06:25 PM
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 Ah, that looks promising. The big square black thing is almost certainly an NPN transistor driving it. You could desolder that and mount it on a heatsink.

But if the circuit isn't working, it might be worth buying a brand new module.

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mit Posted: 20 Aug 2017, 11:08 PM
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 In case it helps anyone else:

QUOTE

Hello,

I just discovered your project and I'm so excited to attempt my first Jacobs ladder. I'm new to this sort of thing so I have a few questions. I bought an arc lighter for the transformer, is the driver in the lighter powerful enough or should I buy a different transistor and make a new circuit? Also are the resistor ma you're using 1M ohm? Also, what is the name of the part that you use to connect the copper wires to the box called? Are they just wire connectors or something? And lastly is there anything else that's important a newbie should know before attempting this? Thanks and sorry for all of the questions!

Thanks,


QUOTE (mit)

Hi,

The driver might be fine as it is, I only replaced the transistor in mine because the one it came with burnt out during testing. Just keep checking the temperature while testing and you should be ok. I used that 3mm aluminium plate and some thermal compound to try and help.

Yep, the resistors are 1 megaohm.

The connectors were made from steel stock on a lathe. I'm not sure if you can buy anything ready-made that would do. There's also lots of insulation around their bases, because the wood is slightly conductive at these voltages.

Good luck!


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sanlaxbij Posted: 26 May 2018, 11:32 AM
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 Hello Sir,
I m student from extc branch and i found and came to know about jacob ladder as i don't know very well about it how it works and all.
Can you please provide its compelete guide to DIY of it.
Amongst all the jacob ladder version your was quiet impressive and best and more compact.
Please provide full complete DIY guide to make it along with
Circuit Diagram.....

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mit Posted: 26 May 2018, 11:43 AM
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 Hi, I have been meaning to make a tutorial for a while but I've been too busy.

I have found that you can also buy kits for the high voltage part though. If you search aliexpress for "diy high voltage generator" you'll find a lot different kits which are all very cheap and potentially contain all that you need. I haven't tried them all out, of course.

I'm not sure of the actual schematic for the one in the video, because I started with an arc lighter and swapped some components out, then burnt out part of the circuit and replaced another bit, and it's all a mess really.

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RobertJ Posted: 20 Dec 2018, 07:00 PM
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 Hey Mit...I work at a radio shop and have access to all sorts of goodies...I have been wanting to make your mini portable Jacobs ladder to put on display with some of our other interesting items and I was curious if you could possibly just slap up a quick build list of the items necessary and or possibly a tutorial? Thanks a bunch.

Robert Jordan
Banner Communications

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mit Posted: 22 Dec 2018, 04:06 PM
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 Not much more information I can give you, sorry. Try one of those high-voltage kits from aliexpress. Or one of the electric arc-lighters.

I can't really remember what I did to get it to not make the transistor burn out, apart from adding a heat-sink. But I don't think you could have it working as a continuous display. If it's a permanent fixture, you would be better off finding an old transformer / power supply for a neon lamp and using that.

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mailalan Posted: 29 Jan 2021, 04:04 PM
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 Can you tell me where you got the sockets that the copper wires slip into or what those are?



(User posted image)


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mit Posted: 30 Jan 2021, 12:43 AM
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 I made them from steel on a lathe. (You can see they're slightly uneven because I just did it by eye.)

I don't know of any ready-made parts which would be equivalent.

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mailalan Posted: 30 Jan 2021, 01:13 AM
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 Oh, very nice! Thanks for the info.

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