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Re: Oil Transformer Demo Fusor Diagram

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 9:56 pm
by Josh Smith
What I had in place before was the fusor chamber and transformer casing both connected to a wall outlet ground, however I connected a ground from the fusor chamber to the transformer instead, and it worked! I still suspected it was an issue with the diodes, so after I turned up the power all the way and saw the pressure spike up, I was completely puzzled until I looked into the chamber and saw the plasma :). Thank you, Rex, for pointing out grounding the chamber to the transformer, I would've never guessed to do what you suggested, as I assumed it was already grounded. I'm guessing the chamber needed ground potential in order for it to complete the electric field, or something similar to that. I have a pack of 500 or so 1% resistors, so I should be able to make the 400K resistor, as you suggest, however I made sure to get a 10 kV rated 100 meg resistor from mouser electronics instead. I do still have the other resistors, though, to use them in a series for higher voltages whenever I get to that point. Everything I ordered is coming in tomorrow, and with my amazing time management skills, the science fair my school signed me up for is on Saturday, so it looks like I'm going to have to pull a few all nighters in order to collect all of my data and analyze it and whatnot, however, with the advice you guys have given me, it should be doable. Even though it isn't ideal, I'm going to use an arduino to measure the voltage for the current - like Richard said, it's barely OK but I'll have to make do with it, as it's a much better alternative to the voltage with the 8 bit USB meter. Fortunately, though, I can still use the dual-channel meter to measure the pressure from my Edward's pirani gauge, as it measures from a range of 2-10 volts, and the voltage, using the schematic you provided to me to make a 1 V/1 kV ratio. I'll update you guys on my progress once I get everything set up. And, once again, thank you guys so much for helping out; it's been immensely helpful.

Here's what the plasma looks like, the night one being pumped down for only a minute and the other for about half an hour. (Don't make fun of my grid :(, I still need to make a better one.) I'm hoping to get some awards at this science fair to fund my next steps towards making an actual fusor, however I still think I have a lot to learn from this demo fusor before I start making the next step. And here's a picture of my general setup as well, with some connections unplugged, in case any of you were curious.

Re: Oil Transformer Demo Fusor Diagram

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 3:33 pm
by Richard Hull
Good work Josh and good luck in the Science Fair.
I have logged you into the Plasma club.

Richard Hull