Demo Fusor First Plasma Test

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Filippo_Passeri
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Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:10 pm
Real name: Filippo Passeri
Location: Czech Republic

Demo Fusor First Plasma Test

Post by Filippo_Passeri »

Hello, everyone.

This was the first plasma test on my fusor and its first vacuum.
The point of this test was to test the insulation on the cathode, and the electrodes in the vacuum, high voltage environment.
The test was brief, but it had revealed some elemental design flaws.

Such as, the decision to use PVC tube as an insulating material between the cathode and the feedthrough.
During the test, the PVC insulation was being melted and has partly undergone pyrolysis (carbonisation).
Meanwhile, a thin black layer of material deposited onto the central grid and it's very hard to clean it.
I suspect it's deposited carbon from the "burning" PVC insulation or simply the burned varnish that burned under the intense heat. Either way, a new central grid is needed.
I plan to replace the PVC insulation with a sawed-off glass test-tube and the central grid with some other metal not covered in varnish.

The pressure was not determined.

The voltage got to around -550 volts.
The current meter could not for some reason measure the current.
I suspect the current went beyond the measuring range. Either it was very low or very high.

Further tests needed.
IMAG0040.jpg
The whole body of the Demo Fusor. Vacuum pump not included.
The whole body of the Demo Fusor. Vacuum pump not included.
Top to bottom view.
Top to bottom view.
Whole body of the Fusor during the test. Notice the digital panels and their outputs and the burning insulation under the inner grid.
Whole body of the Fusor during the test. Notice the digital panels and their outputs and the burning insulation under the inner grid.
Close up of the grids.
Close up of the grids.
Another close-up of the grids.
Another close-up of the grids.
Central grid covered in carbon and it's burned insulation.
Central grid covered in carbon and it's burned insulation.
"Will you remember the famous men who have to fall and then to rise again,
So take a deep breath, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again."

-Frank Sinatra Jr
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