Fusor Electrode Design

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Silas Harvey
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2019 2:16 pm
Real name: Silas Harvey

Fusor Electrode Design

Post by Silas Harvey »

Hello,

I am building a demonstration fusor as a personal project. I am still in the design stage at the moment, however I hope to start construction fairly soon.
Basic Fusor Design
Basic Fusor Design

I have attached a picture of a rough design I have drawn out. I appreciate that it is not the best of drawings, so I will try to explain.

On the left hand side of the drawing (Design One) , I have drawn the box where my circuitry will reside in and a bell jar on top. The bell jar is clear all round, apart from the bottom (which is concealed in the box). The bottom piece (The lid of the jar) is made of metal, acting as the negative electrode.

On the right hand side (Design Two) , I have drawn a similar image, however it has the addition of a metal plate over the top of the glass jar. In this design the top of the bell jar would be cut out, so the metal plate on the top could also act as the negative electrode. (As well as the plate on the bottom)



I am aware that the electricity flows from negative to positive, so I wondered whether the first design was less efficient. My reasoning is that the ions are only flowing in one direction, whereas in a fusor, ions are ideally supposed to flow from all directions. I created the second design so that the ions would flow from both the top and the bottom of the chamber.

I am planning on this fusor only being for demonstration. I will be pleased if it can generate plasma and I even dare to hope that it could go "star mode". As this is only a demo, I am leaning towards the first design, as it offers all round visibility. However I don't want the want the performance of the fusor to be negatively affected.

My question is which design should I use?
Thank you all in advance!


P.S
I apologies if I did anything incorrectly. Tell me and I will do my best to correct it! :)
Silaspace

"Mathematicians embrace infinity,
Engineers aggrieve it,
Programmers, being both mathematicians and engineers, are obliged to ignore it lest their heads explode."
ian_krase
Posts: 636
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2016 2:48 am
Real name: Ian Krase

Re: Fusor Electrode Design

Post by ian_krase »

I think the second design is favorable for a different reason: strong Pyrex glass cylinders are much cheaper and easier to find than vacuum-rated bell jars.
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