Fun Stuff to Buy and Build

Home grown Plasma Speaker designs from our own LPF HV Experimenters

Plasma Speaker - by Atomicrox





Plasma Speaker - by ionlaser555


STTC Version

VTTC Version

Audio Modulated ZVS

My Plasma Speaker! - by Fiddy






Plasma Speaker & HV Circuits - by Le Quack

Built for Tech_Junkie

Built for Tech_Junkie

Built for Sigurthr



Plasma Speaker – by Jorad
The Best John - Design, Development and Geekery - The Plasma Speaker Saga pt.iii
Plasma Speaker on Vimeo

O yea those look like fun, I want a couple to play with :eg:

Stuff is always more interesting when its has a high voltage warning sticker

Me likey!

Here's anoher one: a MOT I recovered from an old microwave oven that some asshole dumped in front of my house..


Shit's so bright my eyes kept seeing the "inverted image" several seconds after turning it off.

WOW, those plasma speakers are awesome. I didn't even know that existed/was possible. I really want to build one but i have no idea! The only thing i have that could possible be used to build it is a corsair 650W PSU, thats about it. What else do i need?

A 650W PSU will serve well as power source but you have to do some modifications.
I posted the schematics here in case you wanna give it a shot

I will look at that after school, thanks for sharing
I gotta go eat breakast; ttyl

A somewhat related question - does anyone know how to ballast a MOT with something other than a MOT? Any chance a fluorescent lamp reactor would work?

I would answer your question but i dont even know what you are saying

I guess its not possible to buy a plasma speaker not that big and in a case?

The Baron said:

I would answer your question but i dont even know what you are saying

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MOT = microwave oven transformer, you can plug it directly to mains but it overheats unless you can find something to limit current (ballast)

borgqueenx said:

I guess its not possible to buy a plasma speaker not that big and in a case?

Click to expand...

It should be possible to make a considerably smaller one and put it in a nice case but it's not something you'll find in a store and you'd still need a power source. I remember Le Quack having a video of a much smaller one all soldered up nicely on a PCB, you might want to ask him if he can build one for you.

Heh, why am I not in this thread? XD You've got my permission to drag up the Tesla Coil links/vids/threads I posted in the geek corner and add them to the collection. I'm still working on the audio modulated Solid State Tesla Coil though, as things get tricky at >1kW of power. Plenty of videos of arcs and streamers to be found though!

Atomicrox said:

A somewhat related question - does anyone know how to ballast a MOT with something other than a MOT? Any chance a fluorescent lamp reactor would work?

Click to expand...

The problem is that VA rating of a reactor is proportional to it's physical size (I forget the actual formula to convert VA in to cm^3 of cross sectional area). So any reactor which can handle the 1.5KVA a MOT can draw would have to be as big as a 1.5KVA MOT... so why not just use a mot.

borgqueenx said:

I guess its not possible to buy a plasma speaker not that big and in a case?

Click to expand...

I'm sure a special order from someone like Le Quack or myself would be quite feasible and rather inexpensive. I don't think you'll find any kits or ready-made commercial products near the price range we'd offer though. In fact, the only one I know of (which is of exceptional quality btw) that is available is EVR's Flyback Driver 2.0 for $120 Eastern Voltage Research - Universal Flyback Driver 2.0 Kit .

*Note, I am not accepting orders at this time due to work schedule. Inquiries should be directed to Le Quack himself about the status of his electronics sales.

madmacmo said:

Sigurthr,
My apologies as I assure you I meant no slight on your part whatsoever, as I have not yet taken on a search and collection of Tesla Coil specific vids; however I will look into doing so in similiar fashion as I did with the Plasma Speakers at my next opportunity of having a bit of free time.

btw – I will be glad to give video evidence of your penchant for devilishly dangerous toys top billing and in marquee fashion (for a small fee perhaps :shhh

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Haha, no worries mate, my playful tone in that post didn't quite come across in the text. I just didn't want to be left out =). I've also made plenty of regular HV stuff if you're interested. All can be found on my YT page youtube.com/romenadan and linked in various spots here at LPF (but it is a lot harder to find them all).

Sigurthr said:

The problem is that VA rating of a reactor is proportional to it's physical size (I forget the actual formula to convert VA in to cm^3 of cross sectional area). So any reactor which can handle the 1.5KVA a MOT can draw would have to be as big as a 1.5KVA MOT... so why not just use a mot.

Click to expand...

Makes sense, thing is I've only got one MOT :/
I've read about people using hair dryers but that sounds like a bad idea..

Hairdryers are resistive loads (some people use toasters... slightly safer, but not by much!) and will waste the energy they limit by changing it in to heat. Reactive ballasts like with a second MOT produce very little heat and waste very little energy.

I understand, I only have one MOT as well, and I live out in the country where there are no neighbors, garbage collection, or dumps/recycling centers. If I had a second MOT I'd wire the two up and have a 1875VA 3kV Isolation Transformer... which would cost about >$1000 if it were commercial grade and not made from repurposed MOTs. It would be great for tons of things, not the least of which would be directly injecting modulation in to any DC line. But I'm stuck here with one MOT until I happen upon another.

Sigurthr said:

Hairdryers are resistive loads (some people use toasters... slightly safer, but not by much!) and will waste the energy they limit by changing it in to heat. Reactive ballasts like with a second MOT produce very little heat and waste very little energy.

I understand, I only have one MOT as well, and I live out in the country where there are no neighbors, garbage collection, or dumps/recycling centers. If I had a second MOT I'd wire the two up and have a 1875VA 3kV Isolation Transformer... which would cost about >$1000 if it were commercial grade and not made from repurposed MOTs. It would be great for tons of things, not the least of which would be directly injecting modulation in to any DC line. But I'm stuck here with one MOT until I happen upon another.

Click to expand...

You could also use a capacitive ballast, but I don't know how well those work, nor have I ever tried one.

And, if you DO ask me to build anything, it may take some time as I'm busy with college work and other things. It will get done, just not as quickly as I usually do.